THE FINAL MOVIE
Credits
“I Have Misplaced My BlackBerry”
By Jennifer Thai and Wenwan Liang.
Narration by Michael Dibblee.
Time-Based Communication
YSDN 3009 Section M
David Gelb
York/Sheridan Design Program
junejennifer©2008
DESIGN STATEMENT
Our generation of people has become so reliant on technology that we are remembering fewer and fewer basic facts. We all have devices like cell phones and computers to remember information for us. For once, our elders might even have better memory than we do. “I Have Misplaced My BlackBerry” is an animated poem about a man so dependent on technology that he forgets everything from his Aunt’s brithday to where he left his keys, not because he is normally forgetful but because he has his BlackBerry to remember everything for him. Sadly, he has lost his BlackBerry and spends his day searching for it while his conventional father watches him in disappointment.
NARRATIVE – FINAL
I have misplaced my BlackBerry.
On a typical day like this,
When I’d know where I was going,
Who I’d be seeing,
What I’d be doing and what time,
I spend my afternoon rummaging the house,
staring at the bare spot on my desk for the last 15 minutes willing it to come back.
There, in the corner of the room was my father,
Arms crossed over his chest,
Looking at me with disbelief.
I watched as his face sagged with disappointment.
My father, a stern, serious man,
frowned upon technology.
No digital device could ever receive his consent.
And my latest addition of the BlackBerry did not impress him at all.
He remembered everything, to the last detail.
If you asked him, he could tell you that I was born on the 11th of June 1973,
At exactly 5:01 am.
He could tell you that the sixth planet from the sun is Saturn
with 60 moons and satellites,
That the capital city of Yemen is Sanaa.
He could even tell you that pi is equal to 3.14151926535.
He’s dismayed that I, on the other hand, constantly fail to remember little things like
Where I parked my car,
Whether I locked the door,
Or even where I left my keys.
I can’t immediately tell you Aunt Wendy’s birthday,
Judy’s address,
My sister’s phone number,
Or even where I left my BlackBerry.
So why do I even leave my memories in my BlackBerry?
I’d tell you, but I forgot.
CREATIVE BRIEF
Overview:
Too often we let our cell phones and computers memorize things for us. We can bet that majority of us can’t recite a friend’s phone number or a relative’s birthday off the top of our heads. There has been research that we seem to be forgetting fewer and fewer basic facts due to the overreliance of machine memory.
Inspired by some animated poetry that we came across during our research, the purpose of our video will not be to inform or raise awareness. We decided that this approach would not be too effective and with the lack of solid facts on this small issue, we would not be able to find enough arguments to back up our position. We also didn’t think there was a need to raise awareness on this topic. Whether technology brings negative consequences has been discussed for years. It is not necessarily a new issue and it seemed only appropriate to take this topic lightly rather than seriously.
We appreciate technology, but obviously, we are not remembering basic facts as well as our parents or grandparents. Of course, not all of us have bad memory and some rely on technology more than others. How much we forget depends on how much each individual relies on technology. We do not necessarily think storing information in our cell phones is bad, but we do blame technology for slowing our abilities to remember simple facts. This is obvious if we compare ourselves to our elders.
Goals:
To design our own animated poetry. To tell a story. Many people don’t realize how much we depend on technology. We intend to help them realize that.
Audience:
This video’s intended for everyone who grew up in this generation with handy gadgets/portable technology with lots of memory storage (cell phones, BlackBerrys, laptops, ipods, mp3s..). Generally, anyone from 15 to 40 that own and use these devices on a daily basis.
Key Message:
We are relying on technology way too much. We are forgetting the smallest things quicker than our parents or grandparents.
Content Planning:
We will be animating our own story/poem about this topic. We were inspired by Billy Collin’s animated poetry “Forgetfulness” and are considering a similar approach.
Schedule:
Second last week – have all scenes animated
Final week – final touches and details
VISUAL INSPIRATION
Animated poetry. “Forgetfulness” by Billy Collins.
The name of the author is the first to go
followed obediently by the title, the plot,
the heartbreaking conclusion, the entire novel
which suddenly becomes one you have never read,
never even heard of,
as if, one by one, the memories you used to harbor
decided to retire to the southern hemisphere of the brain,
to a little fishing village where there are no phones.
Long ago you kissed the names of the nine Muses goodbye
and watched the quadratic equation pack its bag,
and even now as you memorize the order of the planets,
something else is slipping away, a state flower perhaps,
the address of an uncle, the capital of Paraguay.
Whatever it is you are struggling to remember,
it is not poised on the tip of your tongue,
not even lurking in some obscure corner of your spleen.
It has floated away down a dark mythological river
whose name begins with an L as far as you can recall,
well on your own way to oblivion where you will join those
who have even forgotten how to swim and how to ride a bicycle.
No wonder you rise in the middle of the night
to look up the date of a famous battle in a book on war.
No wonder the moon in the window seems to have drifted
out of a love poem that you used to know by heart.
We actually found a motion graphic on the topic of forgetfulness. Even with only simple movements of cut-out photographs, illustrations, and video footages, the result was nevertheless very effective. The erasing and blanking out of each image one by one gives us the feeling that our memories are actually leaving us one by one.
We think some Billy Collins’ poems are perfect for animated pieces. His heavy imagery gives the designer plenty of room for visuals. One of our favourite parts in this video is the line “as if, one by one, the memories you used to harbor decided to retire to the southern hemisphere of the brain, to a little fishing village where there are no phones.” We see seagulls disappear on the screen or flying away, as if they were migrating to a little fishing village.
It was designed by Head Gear Animation for Sundance Action Poetry Series.
The whole series of Billy Collins’ action poetry is found here: bcactionpoet.org
Edward Picot also animates poetry, but his are done in Flash.
This video is part of the 20/120 project.
Although it might be too slow for our purpose, we liked the pacing of this video. Its a nice, simple way of animating typographically, differently from Nick the Greek.
RESEARCH
We’ve done some more research and found some more articles about our topic.
Memory and Learning: Myth and Facts
We thought about adding factual information, either in our script or our visuals. This page lists a bunch of facts and myths about our brain and memory.
Can too much learning leads to Alzheimer’s?
It’s not proven but some people believe that too much short term memory can lead to negative effects.
Is your PC or PDA making you stupid?
Based on an article in the Sunday Times about the reliance on computer technology leading to memory loss, some people have gathered some very interesting opinions on whether or not technology is making us stupid.
27 Tips to Optimize Your Brain Power
We don’t know if this has much to do with “memory” at all, but here are some funny tips on how to improve your brain power.
Billy Collins
A list of poems by Billy Collins.
WIRED ARTICLES
We found two interesting articles in Wired Magazine. They focus on two completely different issues from different perspectives, but essentially, both articles discuss the brain, our bodies and how technology either helps or hinders our abilities, both mentally and physically.
In a recent poll, it was discovered that most youngsters have poorer memory than their elders. When asked to call out a relative’s birth date, 87 percent of those over the age of 50 could recall it compared to the 40 percent of those under the age of 30. And when asked for their own phone number, one-third of them drew a blank. Our generation of people is fortunate enough to have access to handy gadgets that can remember over 500 phone numbers for us, but are we really at an advantage if a portion of us can’t even recite our own phone numbers? Even the very writer of this article admits to not being able to remember a single friend’s email address or phone number. However, he does appreciate the fact that machines can make a good second brain. He often finds himself using the internet as a “metal plug-in” to find information to support his arguments when he’s talking on the phone. Plus, if we ever need to remember anything or if we need further information on something, we can pull it up online in just seconds. Does our overreliance on machine memory make us smarter? Or mentally disabled?
This is a super long article on assistive technology. To quickly summarize, the writer John Hockenberry thinks highly of technology. As a physically disabled man, he thanks technology for enabling the disabled to move, communicate, and interact with the world. He doesn’t only discuss wheel chairs. Technology can aid the disabled in many other ways. He discusses electrodes being implanted into brains to stimulate nerves and other brain-machine technology to enhance vision and hearing and he concludes that the merging of the body and the machine is becoming seamless.
