After I've done my third draft editing and received feedback, I found difficult to keep making progress and can't came up with any ideas, therefore I decided to fresh my mind with turning my focus on another Minor Task, Which is Magazine Double Page Spread.
What inspired you to make the documentary?
In the past, I have focused on filmmaking, but due to the covid pandemic, social media has become more important to everyone as it helps people keep in touch with distant friends, but also for entertainment. However, I realised the potential problem of social media as I see more children and young people addicted to social media and more self-harm, mental health problems and suicides by young people appear in the news. Therefore I decided to make this documentary to warn people about the dangers and addictive potential of social media. But also to help people who might have same experience and still suffering from social media, to help them feel better.
What have you learned?
I've learnt a lot from the experience of making this documentary, as this is my first time making a documentary. At the beginning I thought it would be the same as making a film, but in the course of my research I found out that I'm actually entering a new area that I don't know. For example, my aim of this documentary is to tell the audience the knowledge and pass on information therefore I put a lot of content in my documentary, but after learning about John Grierson's ideology that even documentary can be a way of telling message, but it still has to be done as an entertaining way. So this was the reason for making the boys laugh and joke and also for the montage sequences. I’ve also learned a lot about the interview, As I thought an interview it’s just simply asking questions and film it. But as my research goes, there are lots to think about and prepare for an interview, such as ethical issues, type of questions, how can you make sure your interviewee won't feel uncomfortable about the topic or question, how you make sure as the interview going the interview won't be off the topic, how to let your interviewee really express themselves and let them talk more, and also the set of background, the camera angle, etc. There is a lot more I need to learn as well, as people always say, ‘learning is an endless process’.
What did you hope to achieve from making the documentary?
I hope the information of social media will be passed to the audience through my documentary. I’ve learned about John Grierson’s ‘Amusing ourselves to death’ theory. So I’ve let my documentary not just passing information, but also entertainment as well to make sure my audiences won't feel bored, and audience will also be engaged with my product, by its representation through the use and gratifications of ‘personal identity’ and ‘Information’. At the same time I also hope my documentary would aware people of social issues, for example I’ve used real life example of Molly Russell case, which relates the issue of abusive social media to the real world and the photograph of her in her school uniform emphasises the youth and experience which is trying to deal with dangerous online material. I hope my documentary speaks to people in an entertaining way but where alternately they will learn valuable information about the dangerous of excessive social media use.
What should we look forward in the future?
Making it health for others. Keep and eye on my social media page for details of my new projects, but also to learn more about how to use social media to impower and not damage your mental well-being. And working together with my new charity social media happy & health and help us, help you make the most of social media and not get lost in it.
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