Survivor: First World Problems.
After haphazardly trying to come up with a concept that would be both mentally stimulating and entertaining, I believe I’ve arrived at a thought. Yes, just a thought. There’s a very good chance I’ll want to scrap everything and start something completely new, but at least I have something.
There were a lot of interesting ideas on ds106 site, and while I would have seriously considered the movie mash-up idea, I don’t have the time, or patience to do something on that large a scale. That, and it’d be really hard trying to come up with a real purpose for doing it other than brining Fanny Brice and Dolly Levi into the same quirky universe.
The “Over-Dramatized Reading” assignment is perfect for me – but I’ve decided to couple it with “Teenage Angst” assignment to give it more of a “meaningful and thought provoking sentiment.” Now the thought…
Everyone knows about #firstworldproblems, #teenageproblems, and how hilarious – if not completely true – they are. “Oh, my life is so hard!!” tweets a college sophomore from his brand new iPad as he has to wait longer than he expected for his coffee order that he paid for with a credit card his parents gave him. One of my major inspirations for this concept has to do with something we’ve all probably experienced at Baruch: the escalator “construction.” As I write this, I’ve already had to enture the trauma that is the third floor up escalator not working twice this week. Yeah, I had to actually walk. It’s ridiculous, but it’s our society.
So why not design a broadcast around the idea of an average teenager (spoiler: me), being stuck in the real world with all these problems? Like on Survivor, the broadcast would be diary-like confessionals where I express the hardships of having to actually buy a textbook because I can’t find a free download of it online, or that I have to get up and move to a different seat in the library because I need to charge my phone. Woe. Is. Me.
It should be a fairly simple process, just recording into my phone every time I come across one of these “problems,” and then editing it together with Garageband. I’m still working on how I want to incorporate music and sound effects, but I can almost guarantee some type of Cher-reference. (It’ll tie in, trust me.)
Oh, right. My purpose. The “grand scheme of things.” The “Modus operandi.” There’s two levels to it. I want to draw attention to the realization that we have so many advantages in life, and we usually take them for granted. I want people to realize how ridiculous they sound when the say the world is over because their DVR reset itself on them. Because it’s true. The second level is more for me personally: Why do I think these things? What drives me to be more upset over a lack of Wi-Fi rather than being happy with the fact that I’m a – supposedly – stable, healthy human being with everything he needs to thrive? I want this project to be a wake-up call.
3 responses so far
I think your idea certainly has the potential to provide your audience with some good laughs. A project like this, especially with someone that has a strong personality like yourself, can definitely be strong. Based on my reading, it seems like you are aiming for a deeper meaning than the first world problem memes. I am a little concerned with this, if only because I imagine myself laughing at your piece throughout, and then at the end there’s some deeper meaning that I was totally oblivious to. That’s a situation that, in my opinion, you’ll need to navigate carefully, because it’s best to avoid having dual meanings. By that I mean, when I am done hearing your piece, I don’t want to be unsure whether I should laugh or think. Nevertheless, the premise for this project is very good. I’m very interested in seeing what kind of first world problems you encounter during your time recording! Just be sure to keep them original. Best of luck!
You seem to have many different directions you could take your topic. Like Ben, I foresee challenges in having your audience both laugh and also feel a sense of guilt. I say guilt because that is what I feel when I watch a “First World Problems” video. I think it might be a good idea to bring a little bit of seriousness in your video interspersed throughout the humorous aspects. The blending of funny and serious aspects will be tricky, but if you can “pull it off”, I think your audio essay would be very successful. Nevertheless, I know your essay will be personal, unique, and very entertaining. Good Luck!
For some reason, half way through reading your proposal I thought that it would be a wonderful addition to your show to choose one sound effect (that hasn’t been commonly used) that’s purely funny and add it to the endings of those snip-its you plan on recording from your phone. The repetition of it could add a higher level of humor to your piece! Just a suggestion, if you don’t think it fits, just ruthlessly kill it :]
As a listener, I would personally really enjoy the humor that ends in a conclusive moral ending. What you suggested in your proposal sounds great, I would just say, be careful with its wording, because that may be your pitfall cliche moment, one you should consider important to avoid!