Just a Thought - NEA pitch

Upon pitching my NEA task/video i decided to change my pitch and track. 'Just a Thought' by Gnarls Barkley (Ceelo Green and Danger Mouse) resonated with me upon hearing it. The lyrics reference mental health issues and the aggressive drum track accompaniment expresses the anger and rage that sometimes comes with mental health problems.

I then developed the idea of following a performer/student who would play this drum track live as use of escapism from the world and their depression. I've chosen a young male as mental health is something that men are often taught not to express or talk about and i wanted to show how this effects this individual.

This is my first draft of a Storyboard:
















And the following power point is the NEA product pitch that i presented:

NEA Plan 2 by Edward Pick on Scribd

Postmodernism in 'Humans'

'Humans' is set in the present day and to establish this and a self-reflexive setting the produces use intertextuality and pastiche. For example:

-The character Elster is a reference to Alfred Hitchcock's "Vertigo" where Gavin Elster creates the 'perfect' woman.

-Odi is a reference to Tim Berenes-Lee's Open Data Institute

-The character of Nishka is very reminiscent of Pris from "Blade Runner" -the basic pleasure model.

-The whole show is a remake of the Swedish programme 'Real Humans'

-The Hawkins' family name may be a reference to physicist Stephen Hawking.

-Anita mentions Isaac Asimov's three laws of robotics (Asimov blocks) when she 'accidentally' hurts Laura

-Sophia the robot can be seen in the opening sequence amongst other real-life robot.

The use of this intertextuality and pastiche creates a self-reflective setting for the text. However this isn't completely self reflective as technology is far more developed in this world, the synthetic people are shown to have been completely integrated into society doing the more working-class jobs that people wouldn't usually want to do. This creates Simulacra in the text as the world is only partly similar due to the advanced technology in this world.

Tzetan Todorov - Narrative

Tzvetan Todorov was a Bulgarian-French historian, philosopher, structuralist literary critic, sociologist and essayist and geologist. He studied classic fairy tales, stories and fables and developed his theory on narrative from them. His theory suggests that they, and many texts all follow a very similar formula for their narrative:

EQUILIBRIUM: The given state or balance of affairs before the..

DISRUPTION: Disruption of the equilibrium (may stem from a catalyst such as an antagonist) 

RECOGNITION: There is disruption -probably now recognised by protagonist

RESOLUTION: The attempts to restore the equilibrium

EQUILIBRIUM: Restoration of a similar or changed state of affairs after the disruption has been resolved

In Humans this does take place however there are some changes. Firstly a fragmented narrative is used (part of Baudrillard's Postmodernism theory) with features such as flash backs and multiple narratives taking place at once. Furthermore the formula shown takes place however, often as used as profitable technique, the equilibrium at the end is not restored. Often things are 'teased' or hinted at draw the audience in wanting to find this equilibrium in the following episodes. An example of this is shown in Humans where although the family have reached a state of peace with Anita's presence (equilibrium) she then does the unexpected and walks away holding the younger child.