01 individual project

1. S O C I A L M E D I A
I N C I N E M A
Harriet Smith

2. J E F F O R L O W S K I –
A B R I E F H I S T O R Y
In 2020 Jeff Orlowski directed the Netflix
documentary “The Social Dilemma” which
spoke about the damage social media has
on society. This documentary being in
collaboration with the Centre for Humane
Technology.
The documentary shows the dangers of
social media through the use of story, with
Orlowski hiring actors to help portray real-
life scenarios whilst also giving us, the
audience, supported scientific information
based around the implications of social
media in certain cases.
The film also went on to receive 7
nominations for the 73rd Annual Emmy
Awards in 2021.

3. J E F F O R L O W S K I
- F I L M S
All of Jeff Orlowski’s films are documentaries, all of which have either been nominated or have
won some form of award.
Jeff Orlowski’s first role as a director was for the 2012 documentary “Chasing Ice” based on a
previous work by photographer James Balog. The documentary is based around Balog’s
survey to help showcase the effects of climate change to the general public. In 2017 he also
directed yet another documentary with a similar scenario titled “Chasing Coral”. The
documentary also went on to win the Audience Award for U.S. Documentary at the 2017
Sundance Film Festival.
”Frame by Frame” is yet another documentary Orlowski directed in 2015. The film follows four
Afghan photojournalists who report in the post-Taliban free press. He also worked as an
executive producer for “Bad Kid” a 2013 short film
https://chasingice.com/team-member/jeff-
orlowski/

4. T H E S O C I A L D I L E M M A
– A N A LY S I S
Although the film is primarily a documentary, that features extensive interviews from former
employees from large companies like Google and Facebook, there are aspects of the films
that feature story driven scenes that help to highlight the documentaries theme of the dangers
of social platforms. Considering that the film is a documentary it is hard to do a scene analysis
aside from talking about the different camera angles. The lighting and how the interviewees
talk/move. Interviewee Scene(s) Analysis:
The majority of the film is one big interview with
former employees from big corporations such
as Google, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
To create tension the documentary often
switches between each interviewee to help
highlight the main issue it’s talking about.
The camera shots are simple with them often
cutting between each person and asking them
relative questions. There a two primary shots
used for this part of the documentary, this being
’wide-shots’ and ‘close-ups’.

5. A N E E S H C H A G A N T Y
In 2018 Aneesh Chaganty directed a film
title “Searching” which he had also co-
written alongside Sev Ohanian. This film
was most well-known for it’s unique main
use of computers and smartphones which
fit with the films general plot.
Similar to the previous documentary, this
film helps to showcase the dangers of
social media from a different viewpoint.
This being showcased entirely through the
perspective of someone using a computer
or a smartphone.
The film itself had not been nominated for
any type of award. However Chaganty
won the Alfred P. Sloan Feature Film Prize
in 2018 at the Sundance Film Festival.

6. A N E E S H
C H A G A N T Y - F I L M S
Aneesh Chaganty has created a number of
both short films and feature films over the
years. He even has acting credits over the
years.
His first feature film was the 2018 movie
“Searching”, which had been originally pitched
as a short film. This film came to be so well
known because of how the film takes place
from the perspective of a man using his laptop.
His second feature film was set to release early
2020 but was pushed back to COVID-19 and
was then release in mid 2021.

7. S E A R C H I N G -
A N A LY S I S
The film uses tech to help showcase various narrative devices through out the whole of the
film. This is done by having us, the audience, watch the film through someone using a variety
of software's e.g. computer/laptop, smartphone. The film helps to highlight the dangers of
technology and social platforms when used in malicious ways. Since the film primarily takes
place with a single actor using a computer or some other form of software, it makes it difficult
to do a detailed scene analysis where I would’ve been able to go into detail about the various
camera shots/angles. Scene Analysis: As stated previously it is
difficult to provide a detailed analysis of the
camera shots/angles used since the camera
remains in the same position due to how the
actor is using a computer. The reason for this
being that we would want to focus on what the
actor is looking at rather than what they’re doing
themselves. The only time the camera changes
shots is when it shows close ups of images
during suspenseful scenes. If I am wanting to
create tension or an impact on a certain scene
then I might want to try and attempt this during
my experiments.

8. T H E N E T ( 1 9 9 5 )
The Net is a 1995 American thriller that was
directed by Irwin Winkler. The film is about a
computer programmer who stumbles upon a
conspiracy. The film doesn’t specifically go into
details about social media but similar to a
previous movie I looked at called “Searching”
where the film isn’t based around social media
but does include a lot of aspects or having it
being used in the film. Since I’ve been unable
to watch the movie myself (due to it being
unavailable in my country) I’ve had to rely on
watching some scenes on YouTube to gain a
brief understanding about the film and how
they shoot their scenes.
Scene Analysis:
Since the film was unavailable for me to watch legally I
found it difficult to find a scene that was in good enough
quality for me to watch and examine a scene myself.
Although I ended up finding a few scenes on YouTube
the quality of the video wasn’t great and it was difficult to
see anything clearly.
Edit: I ended up finding a few scenes after doing a lot
more research into the film. I found that the few scenes I
looked at primarily used close ups to focus on the main
character as well as the computer, since that is what the
film is based upon.

9. Why is honesty important in a documentary?
The definition of a documentary is; a product “consisting of or based on official documents”. Because of
the nature of documentaries and their purpose being to relay factual and truthful information to an
audience, it is important that I also follow these rules and make sure that all of the information that I
include is also factual and truthful.
When thinking about documentaries and how I will write the script for my video essay, it is important
that I remember the difference between fact from fiction as well as my own opinion. I think that it would
be quite easy for me to go off topic and constantly give my own opinion on the topic as well as the
documentary. Although I think that it is a good idea for me to include my own opinion at certain points
in the video essay, I don’t think it’s a good idea to base the entirety of it on my own opinion.
How will I apply this to my own product?
I can apply this by my own product by making sure to stick to the overall theme of the video essay (a
commentary on a documentary) and be sure to balance both fact and my own opinions. I would want
mix between my own opinion, based on what I have seen from the documentary and what I have
learned from watching it, as well as the facts that are presented in the documentary. And most
importantly, any other information that I have researched. This is the most important since it is not
coming from the product itself nor is it coming from my own opinion or knowledge.
E T H I C S O F
F I L M M A K I N G

10. W H O I S M Y A U D I E N C E ?
Since the main focus of this task is to look at the aspects of social media I think that the best
target audience that I can appeal to would be teenagers/young adults (16-19). I think this
because social media is a platforms that is primarily used by younger generations and it is
also well-known that teens and even young adults are effected by social media the most in
both positive and negative ways.
Gender:
I don’t intend to try and appeal to one gender specifically since this topic can reference to
both male and female. However I do believe that the topics that I choose to talk (e.g. one topic
being catered toward females or one toward males) could hinder with who will view my
product.
Geodemographic:
Similar to how I want to try and appeal to both male and female with my product I also want to
try and make my product something that anyone can access no matter where they live.
Ethnicity: Just as previously said, I don’t think that there is any need for me to try and appeal
to a particular gender, geodemographic or ethnicity since the topic of social media is
something that applies to anyone. I think that the topic of social media can be applied to both
male and female as well as any particular age demographic depending on the theme I choose.
However since it’s well-known that teenagers and young adults can be deeply affected by it.
Since I’m also apart of that same age demographic I think that I will have an easier time in
creating a product that will appeal to this audience.

11. What I Found:
During my research I found a website that
showed the statistics of teens/young
adults aged 15-25 toward the end of
2020. The rise of most social platforms
most likely being due to COVID-19 and
how everyone was stuck indoors.
The table shows that over 50% are social
media platforms that requires contact with
other people.
https://www.statista.com/statistics/1059462/social-media-usage-
uk-age/

12. https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2018/05/31/teens-social-media-
technology-2018/
What I Found:
This is another statistic that highlights that
percentage of teens in the U.S. that uses social
media and how often they use it. Similar to the
previous graph the top percentages are the
same and are relatively high.
Both graphs help to show what teens/young
adults use the most out of all of the social
platforms. This helps me to see what my
audience likes and dislikes. Knowing this will
also help me in creating a product that my
audience will like.

13. https://www.theguardian.com/media-network/media-network-
blog/2012/oct/25/future-marketing-youth
This is an article that focuses on teens/young adults and what they
want/expect from brands that they buy from. The articles also
contains statistics around what percent use a certain platform or
how much time they spend on social media or on their phones in
general.
I think that focusing primarily on my own age demographic
(between 15-19) would be the best idea when thinking about what
I am wanting to make. Since the idea is to create a film based
around social media in film I think that the best idea would be to
cater to the generation that uses social media the most. This also
means that I will have an easier time understanding what this age
demographic would like to see since I am also a part of it.
Since the statistics for teens/young adults
using social media are so dangerously
high I think it would be a good idea to
incorporate what I have learned into my
film in order to raise awareness.

14. I N T E R V I E W 1
Question 1: How often do you use social media and what platforms do you primarily use?
Answer: I go on Snapchat everyday so that I can talk to and reply to all of my friends. I also
use things like Tumblr and Pinterest just to look at things and see if there’s anything you’d
like. I mainly use platforms like YouTube later on in the day.
Question 2: Have you ever watched a film or documentary about social media? If so what did
you like/what did you want to see.
Answer: I’ve seen a few documentaries on Netflix being advertised but I’ve never watched
one myself. I’ve never watched a documentary about social media before but I wouldn’t mind
watching one if it was centered around my own age group. I would prefer to watch something
that is dedicated to my own age group.
Question 3: What aspects would you like to see in a movie/documentary about social media if
you want it to appeal to your age range?
Answer: I would want the topics to be relevant e.g. how much time teenagers spend on their
phones or on social media. I would also want there to be interviews with people around the
same age as me. Normally in a lot of documentaries or films that have interviews it’s mainly
just a bunch of adults talking about uninteresting stuff.

15. I N T E R V I E W 2
Question 1: How often do you use social media and what platforms do you primarily use?
Answer: I pretty much go on social media everyday and use it for a few hours per day. I
mainly go on Instagram, Snapchat and Tik Tok. I use this because it allows me to keep in
contact with both friends and be kept up to date with the latest news.
Question 2: Have you ever watched a film or documentary about social media? If so what did
you like/what did you want to see.
Answer: I have seen a few on Netflix before and I’ve heard about the most popular one ‘The
Social Dilemma’. I don’t really have much of an interest in those kinds of documentaries but I
think that it is an interesting topic to cover, especially if it’s done by someone from a similar
age range.
Question 3: What aspects would you like to see in a movie/documentary about social media if
you want it to appeal to your age range?
Answer: What is mainly appealing to me is the direction of the film and how you interpret the
theme in your own direction. Normally I wouldn’t find the aspect very appealing however since
the film is being made by someone of a similar age range to myself.

16. T E C H N I Q U E S I W A N T T O
I N C L U D E
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vP8rKg7Hcpc
After doing a lot of research into the different
camera shots that I could use in my
film/documentary I made sure to look specifically
into shots that were used in documentaries to
made sure that I had a variety to look and learn
about.
Since I’m still unsure as to whether I want to
create a documentary or a film I want to make
sure that I look into all different kinds of camera
shots to make sure that when I have to choose I
already know the kinds of shots that I want use
and how I was going to incorporate them into my
work.
When I was watching some documentaries for
my research I made sure to keep a close eye
onto the different camera shots that were used.
A large majority of the camera shots I found
were wither close ups or wide shots to show not
only the interviewee but also the background.

17. T E C H N I Q U E
S U M M A R Y
Since I’m unsure whether or not I want to make a documentary or film about social media it makes it
difficult to decide what techniques I want to use since the two are quite different in terms of the
different camera shots to use e.g. documentaries use wide shots and close ups whilst films use a
variety of different shots depending on the scene.
Documentary and Film:
If I plan to create a documentary there are only a few different types of camera shots that I can use
since documentaries primarily focus on the subject or the theme rather than how the camera is
positioned.
When researching I ended up finding videos that explain the types of camera shots that are used in
documentaries. In the near future I also plan to go and look into the many types of camera shots
that are used in film.
I can also watch films of my choice e.g. The Social Dilemma, despite the fact that this is a
documentary it also includes scenes that portray a story and this will allow me examine both the
interview scenes as well as acting scenes will allow me to examine both at the same time.

18. S U M M A R Y
Although the research I have done so far isn’t as detailed or as ranged as I would want it to
be, I do intend to do a lot more research in the future so I have only just scratched the
surface. For the first part of my research I started by looking into films and/or documentaries
that are themed around social media. From there I was able to find a variety of not only
films/documentaries but also directors.
From this I discovered there are a quite a few documentaries and films that are dedicated to
talking about social media and watching/learning about them has allowed me to come up my
own ideas as to how I can create my own film/documentary. However I am still unsure about
how I want to present my work (e.g. film or documentary) and because of that I think that my
research is lacking in a lot of places. But once I’ve decided what I want to create it will make it
easier for me to go back and add a lot more detail. It also means that I can dedicate more
time to watching a lot more of that specific type of media in order to see how I can incorporate
it into my own project.