By III. HAK - Bezauer Wirtschaftsschulen

InterviewBig Brother is watching youBy Verena Wild und Madlene ZenzSince the beginning of his career Ulrich has been in contact with the media. We visited him at Dornbirn. Aftera brief tour of the most interesting University of Applied Sciences, we conducted our interview with him.How did you witness the developmentof media?I was lucky to grow up in ananalogue period. In my youthI was an excited hobby photographand filmer. Later Iworked a lot with audio tapesand so-called “Mazen”, magneticrecorders at the ORF.In the past watching TV andvideos were exclusive affairs – only huge firms and TVcorporations could afford the expensive equipmentnecessary. Today every mobile phone includes a camera,which allows users to take photos and createvideos. It brought about a total change in the mediascene and led to a democratization of the media.What impresses you in the world of media?The beautiful thing is that you can show your viewof the world to mostly everyone. “Everyone can befamous”, said the famous, great artist Andy Warhol. Itbrings of course a lot of chances but also dangers. Butin my opinion these options are really positive.Are you active in a social network?Through my job-related curiosity I’m active in differentsocial networks such as Facebook, Xing, Twitterand Google+. Personally I don’t need that indeed butI understand that a lot of people are active in socialnetworks. For example I stayed in contact with a handicappedman through a social network. For him thesocial network was a door to the world because hefelt imprioned in his flat. In such cases I think it is veryuseful.What do you think about social networks and theirdangers?I think it is very good because it is a completely newtype of media communication. But you must knowthat you reveal a lot of information about yourself,when you use these networks. You are observed –“Big Brother is watching you”.The things that you upload onto the web are availableat all times. Every personnel manager informs himselfabout his candidates and also checks the social networkswhat they are doing there.the way we used to do it. Of course the quality is notthe same as in the German classes. What is importantis that we don’t lose the capability of expressing ourselveswell. A problem is that we cannot express ourfeelings in brief texts like short messages. We cannotshow the world how we see it. Such short lyrics cannotbe considered to be of literary quality.Which advice would you give teenagers with regardto the media?Monitor everything very closely! There is nothing thatyou cannot learn from the media about the media.When I study a picture I see that the photographerhas thought about it. The composition in the back,the motif that is arranged in a specific fashion. Thoseare all conscious decisions. In the media nothing happensaccidentally. I think that media lessons would beideal to look at such contents. I think our school systemcould do more in that respect.Could you as a media expert recommend a special videocamera? Which features are relevant?I don’t have a favourite product. To make good films,I think that you must be able to adjust most of thesettings at the camera body. The second thing is thatthe camera must have an external socket for a microphone.Because audio recording means that you arenear the source. And then there are cameras whichcan record in HD. It would be ideal if the cameracould process both forms of HD – the small and thebig format. If a camera meets these criteria, you willbe able to achieve good results.What in your opinion are the criteria for agood movie?The idea of the script, the message that will be taught– these are absolutely essential for a good movie. Theavailability of devices and the digitalization will notcost much, the result is that you very often just approachthings spontaneously. If something comes outthat is good, you can consider it the result of luckystrikes. So the contents, the dramaturgy are the mostimportant thing. If the concept, camera work, thework on the set and the post-production play welltogether, then the prerequisites for a good movie arecertainly there.10An issue that is discussed in the media is that theteenagers have problems with spelling, which is attributedto using the new media. What do you thinkabout that?I think that the teenagers have never written morethan in our time. But in a way which differs a lot fromBild: Verena Wild und Madlene Zenz mit Ulrich Herburger