Hugo Perez Workshop

So today I went to a workshop directed by Hugo Perez, and although I was a little disappointed that we didn't actually make anything like I thought we would in a workshop, I had the opportunity to talk to him afterward. I mentioned to him the thesis of my project and how I wanted to interview students and faculty in the community and ask them about how they use different communicative technology. However, I voiced to him my concern of incorporating the research I have been doing, since this is a subject that is talked about immensely.

He didn't really have an actual answer for me, but he did mention some ideas on how to make this documentary into a story. If I don't have a story than all it is is an educational video, but I need a story to help bring everything together. Some of the ideas he gave me was to pull a Super Size Me like Morgan Spurlock and create a social experiment, meaning I myself should try and unplug from my electronics for a day; no facebook, no twitter, no e-mail and the worst one no phone! Then I could keep video diaries of my response to this experience.

The other suggestions he gave me was going up to students randomly and asking them the question do you think you could unplug for a day, or go without facebook for a day? Then he also suggested interviewing the IT department and finding out when the internet is the used the most and what websites are the most popular. He also suggested interviewing the counseling center about the effects that these technological communication devices have on us, which actually relates to some of the outside reading I have been doing, which I am going to talk about in a later post, but the article is called, The Anti-Social Network.

Overall I found these suggestions helpful because I was definitely aware going into it that I need interviews and need images of people interacting with technology but I was also aware that if this is everything I get then it's going to be one boring documentary. I like the idea of trying to unplug for a day because that will bring me into the documentary and could be kind of a cool story to connect to the research I am doing. Will unplugging make me happier, sadder, will I experience more anxiety?

Thoughts?