KOCHI: They have begun the “shoot” travelling from one place to another. Services of more assistants have been requisitioned in their studios to handle the increased work. With Assembly elections round the corner, creative designers, graphic artists and illustrators are getting busy with new age mediums giving more mileage than the conventional mediums for candidates.
Right now their activities are a quiet affair since those who have awarded them the work – mainly sitting MLAs of both the fronts who are almost sure of their candidature – would like to keep it away from public gaze at this moment. They want to keep it quiet because their candidature has not been officially declared.
With the end of major political yatras, parties too have shifted gear and their materials too are getting ready in the studios for wider use across the state. One such video featuring the Vizhinjam project and claiming it as an achievement of the Oommen Chandy Government is already in circulation through Whatsapp.
Apart from posters, flexes, notices, statements and mike announcements, a campaign through Whatsapp, Facebook, local cable TV channels and FM Radios are the top preferences of candidates and political parties. Other novel methods too are being designed.
One such novel element is the calendar designed by Thrikkakara MLA Benny Behnan, tom-toming his development achievements in his constituency and stamping his photo on it. He has taken the calendar to almost all houses in his constituency.
One to two minute interesting video film on Whatsapp are one of the favourite methods to reach out to voters, especially young ones. Whatsapp ‘groups’ are the main target for these videos so that the candidates remain the talk of the town. The soft copies of colourful posters too will be uploaded on Whatsapp.
“These will be more effective and less polluting and expensive than the conventional modes of campaigning using flexes and hoardings. Posters need to be designed on the computer only for the purpose and need not be printed. Whatsapp groups can be used for maximum reach,” said Anoop Radhakrishnan, director, Photogift India, a creative graphics centre at Kochi, where the creative production of half a dozen seat aspirants in Ernakulam district work are in different stages.
With the end of major political yatras, parties too have shifted gear and their materials too are getting ready in the studios for wider use across the state.
“Trolls are also being put to maximum use and we are undertaking such works apart from Whatsapp videos. Trolls using film clippings will be shared more by people and are an effective tool in lampooning political opponents. They have now taken the place of cartoons,” said Anoop.
While the two minute videos mainly focus on the development activities so far undertaken by the candidates in Assembly segments and their agenda ahead, it also features the opinion of voters on what the MLA did so far.
“There will have snapshots of ‘faces’ in the constituency, viewpoints and the pictures of the past and present state of the constituency. A voter in one part of a constituency may not be aware of what happened in another part. So this video will give the connection. These videos will not directly seek votes, but will try to influence the decision making of the voter,” said Shihab Yousuf, a professional engaged in the work. He said that links would be given to the website and facebook page of the candidate for the detailed video.
The cost for creating short videos ranges from Rs 50,000 to Rs 2 lakh according to the type of technology used. While the LDF is packing a punch with trolls that have already appeared on the bar bribery case and the Solar scandal, the UDF too has the ‘Home Minister Jayarajan episode’ and Pinarayi-Achuthanandan rift and Achuthanandan’s hilarious comments and the Assembly ruckus episode sometime ago. The BJP too is readying its own based on the weaknesses of both fronts.
“Trolls do not cost much. There are groups like International Chalu Union (ICU) and Troll Kerala who instantly make trolls if we ask them to and give them subjects. They also have ready stocks on things that happened in the past. They cost Rs 500- Rs 1000 per troll. Since they have hilarious content, they have been shared more. The JNU issue too is entering the troll domain and is being circulated,” said Anoop Radhakrishnan.
Facebook too is being used for maximum reach while Twitter will not have any prominent place. Twitter is still considered an elite platform while facebook is more commonly used. If a candidate can meet 250 persons personally and give his glimpse to another 1000 a day, facebook offers much wider reach with regular posts on different topics.
FM Radios which Arvind Kejriwal made maximum use of to win the Delhi elections too are set to be used in the coming elections. “The script for the same will have dialogues to create a dramatic effect and to make it interesting for listeners,” said Ernakulam Government Law College Union former chairman Muhammed Ibrahim, who is involved in election preparations.
FM Radio scripts will be used in such a way that the Radio Jockeys mixes politics with other current affairs during the break between songs. “They will have innuendos aimed at influencing voters in favour of a party or candidate,” said Anoop. The airing through the FM channels for one week costs Rs 50,000.
Giving scrolls and visuals two times a day in a local cable TV channel costs Rs 30,000-50,000 per week, which too will be resorted to by the candidates while parties are set to go in for state channels.
Dialler tones of the mobile phones of candidate and his/her followers will become one seeking votes for them once the candidature is declared. YouTube too will have a place in campaigning where videos of extended duration will be uploaded.
Theme songs for parties too are being readied to be uploaded in different mediums and parties, rather than candidates, are predominantly using this.
“Target audiences will be identified and the attempt would be to reach out to each of them as creatively as possible through all these mediums,” said Anoop.
