Social Media, the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

Social Media is here to stay!

Social Media is here to stay and it is impacting the day-to-day lives of our teens! Records, 8 track tapes, cassettes, CD’s, mobile phones, and now smart phones; Radio, television, internet, and now social media. Addictions: alcohol, drugs, pornography, and now phones.

As with everything under the sun, it is up to us to guard our hearts and our minds. What harm can be done in teens lives through social media? We have always had to use self-control in a self-indulgent world. Today is no different.

Are teens desensitized to social media or have they just grown up in the middle of it and have a better handle on how to navigate through it? In this video, we have examples of it being used for good; connecting; being used for bad; ridiculing; being used for ugly; bullying. Future articles will explore how teens can self-evaluate the healthiness of this impact from a personal perspective. 

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My focus was to incorporate a variety of opinions from teachers and students in order to compile a general idea on the impact social media has on teens. The title page was created in Photoshop CC by taking a fun existing photo, blurring the background and adding the title and bug and then importing into Premiere CC. The videos were recorded using an iPhone 6 and a Canon EOS 7D and then imported. Once previewed, the most prevalent and/or emotional parts were copied and pasted into a second sequence and then named to keep organized and simplified. Once the cuts were in order, Ripple Delete was used to bring each cut together.

Because the indoor video with the three teens was a little bland, I Adjusted the Lighting Effects to directional lighting with an intensity of 20. Each interview was offset to the right or left and then zoomed in by using Position and Scaled under Video Effects. Each name was created with text in Premiere CC and then the opacity was decreased to 80%. The placement was duplicated by noting the measurements for each one and then entered. The text becomes its own graphic in the sequence. It can be shortened or lengthened according to how far you pull out the graphic. Each one was lengthened for the duration of the speaker and then transitioned.

Cross Dissolve was used between each clip and then Dip to Black was used to transition to the rolling credits. The rolling credits were created in the title panel. After creating the text the rolling was created by using Motion and Position under Effect Controls panel. It was very exciting to see how this was created. It’s faster than I would have liked but it was all the time I had left and I had already deleted two and one-half hours of interview time.

Storyboard:

:05 Title Page: Social Media Import-fade to Drew.

:05-:33 Drew: Can be harmless-fade to Conflict.

:34-1:02 Drew: Conflict-fade to Chloe-transition through three main statements.

1:03-1:19 Chloe: Hurting people hurt people-fade to Sammie.

1:19-1:54 Sammie: Ugly: Bullying-fade to black for impact and transition to outside.

1:55-2:09 Keith: Overwhelming emotion-fade to Kaleb.

2:10-2:22 Kaleb: Bad: Ridicule-fade to Jennifer.

2:23-2:40 Jennifer: No Connection-transition two statements and fade to Nathan with motion.

2:41-2:50 Nathan: Good: Connection-fade to Victoria.

2:51-2:55 Victoria: Just a Teenager-fade to black.

2:55-3:00 Black background w Rolling Credits: Text casual.

Draft Video Story

Big ideas. Boy did I have big ideas? That’s how I collected almost 2 hours of video and audio from teens and teachers. I was indecisive regarding my videos’ purpose and what I wanted to communicate. I skimmed a few of my serious teen books: Hurt, Disconnected, Tough Guys and Drama Queens and Hooked… I surfed a little only to find more of the same. What purpose should my video have?

I see how much teens are hurting today. Reports show a 37% increase in adolescent depression and most significantly in girls. Research is showing that there is not an increase in the usual factors that would support the reasoning behind this depression; home environment, drug, and alcohol use. The risk factors seem to include cyber-bullying (more toward girls than boys), excessive amounts of screen time, materialism, isolation. Quantifying through doctor’s Well-Check Visits will provide a concrete direction when helping these kids.

“We have become a culture that focuses more on material things and less on relationships,” said lead researcher Jean Twenge, author of “Generation Me.” There are signs of narcissism in many teens who often prefer online communication than actually connecting in a relationship. Many teens are isolated which can lead to depression and many are under an immense amount of pressure that can lead to anxiety and feelings of being overwhelmed. Brokenness. Pain. Trauma. Cries for help!

Of course!

Understanding pressure. Building resiliency. Finding meaningful relationships. Setting boundaries. Feeling under control. Knowing themselves. Listening! Yes, Listening!

LISTEN! 

…and then my heart sank. I recalled listening to a podcast by Mark Gregston who interviewed a young girl that tried to commit suicide by shooting herself. Instead, she paralyzed herself from the neck down. When he asked, “Why?” She blatantly told him she just wanted to be listened to, and then said, “They are listening now.”

You R Important!

The Lord provided great opportunities to interview teachers and teens. One teaches the less fortunate and the other a teacher of the more privileged. The background noise was awful so I mostly quoted these ladies. I interviewed one teen who has been through a life altering situation but is one of the most encouraging kids I know. Lastly, I interviewed three teens together who attend three separate schools in our area. It’s fantastic that the teens are sharing these words of wisdom… better than parents preaching any day.

Previously, I had to cut a 17-minute interview down to 3 minutes. I used many of the same techniques and then added transitions that I learned in the tutorials but I have a lot more work to do! I’m uploading this very RAW draft while I continue to add transitions and work on the quotes and audios. It’s still at 6 minutes (taking 45 minutes to upload) so now I’m wondering if I should only use the video of the three teens and save the additional videos and audios for another time… I have so many ideas.

Premiere is a sophisticated program that continues to challenge me in each project. Through trial and error and wisdom from Professor Lisa Waananen Jones, I’m fumbling my way through it. Using three separate sequences, I was able to prioritize the clips… though not without challenges. I learned that it’s important for the sequence settings to be the same. Through an additional tutorial from Lisa, I was able to quickly apply default transitions (however, not on this current draft video).

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Adobe Premiere Tutorials

Adobe Premiere Tutorial: Shooting and Sequencing Basics

 

Nature’s Garden_Raw

Adobe Premiere Tutorial 2: Effects and Keyframes

LIFEguarding: You R Important

 

TEEN SEGMENT

“You are Important!” The Teen Segment’s mission is to get teens to recognize, KNOW and value themselves. The goal is to identify ways for teens to understand the importance they add to this world and then offer ways to seek to understand themselves. Peace In is a multi-resource site providing insight as real people share their stories of success, resilience, hurt and heartache while ultimately, proving survival when the Lord becomes your anchor.

 

“LIFEguarding” is an interview with an 18-year-old Lifeguard, Sammie, that has the life of a 3-year-old boy in her hands while Mom is yelling at her to save her child. The interview takes place shortly after the incident in Sammie’s home with her parent’s close-by.

 

The style of the interview is based on NPR’s “Fresh Air” with Terry Gross. She has a conversational style of interviewing that is genuine and engaging yet allows the guest to answer the question without her own personal comments interfering. “What puts someone on guard isn’t necessarily the fear of being ‘found out.’ It sometimes is just the fear of being misunderstood.” Terry Gross

 

The interview was recorded using Memo on the iPhone 6s then AirDropped to a MacBook Pro. The audio software used was Adobe Audition where the file was imported into a multi-track file. To keep organized, the 17-minute interview was transcribed with Inqscribe, a free transcription software that coordinates timing and wording allowing for planned edits.

 

The allotted audio interview was 3 minutes, which required cutting fourteen minutes of audio while maintaining the essence of the dramatic true story. The first step was to cut and paste the vital story points into a working track to simply the editing process. Each segment was then reduced by removing pauses and anything unnecessary in the storytelling with the Time Selection Tool and delete. Due to non-destructive editing in Audition, the edits were not permanent. Zoom controls, command Z, and toggling between the original track and the working track were used significantly. The clips were combined using Ripple Delete and Gap. In some areas, Fade In and Fade Out were used to tie the clips together.

 

Once the story was in order, the introduction was created using the same technique as the interview itself. The volume was reduced to match the interview volume. Lastly, the royalty free background music from e-soundtrax was added. The chosen music was subtle but dramatic specifically using the bass clarinet.

 

This interview gave Sammie the opportunity to talk through a difficult experience which is what is always recommended after such events. It’s an example of the purpose of this site… to help our teens. She’s doing well although she wishes the mom would reconcile with her.

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