Dr Savyasaachi Jain

FHEA FLSW

Publication

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Research

I am the Principal Investigator in an exciting applied research project to develop ViewfindR, an online camerawork simulator to teach creative decision making skills to visual journalists. This virtual learning environment uses game engines and three-dimensional virtual spaces to allow students to develop and test their skills in preparation for real-world filming. Various stages of the project have been funded by JOMEC, the Research Wales Innovation Fund and the funding councils AHRC and ESRC. The project is a collaboration between the School of Journalism, Media and Culture, and the School of Computer Science and Informatics.

My academic research focuses on Indian media, international media systems, journalism and democracy and the standards and values of journalism. My doctoral thesis, Rethinking media systems: insights from a case study of paid news in India, examines the suitability and applicability of Western theoretical models for understanding non-Western media systems.

Teaching

I lead the Documentary Pathway on the MA International Journalism (MAIJ) and also teach on the MA Digital Documentary (MADD) programme.

I also specialise in combining academic rigour with practical inputs to guide student projects and research, helping students develop their conceptual skills to design and produce high quality Master's projects in print, multimedia or documentary. 

Biography

Professional memberships

Fellow, Learned Society of Wales

Fellow, Higher Education Academy

Engagement

Our applied research project, to build and deliver a camerawork simulator called ViewfindR, is currently in the stage of testing with remote users. ViewfindR is a learning and teaching aid for visual journalism and documentary, a virtual learning environment that simulates the situations that require filmmakers to make creative decisions about aspects such as camera placement, framing, composition, staging and lighting. It uses virtual three-dimensional videogame-like environments and is delivered through ordinary web browsers to ensure that it is widely accessible.

This interdisciplinary project, undertaken in collaboration with Dr Daniel J Finnegan from the Cardiff University School of Computer Science and Informatics, is currently funded by a grant from the ESRC Impact Acceleration Account. It has previously received funding from JOMEC, the Research Wales Innovation Fund, and AHRC and EHRC.

We have developed this pedagogical tool through several prototypes to explore pathways to making this widely available to teachers and students internationally, possibly as a commercial product.  

My other engagement activities are with the media industry and professionals internationally. On behalf of JOMEC, I am currently coordinating with Thomson Reuters Foundation on their project to enhance professional provision and develop new courses for universities in Ukraine, Georgia, Armenia and Moldova.

In the last few years, I have also worked with the Caribbean Broadcasting Union (CBU) to train journalists and filmmakers from the region on media and information literacy, and with the United Nations Office on Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) and Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU) to enhance the capacity of media professionals in several Asian countries to engage with issues of climate change. This work entails designing courses and instructional material as well as delivering workshops and mentoring journalists and filmmakers.