The Chase

Our topic on the contrivance of social media highlighted across the four images culminates in our video, which features a chase. The physical chase sequence serves as a visual metaphor for what we perceive to be the pursuit of ‘likes’ through the posting of photos on Instagram. The narrative focuses on the story of a young man, a representative of our current generation, who finds himself losing drive and purpose with his futile attempts to keep with this virtual chase for likes. This message is consistently reiterated throughout the video with the use of shutter sounds and graphics that resemble the Instagram ‘like’ notifications. These elements are specifically added at the typical locations popular amongst Instagram users — quaint cafes and obscure alleys that provide an aesthetic touch to Instagram photos.

The evocative question prompted at the end of the video serves to make viewers reflect on their intent, or more specifically, who they are trying to gain approval from via their selection of photos posted on Instagram. We also kept the ending deliberately ambiguous — viewers will not be able to conclude if he has stopped the chase or continues it. Rather than condemn or put a label on Instagram users, we wish to provide an opportunity for self-reflection and discourse on the impact of social media on an individual in today’s society.