By: Jana Abumusallam, Chynelle Menezes, and Sabrina Yu
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The underlying idea is quite obvious from the start–how technology is replacing human conversations and interaction. Everything said was kept brief even though a lot has happened throughout their days. The artistic choice to express the idea through a silent film is quite innovative in that the “silence” in the film parallels the “silence” in the conversation. One question I do ask is what was Jana doing on her “last scene?” Did she forget her keys or something? Was she trying to go to school? I couldn’t quite catch the underlying idea there. Overall, I think you guys did a nice job in expressing your idea.
Really great piece. It gives a strong message about how everyone has their own issues they have to deal with that others just don’t notice. It reminded me a lot of David Foster Wallace’s 2005 commencement speech to Kenyon College. The an underlining message behind his speech, and behind your video, is that we should be conscious and aware that other people aren’t just characters in a book who are two dimensional, they have dilemmas that are going on that the average person often doesn’t even consider. If I’m not mistaken, an example he used was how a person who cuts you off while driving may have a good reason to cut you off, such as a loved one being ill in the car. Similarly, your video shows how someone who on the outside pretends to be okay might be in the middle of a deep personal struggle.
Your video delved into the various personalities we all have in our day to day lives. We have the personality we show to our friends, family and acquaintances and then we have the side of ourselves that we don’t show to anyone. That side often deals with our struggles and insecurities. I like how each of the characters in your video had their own struggle or story to tell.
I couldn’t understand what your larger message was until the second half of the play, but when the second half came it became clear. People do not really share their feelings with others that may seem to be close friends. “Fine” is the all-purpose answer to “How was your Day?” no matter how that persons day actually was. I think that can be a test of companionship of whether our interactions with the people we perceive as close, are our interactions generic or personal?