User:ChloeXX/thesisoutline 1107

Thesis Outline: Why boring live videos are addictive and how do I reflect this on my project

Introduction:

After watching a talk on “slow TV” by Thomas Hellum who designed the 7hours 14 minutes live documentary “Bergen-Oslo Train Real Time”, I was impressed by the statement “Boring is addictive”. The concept of “slow TV” with no storyline or drama, just let the objects in the footage themselves tell the story is an interesting perspective to me. For the audiences, sit down and enjoy the boring video is the most safe and comfortable thing to do since it is an unidirectional behavior and no need to do anything in return. In a way no matter what the content are, the videos simply feed up the mind and make us feel like we are experiencing. The easier the content is, the more comfortable to watch. In reality TV, the producer team needs to take the research on what audiences want, then put the actors in a same venue and set a goal, let the actors to cooperate to solve a same problem. What audiences like to do is to talk about the characters as if they actually know them, some characters has their own sense of style that attract people. It reflects that people need to be accompanied due to boredom is so hard to deal with.

1. What’s wrong with watching those videos?

The hostess show in live stream apps, the titled “morning routine” or “Get ready with me” videos are getting big number of viewers. They are too lack of content that even nobody admit that they watch them. Then who are the audiences? What makes me click the video is because I search every single question or the idea popped in my mind on Internet. I blame myself for watching them. But why it feels guilty when I just want to be alone and relax? The face-to-face communication becomes less important, the social circle ended up with digital contacts. Even though you don’t see each other anymore you can still get updates. Social network creates an illusion to make people live in each other’s texts and images, if there is nothing wrong with this then it is nothing wrong with watching live videos. In somewhere a hostess make her life happen, then her life has been transformed to codes and signals gone through the receiver’s screen. You probably know the character more than a friend, some people lives in Internet which is a totally illusion. So I assume that live videos revealed one thing: that human civilization is made out of illusion. (I’ll explain)

2. What audiences want from the live videos?

In film school I was taught the classic “3 acts screenplay” and its storyline structures. It is too detailed that what happened in each minute can be designed. People love the simple ”good people win the evil” ending, when it comes to film industry we can clearly see the 3 acts play gets the most viewers and this story core works all the time. As a screenwriter I was requested to write the structure like that even though I cannot bear my storylines, they are incredible boring. Sitcoms are boring as well, usually structured in only one scene and the 6 main sarcastic characters pushed all the dramas happen. After watching a while the audiences started missing the illusionary characters. That is a signal of addiction. But for the producers, only get big audience rating means success.

3. What if you drown into those videos?

• They are the surface of pop culture.
• Each individual make this commercial society run by consuming and digesting.
• Knowing what other’s doing and gossiping about it would make one fit in.
• Think less and do more.
• Desire

Referencing

Key text:

Lisa Steele: I will still make boring art
Carole Bennett: Boredom - a very real road to addiction
Sigmund Freud: The Future of an Illusion
Roger Waters: Amuse ourselves to death

Video List:

“Bergen-Oslo Train Real Time”
Thomas Hellum: The world’s most boring television and why it’s hilariously addictive
Youtuber Jeffree Star
Youtuber Jenna Marbles
Youtuber Chloe Arden

Youtube keywords:

Summer Morning Routine
The Fall Favorites
Last minutes Halloween look
My boyfriend does my makeup
New Haul
Room tour
Drug store VS high end