images and idea

 

Ideas for the documentary:

I wanted the documentary billboards to portray that it  is about the effects on the target audience. I want to  make it about how it links to them personally as well as overall, provoking empathy for those  with other experiences but also creating something which suggests it will be relatable. As it’s targeted at 16-25 year olds, I wanted to use lockdown as the basis for my billboard as I felt this sort of documentary could  be used for future people of this age demographic to learn about the reality of Covid for different people, as well as being used to allow the effects on the current target audience to be depicted in a relatable and appealing way.

 I therefore considered the effect on this age group in terms of education, mental health and social interaction. I wanted to depict specifically the effects of Covid lockdown on reliance on technology,  the planet’s  environmental improvement during Covid, loneliness/ mental health and the different experiences of people.

In aiming to appeal to the target audience of 16–25-year-olds, I considered how this demographic  will have had detrimental elements of their lives affected by Covid, such as their education, wellbeing and  social confidence. Therefore, presenting the negative representation of the experience in the posters  I feel was  important, not only in connecting with this audience with regards to being relatable,  but in emphasising the overall theme of the lasting effect that the pandemic has had, despite the time passed.  I would like to aim and focus these posters on featuring specifically people of this age demographic in it so as that this audience are hopefully able to relate and feel represented in them as well as including depiction of older people to convey opposing experience.

Particularly as it is apparent that teenagers and young adults can be viewed negatively by other age demographics in society, and in media depictions too,  it may be refreshing and appealing for this audience to feel related to with regards to the mental health associations. Statistics show that throughout lockdown, percentages of young people struggling with their mental health increased by 12.8 as opposed to a former 4.5%. During lockdown 87% of young people felt that their experience during lockdown made them feel isolated and 88% of people felt this was detrimental to their mental health. The struggle being depicted in my billboard would likely attract interest therefore from many, due to resonation and for secondary target  audiences too; being relatable to an extent means it can be watched by a wider audience. I’m hopeful the billboards  would likely also appeal through curiosity of the varying experiences promoted of an experience shared by so many people, as well as down the line provoking questions from the new generation to ask their family members. I wanted to design my work to be intriguing from an educational perspective for further young people and for the  current, who may be oblivious to what others went through.

For all of my billboards, I wanted to have the well-established BBC Three logo on the bottom right with the pink, white and black correlation of it reflected across all of them. For example, in the title and additional inspiration I used pink backgrounds to the text, to tie in with this logo but also to make the words stand out more greatly. Regarding the title, I also used a green background to it as I felt it gave subtle connotations to germs and as it appeared a little texture in its pattern would help draw attention to the name. I chose ‘The Corona Effect’ as the name as it is rather self-explanatory and so therefore - as it is a less common genre of documentary - is clearer in its intentions and themes. The slogan ‘Behind the Masks’ I felt was effective as it is ambiguous in wherever it is referring to masks in a physical or metaphorical sense. I wanted to use the idea of masks to tie in with ideas regarding masking and putting on a tough façade amongst young adults. It also fits well with the theme of lockdown and so I felt that it ties the two themes together: the effect of Covid in young people, and how Covid was regarding masks etc.

For each of the billboards I also wanted to include the necessary information e.g., the time and place it was on, as well as how it was on I Player. Upon researching BBC Three documentaries, I noticed this would be noted on many of them and I felt that it offers more ways to watch it, meaning more people would - if seeing it in passing - establish its easy to access, meaning it’s something somebody may just turn on if they see it in there and remember it looked interesting. I feel that it is effective to include this also, as it broadens audiences if they know they can’t watch it at 9pm which I listed it as.

For a billboard being representative of young adult mental health as a result of Covid, I want  to use a prominent image of someone who fits the age demographic and who appears a little numb. With their hood being up it does somewhat conform to stereotypes of teenagers, however I do feel that it enables the message (emotion of the person depicted)  to resound.  I feel that if I use a picture of a black and white globe I have as a background, it provokes connotations of the looming and dark presence of worldly issues such as Covid. The use of this globe would also tie in with two of my other posters in which I would use the same image to convey and provoke similar ideas. I wanted to retain a relative theme across all of them so this imagery helped me do this.

I chose to have a mask covering the person’s eyes as I leant into the phrase of ‘the eyes being the window to the soul’ and felt that it exemplifies the idea of the pressures teenagers feel to stifle and conceal hardship. It  creates connotations of the pandemic forcing us to mask in both a literal and metaphorical sense. It hopefully helps to portray numbness and again, act as a symbol for how many may be feeling in a clear but hopefully meaningful way. I opted to have the words ‘weighed down by lockdown’ across the mask to further the portrayal of the mask tying the person down, in the same way as how lockdown restricted us from our usual lives. Again, hopefully this would act as ambiguity in the physical appearance of the person  wearing the mask as well as representing the weight carried from the mental health toll. I used a blue background a is felt it gave connotations to sadness or coldness which may be associated with numbness.

I also wanted to focus on how, due to the impact of technological reliance during the pandemic for communication and entertainment, young people are more addicted and absorbed in devices, which can negatively impact other people such as family whose company they would rather replace with devices. For the billboard regarding technology reliance as an effect of Covid, I am hoping to prompt young people to evaluate their own lives and see if they need to make changes regarding technology. I wanted to depict a teenager as being on their phone despite being in the company of an older relative to show the attachment formed especially during lockdown to socialise, connect, do schoolwork and be entertained. Although this showing a less positive side of this demographic even though  it is targeted at them, I wanted to use it to create thought rather than be accusing, I used  the question’Have we social distanced to far?’ As a subtitle to do this. I used this alongside the imagery of a teenager being engrossed on their phone despite being in the company of an older relative, to highlight that we have become hooked, and somewhat recoiled into ourselves as a result of the isolating experience of lockdown. I feel that this would hopefully make  a target audience want to watch the documentary as they may resonate with this situation.  I’d also hope that my poster represents how young adults  aren’t all simply addicted for no reason and that lockdown likely had a big impact as to why we are so reliant on technology now. It not only acts as questioning for the audience but also shines light on the effects on older people as well, which could act as a prompt towards change.

I kept the same name and slogan design and placement on the billboard as the others for continuity and  to hopefully be memorable; if the billboards were to be in the public eye, you might notice the correlations between them. For this one I blurred the light and focus a little within the scene to show how disconnected we are, alike to how the appearance of the billboard is a little blurred as if there was a loss of connection online.

There will also be positive representations within these posters as well which may strike accord with many people also. When planning my billboards, I spoke to friends about what they remember of Covid. A majority said playing video games and spending time doing stuff they wouldn’t otherwise get the time to partake in. I therefore wanted to design a billboard which was promoting how the documentary would cover contrasting experiences and considered how this  may appeal to secondary target audiences within families, as it Is an experience shared and said  experiences may have been different depending on age and work, etc. This contrast being shown in the billboards would be a key construct of trying to appeal to a wider audience of our demographic as not everyone had the same experience and so hopefully there would be at least one billboard which strikes accord. To contrast how lockdown has affected us differently, I used a coloured globe for the background image and within,  allotted pictures of opposing experiences, one which was someone grieving, clutching a photo of a loved one, and the other was two people spending time together witching their household. I felt from discussing with people of the age  my  target audience would be, that it’s easy to forget people lost family and that it was such a large scale situation when you're stuck at home.

Therefore, I opted to depict these contrasting images as a reminder and so that all my billboards were exemplifying a different message within. I used a black and white gradient for the backing for the poster as a whole as I felt it sets the tone for the depiction of loss. I kept the information such as name, slogan and information the same as the other billboards so that they - despite being different depictions of lockdown's effect - correlate as being linked.

For my final poster, I wanted to incorporate a more positive effect of Covid and opted to focus on environmental impacts. I used half of the black and white globe picture, and half of the coloured, to show how before lockdown pollution was corrupting the environment. I also edited a photo I had of a plane to reinforce the negative side of before lockdown. On the colourful side I edited a mask on the globe. I wanted to depict the idea of the Earth having a chance to breathe. I chose to do this as, as much as this isn’t directly focussed on   our target audience, it provokes thought and may encourage people to look more positively at something difficult. I further used a cloudy and clear sky as a background to enforce this pollution vs clear association.