Preparation for the creative competition for journalism. Creative tests Preparing for a creative competition two

A creative competition is an exam that allows you to assess the ability of an applicant for creative activity in any field.

Future journalists write essays and articles, artists draw on canvas, actors demonstrate stage speech and acting skills, and vocalists sing loudly.

Unlike ZNO, there is no single standard for the procedure for conducting and evaluation criteria for a creative competition. Programs and tasks are developed by teachers of the same educational institution, they also conduct it, and they themselves consider appeals on the objectivity of evaluating the work of applicants.

The program of the creative competition consists of an explanatory note, which describes in detail the general provisions of the competition, the requirements for the level of preparation of the applicant, the description of the task, the criteria for evaluating the work, the list of recommended literature.

According to the rules, universities announce the programs of creative competitions no later than four months before the start of their holding, there is enough time to prepare.

Preparation for the creative competition

If you prepare on your own, find and download the programs of creative competitions of past years in advance, familiarize yourself with them, read the recommended literature, go through the theoretical stage, so to speak. When the university announces the program of the creative competition for the current year, you have four months for thorough practical preparation for the topics indicated in the program.

You can study with a tutor to prepare for a creative competition, but only if you yourself cannot study the subject and there are no preparatory courses in the chosen educational institution.

If the university has preparatory courses, unequivocally sign up and attend, they will not bring additional points (additional points are awarded for preparatory courses only for natural-mathematical and engineering specialties), but these courses are taught by the same teachers who develop programs and assignments for creative competition, check the work of applicants.

On the one hand, this is an opportunity to “bring up” the level of knowledge to the required level, on the other hand, if you conscientiously attend and complete the course program, you are already “their own” for the teacher (perhaps he will personally check your work!), He is interested in continuing to work with smart students , in this case your talent will not go unnoticed, a high score is guaranteed.

For example, consider:

Creative competition at the faculty of journalism

This may be writing a journalistic work based on the results of a press conference simulated for applicants.

Preliminarily, the program of the creative competition contains a list of press conference topics, usually 15-20 topics. Please note that indicative topics can be written in the program, i.e. leave room for “manoeuvre”, the topic on the exam may differ from those indicated in the program and you will not present any complaints.

Applicants communicate with the participants (or participant) of the conversation for a certain time (the duration must be indicated in the program of the competition), during the process it is possible to record the progress of the conversation, questions and answers on paper, it is prohibited to use recording equipment.

Based on the materials collected, within one and a half to two hours, the applicant writes journalistic work in an arbitrarily chosen genre of a given volume, usually up to two sheets of A4 paper.

Use printed sources of information: textbooks, reference books, etc. when writing a written work is also prohibited.

What is a creative contest?

In order to enter the Faculty of Design, in addition to the Unified State Examination, you need to pass a creative competition. It includes an interview and review of your creative project. Depending on the profile you choose, the creative contest may differ in what creative project you are submitting.
The minimum score is 60. If you scored below, you will not be able to participate in the competition.

What is an interview?

An interview is a dialogue between an applicant and admission committee. You may be asked about the authors, trends, directions of a particular era, such as Antiquity or the Early or High Middle Ages. Applicants come across questions about the trends of the XIV-XX centuries. You will also be asked to describe one of the eras. Be prepared to be asked additional questions.

So, what is a creative project?

A creative project is a series of your work (6-12) that unlocks your potential. Works must correspond to the profile of training. You can choose the topic yourself.

There are specific evaluation criteria:

• stylistic unity;
• conceptual completeness of the series;
• originality of the author's intention;
• harmonious color and compositional solution;
• clear presentation of the project.

What are examples of creative projects?

If you choose the "Communication Design" profile, it can be a series of posters or covers, if "Animation" - a series of characters or frames for a cartoon.

How can you prepare for a creative competition?

1) If you decide to enter the design, you probably already have some work or sketches. Use them. Refine and practice.
2) Follow the news of the design world and be sure to try to understand the art.
3) If you are a student in grades 10-11, sign up for preparatory courses. You will receive the necessary knowledge and advice for preparing your own project.
4) Well, if you live somewhere in Novosibirsk and there is no opportunity to come to classes at HSE, then study at an online school.

In our daily column The Answer, we analyze the important questions that we face almost every day. To the point, short and plain language. Your little survival tutorial I don't want to live in a hostel, what should I do? You don't have to wait until you graduate from a bachelor's or master's degree to

In our daily column The Answer, we analyze the important questions that we face almost every day. To the point, short and simple. Your little survival tutorial What is The Tower? This is us! One of the largest student media in Russia. We will tell you about

My eyes are camera lenses, my ears are microphones. I pour out my thoughts on paper, and even lines-events are reflected in the amazed eyes of the reader. "How? Really? What's next?" he asks in a spellbound whisper, getting answers right away. I am not a fiction of science fiction writers, not a new brainchild of cybernetics. My name is Reporter...

Reporters are the “all-seeing eye” of any editorial office. Thanks to them, every reader, listener, viewer can go everywhere, participate in all conceivable and unthinkable events.

“... And suddenly Sir Jones, sighing heavily, got up. Raising a trembling hand, he calls the attention of the judge. A murmur of incomprehension rippled through the hall.

Do you want to add something? said Sir Wally imperturbably.

But what do I hear?!

I did it!

Sam Jones, the main witness for the prosecution, confessed to the sinister crime of killing Pete Hank! ..”

Perhaps this is how an excerpt from one of the first reports at the dawn of the 19th century looked like. Today reporters left the courtroom, but still did not stop sharing with us the main value of the new society - Information. Again and again, journalists repeat the reporter's magic formula: "Friends, we were lucky to be in the center of a hurricane!"

"...Live from the scene, our special correspondent..."

But no, that's not enough for me! I want to see and feel everything that happens; to be there and follow the characters of the report step by step, snatching out catchy details and remembering elusive details. However, will maestro Gilyarovsky, the king of the genre, let me, a seventeen-year-old correspondent (you can't say otherwise), stand next to him? But... isn't it me, frozen in horror, listening to the disturbing "dungeon song"? "Reporter and reader" - a single whole, an ingenious system for receiving and consuming information. Becoming a part of this chain, the journalist absorbs the features of the genre and proudly bears the name "Reporter", like an eternal banner of freedom. Freedom of opinion, knowledge and conscience. Moreover, conscience is suspicious of opinions, and opinions are disguised as knowledge, but often they are completely opposite to them. Therefore, the reporter makes an oath to the reader, listener, viewer, saying: “I am a witness! I confirm!"

For me, the story "Reporting until the last minute" will forever remain a symbol of Reporter's honor. This is a work about a little-known astronaut, whose monument is installed on the alley of space heroes. He was the first to land on the body of a comet and collect samples of matter necessary to explain the mystery of the origin of life on Earth. But in last minute The “fragile stronghold” could not stand it and split, and Andrei Belykh, that was the name of the hero, flew towards the sun. Despite the heat and fear, the voice of the brave astronaut subsided only when the equipment began to melt. Huge prominences burst out of the fiery heart of the galaxy, the solar wind burned the spacesuit, but the report was not interrupted for a minute!

Such is he - "the hero of my story." A reporter who managed to convey in simple words the feelings of a shooting star.

They do not engage in creativity - they live it!

Today there is so much free time that no matter which way you turn your head, creative people are everywhere. There are so many of them! Sea, almost ocean. You turn on the TV, and there ... a creative person sits on a person. Variety: everyone “sings” (you know what I mean), they dance ... Creativity! But how? Here without a creative approach - no, no.

Creation. Creation! Creation? Creation!! It is already almost impossible to see the true creators behind all this dust, dirt (and there are microbes! Be careful ...). They don't tell every reporter or interviewer every step of the way that they are creative people. They do not need those “allotted”, “measured” fifteen minutes of fame. They just do what the soul lies to, what gives pleasure to them and others, even if these others are only relatives and close friends. This is their difference from the pseudo-creators, who once again “thrown their masks”, and who try to shout down their “relatives”, proclaiming “I am creative ...” But they still cannot outshine each other. Please God let this happen soon. Tired of playing "creative - uncreative", they will find another fashionable fun. Gone are the days of "creative", "odious" and their antipodes, the division into atheists and believers is slowly disappearing.

Once, when I was still very young, my father and I went hunting in the Topchikhinsky district. Stayed overnight with friends. I was amazed that there were paintings on the walls with mysterious images of mermaids. They were dark green, swampy in color, with blond hair, as expected, with fins. The author of these paintings is the owner's daughter. With my childish instinct, I realized that this is a kind person with her own world, which is inhabited by beautiful mermaids, and immediately gained confidence in her. Unfortunately, as a fifteen-year-old youth, I learned from my parents not entirely pleasant things about the “author of mermaids”.

Or such an interesting people as the Brazilians. They do football. The boys are ready to drive the ball on the street for days on end. And when they grow up, this love for football does not disappear anywhere. Football is in the blood of the Brazilians, they live by it. Creation? Creation. For nothing that they are listed as pentacampions, that is, five-time world champions.

No need to strive to be a creative person, “put your life” for football

At St Petersburg University, the creative exam is a mandatory entrance test for admission to full-time and part-time studies in the specialty "journalism". The exam is provided for by the State Educational Standard and is conducted in accordance with a specially developed Regulation.

The creative exam consists of two tasks: written and oral. The first is to write an essay or essay, the second is to interview members of the commission on a specific topic. The list of topics for preparation is provided to applicants in advance - it is posted on the bulletin board of the faculty and in electronic form on the website. Their choice is determined by a random examination ticket.

First, applicants complete a written assignment. Approximate topics for an essay can be the following: “Who would I like to become and why”, “Monologue of things in the first person”, “My unusual acquaintance”, “Once upon a time”, etc. Applicants have 90 minutes to complete the assignment. The essay must be at least 150 words.

The oral task is carried out in the form of a student's monologue with the expression of his point of view on a particular issue and further dialogue with members of the selection committee. Topics for oral discussion are chosen with a social and ethical focus. Examples of topics: “personality and society”, “actual problems of society”, “spiritual life and culture”, “knowledge”, “modernity and moral principles”, “the role of religion in society”, “social relations of interethnic groups”, “ politics as a sphere of public life”, etc.

The purpose of the creative exam and evaluation criteria

The main purpose of the creative exam is to check the applicant for the presence of creative abilities to describe and defend their point of view. The final mark for the exam is the sum of 100 points for both parts of the test - a maximum of 60 points for the written task and a maximum of 40 points for the oral interview.

The student's written essay is checked for a journalistic interpretation of the specified topic. The text should be presented logically, the composition of the essay should be easy to read. Particular attention is paid to the ability to correctly state the facts without changing them to reinforce one's vision of the topic. Attention is drawn to the language and style of presentation.

The oral task allows you to determine the communicative, oratorical and debating abilities of the applicant. The original, interesting presentation of their topic, the ability to quickly and easily answer questions are highly appreciated. The applicant must reasonably defend his position and at the same time listen to the opponent and conduct a dialogue with him.

1. Are you sure what journalism is?

This is a very general word that describes a very specific industry. Saying "journalism", you can mean a lot of other specialties and areas for which you simply do not know the name yet. It's worth digging deeper.

In journalism, specificity is highly valued: an accurate presentation of facts, an accurate interpretation of the words of an expert, competent work with numbers. And the first step in training your specificity is a frequently asked question in creative interviews:

What exactly attracts you to journalism?

What do you want to work, how do you see your future work?

Most professors of journalism at the interview expect to see a young man who thinks independently and correctly formulates his thoughts. In an interview, there are no four pre-prepared answers from which you need to choose the right one.

Most often, questions are formed in such a way as to “reveal” the applicant, allow him to tell about himself, about his expectations, passions, hobbies, ambitions.

It is assumed that the applicant has something to say. Surprise is caused by applicants who answer questions in monosyllables, look at the floor, and do not take the initiative in a conversation. Journalism is a field of communication where the ability and desire to communicate is highly valued. If at the interview the applicant declares the topic of his interest, subsequent questions will most often be clarifying on this topic.

At the same time, teachers try to ask questions as broadly as possible:
- What exactly are you interested in ___?
- Do you have any experience, have you already communicated with someone, have you already written about _____?
Tell me more about _____.

There is no “correct answer” to such questions, which “needs to be guessed to be liked”.
Most of all, practicing teachers do not like common words and vague formulations. The specifics, facts, clarity of statements show that the applicant understands what he is talking about.

Specific, specific and more specific. Read, learn, ask, be interested. And don't worry if you don't.

Non-specific wording

• I like meeting new people
• I'm interested in learning something new and interesting
• I would like to learn journalism
• I want to write about culture

Specific wording

• I'm interested in ballet, I regularly go to the Novosibirsk Opera and Ballet Theatre, the last book I read on the topic was "______", I try to write reviews of performances, here's an example, but I'm still far from ______.
• I am interested in young businessmen, start-ups, the topic of youth entrepreneurship development, I did three interviews with them, participated in the Startup School, trying to figure out what drives them and what prospects this direction has.
• I am a reporter in spirit, it is important for me to visit the place of events myself, to see what is happening with my own eyes, to communicate with eyewitnesses.
• I have not yet decided what field of journalism attracts me, but I have already tried myself in science journalism - I wrote a blog post about the scientific conference "_______"
• I'm interested in TV shows and travel magazines, I've read the books "_______" and "_______" about such journalism. I myself traveled to _____, and it was not a banal package holiday. I wrote ______ about the results of this trip.

WHAT CAN YOU KNOW IN THE MEDIA?

316 skills you can master

Individual plan for those who want to become a media pro

Hang the map on the wall. One color highlights what you can do well. The second is what you want to learn. You take a step back, give your brain time to think, to combine what you see. In the morning you understand what you need to study in order to work in the media)) Checked.

Map of media competencies. Hang on your wall, manage your education

Applicants who do not read, do not listen, do not watch any media look strange at interviews. It is a paradox that a person wants to go create something that he himself does not use, but with the spread of social networks, such answers at introductory interviews are becoming more and more common.

Social networks are not mass media, they are just a platform on which different authors and editors can publish their materials. A deeper understanding of this topic can be useful in order to stand out from the background of other applicants, who talk about new media and globalization at the level of philistine common sense.

Journalism is a story about what is happening in a particular area of ​​human society. A journalist does not just "know how to interview, write, shoot, edit." He understands what is at stake, can identify the causes and consequences of events, is able to determine the reliability of information sources, select experts for interviews, and ask meaningful questions to them.

The myth that if a student is good at essays, and there are few mistakes in his texts, he should enter journalism, is widespread among teachers of the Russian language and literature. It is believed that a well-written text ensures success in the professional journalistic field.

Alas. Despite the fact that journalists do write a lot, knowledge of spelling and punctuation is not the most important thing in this job. Literacy is a good plus, saving editors and proofreaders time and nerves, but it is far from being the key.

A journalist reads a lot of documents, meets and talks with people who often contradict each other, understands numbers and terms, tries to build a logical story out of all this mess and tell it in an accessible way.

If there are spelling errors in the text, they will be corrected by a proofreader or editor. If there are errors in facts and logic, the material will be thrown into the trash.

2. What kind of journalism attracts you?

At the second stage, it is important to decide which thematic area you are interested in. Not TV/newspaper/internet/radio. A thematic area.

Teachers at interviews are open and ready to hear any, even exotic, topic that captivates the applicant. The main thing is to demonstrate that this interest is not superficial, that the applicant is really immersed in this topic, follows events, persons, experts, reads specialized sites, magazines, books.

It is impossible to imitate this interest. An enthusiastic person is visible from afar, he can tell a lot of interesting things, clarify details, share his emotions, give examples, and discuss with his interlocutor. From a person who is not interested in much in life, answers have to be pulled out with tongs.

Why is passion important? Journalism assumes that you are interested in the world around or some part, the edge of this world. It should be so interesting that you are ready to dive into it, meet new people, ask them questions, shovel documents, compare, doubt, clarify, think, read and tell other people what you have learned in an interesting way.

Think about what part of the world attracts you:

• Social sphere(education, healthcare, urban planning and development, quality of life, housing and communal services, pension system, charity and so on),
• Regional policy and management(activities of deputies, branches of political parties, activities of mayors and municipalities, formation of the regional budget),
• National and international politics and economics(long-term strategies, national programs, diplomacy, transnational corporations, international organizations and alliances, stock exchanges, indices and offshores),
• Science and technology(inventions, discoveries, introduction of scientific developments into everyday life, nano- and biotechnologies, innovations, energy, ecology, hadron collider),
• Sport(amateur and professional, local and international, sports competitions, olympiads and the Davis Cup),
• Music, cinema, theater, literature(styles and trends, classics and new authors, festivals, awards, mass and elite culture, shows and criticism),
• Business and employment(markets, taxes, jobs and unemployment, development loans, startups and investors),
• Incidents and crime(disasters and catastrophes, conflicts and unrest, investigations and courts),
• Information networks, new media, communications(global communication systems, massive open online courses, transmedia, multiplayer online games, social networks),
• Space(satellites, space stations, space tourism),
• Something else?