Digital Nation Documentary Response

I watched some of the PBS Digital Nation Documentary to see how they created it and to see if I could get any ideas on how to set up and create a better flow for my video. One of the things I have been thinking about is how to create my narrative, or voice over. I wanted to start where it all began and how I became interested in the topic, which is exactly what Rachel ended up doing in her documentary, she pretty much stole my idea. Okay maybe not, but I was thinking of doing a voice over and showing the scenery of my roommates and I plugged in and doing our own thing, and then I also wanted to show myself sitting in front and talking to the camera, which is exactly what Rachel does in the beginning of her film. I think this makes it more personal when you have someone talking to the camera, because it starts to eliminate the boundary between you and your audience.

Not only was the way they approached and set up the topic interesting but some of the things they said were interesting as well. They actually said a lot of similar things to what my interviewees said. One thing in particular is this idea of distraction and how we can avoid multi-tasking. They mention turning your email off, a simple way of unplugging if you will, which is what students on campus had to do. One student when I asked if they could unplug said they would like to, but they didn't think society would let them. This is exactly what is mentioned in the documentary, turning off your email is not that simple because there is always someone on the other line waiting for your response and if you don't respond this can have serious repercussions, socially as well as work wise.

Overall I really enjoyed the documentary, it was engaging and definitely very helpful to see how they address the same issue I am studying. I not only liked the beginning but I also liked the ending because it's more hopeful. I think the point that I am at right now is that technology isn't necessarily good or bad, but it's what we are using now. Therefore, we need to embrace this change and learn how to deal with it and use it to our advantage but not let it control us. It isn't going away, which is probably good because it allows us to be creative, stay in touch and express ourselves, but as put in the end of the film, we can always turn it off. The question is, will we be able to?