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REFLECTION

In today’s reality we find ourselves so connected yet more emotionally disconnected than ever. Technologically ill explores this paradoxical idea. In the new geological epoch of the Anthropocene or the Age of Humans, we notice the omnipresence of  technologies around us. We do not however talk much about the impact these devices have on our well-being and more specifically on our mental health. This year I have probably faced the most radical change within myself due to different intense experiences. For this reason, I wanted to dig deeper into that subject as to get to know myself better as well as the people I collaborated with which I hope, helped them in different ways too. 
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My original idea was to focus my film on four people. Realising the complexity of including all of them in an 8-12 minutes documentary, I chose to focus on two of them: Emilia and Laszlo. They both have completely different use of technologies which enabled me to create a discussion as well as build a contrasting image between them and their relationship to technology (more specifically their smartphones). While Laszlo, perceives his phone as an extension of himself helping him with his social anxiety, Emilia feels overwhelmed by it and would rather socialise in person. I interviewed both of them individually without the camera as I thought they would feel more comfortable and therefore be more honest in their answers. The interview was divided into four main sections:
 
1. Mental Struggles
2. Relationship to technologies
3. How it affects their rhythm & lifestyle
4. How they balance their use of it
 
Once the interviews were done, I filmed both of them individually for a whole day and used their interview as a narrative for their typical day. I still involved the two other persons: Ollie and Jess in the film-making process as I believe that the more people engage, the more truthful the image conveyed to your audience is. You can also see in this website that I have included the different footage and/or interviews that I have not been able to include in my film as to give you a better insight on the filming process as well as get to know the participants better.
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My idea was to use Jean Rouch's style of Cinéma Vérité. Considered as the founder of this cinematographic style, he did all his films based on ethnographic research using what he called 'shared anthropology' which outlines the collaboration he had with his participants (Rouch & Fulchignoni, 2003). I think that participatory film-making is essential when making an ethnographic film. This is the reason why many people were involved in this project. It goes well beyond the participants themselves, I talked about this project to a wide range of people as to get different opinions, perspectives in order to make my film more engaging and universal.
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Technologically ill denounces the excessive presence of technologies in our everyday life and how this can impact people differently. Someone like Laszlo sees it as something positive since it enables him to be more social and creative through his online persona; whereas Emilia feels entitled to it which means that she does not use it out of choice. For this reason, I concluded that there is no such thing as BALANCING our use of technology but rather there is a certain WAY to use it. In the kind of world we live in, especially the 'westernised' part, the abundance of technology makes it impossible for us to not use it at all. Thus, we have to change and adapt the way in which we interact with all these devices.
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"Digital technology allows us to be both more socially engaged and less. It means that we are constantly able to plan to meet each other, but it also means that we may experience fewer chance encounters. It allows us to navigate the city effortlessly, but has also produced crowds of absent people who have abdicated their responsibilities as pedestrians, withdrawing from the world around them and concentrating on their screens. We may communicate more, and speak less" (Sudjic, 2018, p.221)
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References

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  • Rouch, J. and Fulchigoni, E. (2003). 'Ciné-Anthropology'. Cineé-Ethnograohy. Minneapolis and London: University of Minnesota Press

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  • Sudjic, D. (2018) 'Speed of Change' in Shaping Cities in an Urban Age Speed of Change 

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