Final Project Material (Video)
Refined Concept: #StopPhubbing
Phubbing is a term coined from the words “phone” and “snubbing” and it defines the act of one using one’s mobile phone in favour of interacting with others in a social setting.
Phubbing is a growing issue due to the rise of the smartphone which provides an alternative outlet for its users but also acts as a form of distraction. While some may argue that the smartphone aids communication by overcoming the physical barrier of geographical distance, we feel that face to face interaction is irreplaceable in building and sustaining human relationships. Particularly in social situations, we find that clusters of heads bowed towards individual mobile phones are becoming a common sight and we realised the need to address this concern.
Our target audience is young adults, of the age range from 18 to 25, who are avid users of their phones, as we feel they will be most heavily impacted by our message as well as this social concern.
Video
Link: https://youtu.be/jnywyCs44h8
This short clip our team came up with seeks to address the growing issue of phubbing, a term coined from “phone” and “snubbing” to describe the habit of ignoring someone in favour of using your mobile phone.
Our video was done in the style of an advertisement. It presents a call-to-action in the form of The Phone Stack, encouraging viewers to simply connect and talk to one another in social situations, specifically during meal times in our video. The persuasive appeal of pathos is encapsulated in the light-hearted approach we took. As our target audience is young adults, we hoped that they would appreciate the hyperbolic humor expressed and understand our message.
One of our creative choice includes the perspective shot at the beginning where the male character looks around to see his companions engaged in their handphone, only to follow suit and do the same. This allows the audience to experience the situation from a first-person point of view and realise the similarity to their own meals with their friends. The top-down shot introducing the phone stack also provides a hands-on aspect and adds variety to our shooting angles.
The camera angles alternate between tight and wide shots, to provide the audience with first and third person point of views. We hoped to express the intimacy of face-to-face communication in the mid-close up shots, as a form of pathos, by showing the viewers the benefits of putting down their phones.
The setting is at an actual cafe (Spruce), which is a common hangout choice for our target audience. It is brightly lit, to display a casual lunch break between lessons. Our characters are university students to allow our target audience to better identify with the actors who share a similar age range.(293 words)
Photos:
**Disclaimer: Whenever I added photos into this post, medium tells me the story cant be saved and does not let me publish, so I’ve provided links to all our photos below
Our photos aim to address the issue of handphone use in social situations from a widening perspective as the photographer gradually increases his distance from the subject (mobile phone) in the photograph.
Here our first photo presents the issue from a close-up through a flatlay. The visual cue of colour and Gestalt’s theory of similarity allows the white phone to stand out from the sea of pink. The pink items act as indexical signs signifying a sleepover, a social situation where human interaction and bonding is key, with connotations of intimacy.
Our message emphasise on how sleepovers should be enjoyed with one’s friends and each other’s company instead of with their phone because it destroys the whole purpose of the sleepover in the first place. All the pink items are also spread out but close proximity between the items is maintained to ensure their uniformity, in terms of their colour, therefore isolating the white phone. This reflects our message of social isolation, or rather self-isolation. The idea of constructivism is also brought about as readers analyse each object separately before coming to the general conclusion about the message of this photo as a whole — to stop using their phones. (200 words)
Progressing from the first photo, this photo adopts a more “zoomed out” approach, from the perspective of a camera screen where it depicts the phenomenon of “selfies” as contained in the popular application Snapchat. From the cultural perspective, we believe that our target audience who are likely common users of this application will identify and understand this photo’s message.
Via the Gestalt’s theory of common fate, we can see that everyone in the group photo is highly concentrated on their mobile phones, except for the birthday girl holding the cake. The direction of her taking the “selfie” versus the her friends in the photo catches viewers’ attention, effectively pointing out the contradiction of a birthday celebration, which is typically filled with chatter and well wishes. Ironically, she is also using her mobile phone to document her celebratory moment, as marked by her post, instead of conversing with her friends.
This picture reflects the idea of Gestalt’s Theory of “the whole is different from its parts”. When viewing the individual elements in the picture, they may only understand that the birthday girl is neglected. But on observing the whole they may realise that every character in the photograph is phubbing. (199 words)
This photo now captures the scene of a couple from a third person point of view in the form of a medium close up shot which shows intimacy between both subjects, hinting at a romantic relationship. The vibrant colours in this photo are suggestive of a vibrant and joyful relationship.
The physical harmony of the pair is destroyed by the arms that stick out on both sides with mobile phones in their hands, creating tension. Tension is further emphasised by the couple being off-center in the photo, suggesting imbalance and that their romantic relationship may not be perfect as what it seems at first sight. Upon closer look, viewers can notice the gap maintained between their bodies and their body language reflects detachment.
The lighting in this photo also creates depth through interposition, as we can see shadows being cast upon the trees in the foreground of the photo, in front of the couple. Textural gradient can also be seen from the tree leaves and barks, creating further depth in the photo due to the trees’ distance from the couple. These textual gradients together with the overall background of green allows the couple to stand out in their plain clothing. (200 words)
This last picture now adopts the perspective of a third person, the observer, and depicts the lack of face-to-face interaction within a family due to the presence of mobile phones at the dinner table. In Asian culture, family dinners are observed almost ritually as every family member has to be present. This tradition is representative of the highly valued concept of harmony and kinship. The lack of eye contact between the characters translates the idea of self-isolation as each character appears to be in their own world, unaware of each other’s presence.
This photograph displays the greatest distance between the lens and the characters. Coupled with the wide frame, it allows viewers to observe phubbing from the macro perspective — an alternative outlook which may go unnoticed in one’s personal sphere. We hope that this will act as a trigger for our target audience to adopt our call-to-action as elaborated below.
The mute sign denotes our call-to-action of encouraging people to displace their phones either physically or by muting it. Likewise, it acts as an indexical sign of reflecting the character’s physically activity of not speaking to one another due to phubbing. (191 words)
