In the confines of his room in Malviya Bhavan, the CoStAAn of the Department of Visual Media, Prateek Gupta was all smiles as he closed the lid of his laptop and began speaking to the APOGEE English Press for an interview.

DVM, being one of the few departments that work for all the three fests, has a considerable amount of work. Promo videos, theme release videos, website designing, making the app for fests and managing the registration software are only a few of the chores handled by them. The registration software is used by other departments like Controls, PCr, Firewallz, and RecnAcc, and has reduced their burden significantly by automating a process that used to be manual and cumbersome in the past. DVM also makes websites and portals to facilitate many events and competitions, such as Armageddon and Aarohan. Furthermore, video recording during the fest is also their responsibility.

This year, however, the job of building the APOGEE app is being outsourced to an outside company called Yeppar, which is going to build it along the lines of Augmented Reality. This, in Prateek’s opinion, is something to look forward to, since Augmented Reality has recently gained a lot of popularity owing to a certain Pokemon-catching-game which became a household name a few months ago. Apart from that, he spoke zealously about the time capsule, a novelty for this edition of the fest.

The CoStAAn seemed satisfied with his cadre of first years, who have actively contributed to website development, especially the various smaller event websites. The first years seem to be involved in video making as well as video recording.

On his experience as a member of the top decision making body for this fest, Prateek said, “There have been high points and low points, but it has been an excellent experience so far. The CoStAAns have pitched in for video ideas, although frankly, it is a job only for my department.”

Opinions about the technical nature of the fest were also shared in the interview. “Technical does not mean ‘relating to gadgets.’ Every field has its own technicalities, even something like literature,” said Prateek. “Hence, we are expanding the fest in this direction and trying to make it more inclusive, while maintaining the integrity of the fest by not switching over to the cultural side.”

The worries raised over the late arrival of the inauguration video last semester are not unknown to the BITSian populace. Prateek Gupta dismissed them as a one-time occurrence, and gave assurances that such incidents will not happen this time. The CoStAAns have been kept in loop about the video, and while the very nature of the video-making process inhibits early ‘premiere shows’, it will arrive in time for the ceremony.

In conclusion, Prateek asserted that the quality of the fest has increased drastically, and urged BITSians to stay for the fest, as it provides scope for not only the participant but also the spectator.