Counterintuitive Spring 2023

Part of the Family

You’re the Best Thing to Happen

0:01 – We see an orange cat sitting on a couch. Judging by the couch, the nice pillows, the hardwood floors and the glass doors behind the cat, it seems to be a middle/upper class modern house. We also see a boy – probably around 5 or 6 years old – outside, playing in a sandbox. We don’t see that the child notices the cat or cares that it is inside the house. It is unlikely that the child doesn’t know the cat there; the cat has a collar and seems to belong. The boy is probably just so used to the cat being around that he doesn’t pay special attention anymore.

0:05 – We get a close-up of the cat, and he moves. We see him lick his lips; perhaps he has just eaten? Maybe he’s tired. But from what we’ve seen so far, the cat looks content with his surroundings. He is allowed on the couch; so we can infer that the cat is welcome in the home. He doesn’t seem jumpy or startled, just very relaxed.

o:09 – We get a close-up of the boy, playing outside in the sandbox. He seems quite content there. The sun is shining, he’s wearing comfortable clothes. It is most likely his house as he is alone and seems familiar with the surroundings. We see him smile slightly every once in a while, and it also looks as if he may be whistling. He is quite clearly enjoying himself and having fun building the sand sculpture.

0:11 – We see another close-up of the cat, this time he is looking outside at the child. He is staring as though he knows the child, another indication that he is welcome in/comfortable with the home. The cat’s tail is wagging, and he looks comfortable on the couch as he looks around.

0:17 – We see the child stand up in the sandbox, and he begins to stomp around. He crushes the structure he had been making previously, he seems to be enjoying himself. The cat is not fazed by this; instead, he lays his head on the arm of the couch and continues to watch.

0:25 – We see the words “A person is the best thing to happen to a shelter pet” appear on the screen. This ad is to promote the adoption of shelter animals, who have often been abused beforehand and are sick. Putting this at the end of the video proves a very good point though; shelter pets, adopted by the right families, can become very friendly animals with enough love and care.

Upon listening to the track along with the video, we discover that the video is entirely narrated by “the cat.” It is a witty commentary, in which the cat believes the boy is jumping around in a giant litter box. The cat feels bad for the boy, and is almost embarrassed, because he thinks the boy isn’t used to the “litter box” and needs help learning what to do. Another indication that the cat is happy in the home, as he feels comfortable looking out over the child and feeling some sense of authority.

0:04 – You witness a bunch of Caucasian kids on a school bus. The sun is out so the children could be on their way to school or on their way home from school. All of the children are wearing casual clothing instead of uniforms so they must attend a public school. From the looks of it the children attend a middle school, 6th to 8th grade (look too developed for elementary school but too young for high school) in a suburban area. In the left hand corner, a young girl wearing a fuchsia hoodie is standing up out of her seat and the bus driver (a Caucasian female)  is looking up in the mirror as if the children are being a distraction. From the looks of it, the children seem rowdy and disruptive so I assume that the school day is over because their energy level is high. Also, a young Caucasian blonde-haired boy in a long-sleeved, black shirt with a white stripe is in the middle of the aisle because he has been pushed out of his seat by the boy on the right of him with the orange t-shirt. Perhaps they are friends who enjoy play-fighting? I highly doubt it.

0:05 – The young Caucasian blonde-hair boy with the long-sleeved, black shirt, is now standing in the middle of the aisle because he has been pushed out of his seat. Right in front of him you see a young girl (who is slightly darker than the rest of the children on the bus, perhaps she’s Spanish or mixed with African-American and Caucasian) turn around. Her mouth wide opened and her face twisted up to express her aggravation, looks like she is about to lecture the young boy. While moving he could have touched her in a way she didn’t like. After all, while standing up on a moving bus it is sometimes hard to keep your balance so him tapping her could have all been done by accident but she doesn’t know that.

0:07 – As the young girl turns around more to continue lecturing the blonde-haired boy who is standing up in the middle of the aisle, he is now moving over to the right to sit in the seat behind her. While doing so a young boy with a grey shirt who is behind him, raises his left hand up with his fist balled. Is he about to hit him? After all when people ball their fist it is a gesture for wanting to fight or do harm towards someone. Or is he trying to defend the aggravated young lady who is probably still yelling at the blonde-haired boy?

0:08 – The boy with the grey shirt who left fist was balled in an upwards position is now aimed out to the blonde-haired boy who is in front of him. Knowing that his hand was once positioned upwards and is now near the boy, I assume he struck the boy with his fist. Whether he punched him in his shoulder or “tapped” him, he ended up getting his attention as the blonde-haired boy looks over his left shoulder where the boy in the grey shirt fist landed. All of the children on the bus now have their heads turned to the back of where both of the boys are. Did the blonde-haired boy yell when he was punched by the boy? Did he yell on purpose to get the attention of the bus driver since there is no student aide on the bus? I assume so because all of the students attention is now on them. This altercation could involve bullying since one person was hit in front of a large group of people and so far nothing was done back by the person attacked or anyone around him.

0:09 – His reaction is remarkable. Although he might be full of anger he surely doesn’t show it with his facial expression. He stares at the boy with the grey shirt who hit with a devious smile. Revenge could possibly be on his mind but not completely. After all this could be a case of bullying and so far he is out numbered since no one has done anything about it. Even after probably yelling.

0:10-0:13 – The boy with the grey shirt who hit him has now taken the same hand he struck the blonde-haired boy with and has pointed it to a seat. Is he threatening him to get in his seat? After all he isn’t asking. It’s clear he’s making a demand for him to get in it and get in it QUICKLY! Another young boy who is wearing an orange t-shirt makes immediate contact with the camera and turns around rapidly after doing so. I’m positive that these kids don’t know they are being recorded and also if someone took the initiative to record this it must happen quite often.

0:14 – He removes himself from the seat he was sitting in that was also occupied by two other male students. There wasn’t enough room for another person but he made it possible by sitting on the edge of the seat. Forcing himself in a seat that was already filled by two others shows that he’s trying to make friends or at least looks like he has some. However, he follows the order that was given to him as he positions himself in the seat he was directed to sit in. By giving in so quickly to follow the orders of another student this demonstrates that he isn’t new to this situation.

0:15 – Once again all the students direct their attention to the back of the bus where the blonde-haired boy is now sitting again. I assume the children are waiting for another altercation to take place. The real question is: will it?

0:16 – Didn’t take long for another student to antagonize him again. A young, dark-haired boy who is wearing a short-sleeved black t-shirt with a white logo on it, reaches from behind the blonde-haired boy and grabs him by the neck in a choking manner. This is now the second altercation that took place in a matter of seconds that involves this young boy being hit on by other students. It is now safe to say the blonde-haired boy is being bullied by his peers. After all, choking someone isn’t funny and should never be considered “play fighting.”

0:17-0:18 – The young, dark-haired boy continues to choke the boy by his neck. He must be doing harm to him, as the blonde-haired boy uses BOTH of his hands to try and stop him. The boy has a tight grip on his neck that could be cutting off his circulation since he resorts to using both of his hands to get him off of him.

0:19 – Another dark-haired boy, who is scrunched down in his seat so that his face isn’t all the way visible to the people behind him is trying to see what is going on. This young boy is what we would call a bystander in this situation. He isn’t doing anything to help save the blonde-haired boy who is being choked. His facial expressions shows fear. Is he afraid of being next? Has he already been bullied by these two young boys?

0:20-0:23 – For the next few seconds the focus of the camera is all around the school bus. Whoever is recording is trying to show the facial expressions of every student on the bus as the choking of the young boy is still going on. They look very frightened but no one decides to step in. The recorder focuses the camera on two males, both who were bystanders during this situation like rest of the students. But why focus the camera on mainly them two? How ironic that both of them are wearing glasses? A lot of times we hear about students getting picked on in school because they wear glasses. Does the term “four-eyes” ring a bell? It is a possibility they could be the next victims. After all the blonde-haired boy in this video, who was being bullied by multiple students wears glasses as well. None of the people who bullied him had on glasses.

0:24-0:31 – The last few seconds of the video shows a big black screen with the words “Teach your kids how to be more than a bystander” and provides the website StopBullying.gov. It is written in big, white bold letters which expresses how urgent and important this message really is! These 30 seconds are more effective at convincing both parents and kids there’s a problem. No parent would enjoy watching their child being picked on especially because they wear glasses or for any other reason. No child wants to be the one being bullied, therefore they shouldn’t do it to someone else. It’s even more discouraging to know that this is a real video! None of this is a joke so it’s just proof that situations like this are happening. I highly doubt if this wasn’t recorded and reported the boy who was being bullied wouldn’t have went home and told his parents. Mainly because of fear. So he’d rather tolerate it. Bullying should NEVER be tolerated.

The following is a visual review of a one-minute long anti-texting-and-driving PSA by the Ad Council, titled “Put it Down.”  The video in question can be found here.

At the very beginning of the video, at 0:01, we see the scene of a young boy, perhaps six years old, in what appears to be a park, judging by the shovel, monkey bars, merry-go-round, and slide that are shown in the background.  The entire scene is drawn in the style of an amateur artist, with each black line segment on the white background being rather crude, but clear enough to make an obvious picture.  The boy is playing with a toy car.  Given the context of the PSA, this is an obvious case of foreshadowing.  The audience must immediately question if the young boy will be killed in a texting-while-driving-related accident, or if another character to whom we have not yet been introduced will meet an untimely demise.

Three seconds later, at 0:04, another boy of the same approximate age has materialized from the bottom up, joined the original, and is now seated to the right of the first boy.  He has a toy car of his own.  Both boys are smiling, and clearly enjoying themselves and the company of one another.  Again, the context of the PSA must be taken into consideration: which boy will die in an accident?  Or, to be particularly morbid, will both boys be killed?  For that matter, can anyone be certain that either boy will lose his life—what if more characters are brought into the story?

Only a second later, at 0:05, a disembodied arm appears from the left side of the screen, and motions for the first boy to come.  One assumes that it is the hand of a parent, perhaps a mother—the hand looks slightly feminine.  Each boy wears a sad expression upon his face.  At 0:06, the first boy is being dragged away as the boys happily wave goodbye, smiling to one another.  The audience may assume that the boys have formed a friendship, although there is nothing to suggest that they could not have been friends already, save the spontaneous materialization of the second boy.

By 0:12, the boys have each moved to separate sides of the screen.  The entire background is white, with a black vertical line splitting the center of the screen.  This serves to show that the boys are in separate locations, although they are in reality only a few pixels apart. They both appear to be slightly older than in the beginning of the video, perhaps around the age of twelve.  Each boy is smiling, looking slightly downwards, and each holds a phone in his hand.  Above the first boy, there is a speech bubble coming from the phone in his hand.  Inside the bubble, one sees the words “NEW TEXT MESSAGE” centered at the top.  Beneath this phrase, it says, “Hey, wanna come over and play some video games?”  Because neither boy is seen typing, it is unclear if the boy is sending or receiving the message.  However, the fact that each boy holds a phone is clear evidence that the two friends are having a conversation via text message.

Two seconds later, at 0:14, a similar speech bubble appears above the second boy, containing the words, “Sure, be over in a bit :)”.  Because of this, the audience can now determine that the first boy was in fact sending his text message, as it would not make contextual sense for the boy on the right to send a question and then the answer to his own question.  (It is noteworthy that upon closer observation during further viewings of this video, the boy on the left moves his thumb while typing his message, eliminating the original ambiguity.  However, this is a very subtle detail, and not extremely noticeable at first.)  For three seconds, the divisive line disappears, and the boys are shown to be in the same location.  They sit on an unremarkable couch, facing the camera, presumably with a screen of some sort in front of them, although this cannot be seen by the audience.  Each boy holds a gaming controller of sorts.  After a brief sequence of the boys demonstrating some very animated facial expressions (excited ones from the left boy, and desperate ones from the right), both boys drop their controllers at 0:18 as the boy on the left throws his hands above his head with a joyous grin—a clear gesture of victory.  Conversely, the right boy is frowns and holds his right arm over his eyes, in an ashamed display of defeat.  After this, at 0:19, the boys stand, and the line appears.  Once again, the two boys appear to have aged, each looking to be around the age of 15 or 16.  It is evident that the friendship developed in the beginning of the story has lasted over the years.

At 0:22, the speech bubbles have returned, and the boys are once again separated on blank backgrounds.  The boys smile at their phones, as the left boy sends a text that asks, “Hey man, what time is practice today??”  It is noteworthy that at this point, it is clear who is sending the message, as the right boy’s thumb is moving as the speech bubble appears over his head.  However, it can already be inferred that this boy is the sender, based on the previous exchange.  The boy on the right responds at 0:24 with, “6:00.  See you then.”  His thumb, too, is now moving as he composes his reply.  While the text message seems brief and impersonal, the audience can assume that the boy is not angry with his friend, as both are smiling.  Rather, it can be assumed that the second boy is simply choosing to answer his friend’s question briefly.  At 0:25, the boys are shown to be in the same area once again—it appears to be a grassy field, which makes sense when considering the first boy’s earlier question.  From 0:25 to 0:28, both characters are wearing football uniforms and helmets, as the right boy throws a football to the left boy, who catches it.  Interestingly, the separating line in the middle is still present here, suggesting a more permanent divide between the boys.  Why is this?  There is no clear explanation, and it seems, for the most part, arbitrary.  Unless the permanence of the line is a failed attempt at showing a separation between the two boys—which would not make sense, given that they are clearly in the same physical space here—there seems to be no need for the line to remain.  Regardless of purpose, this is still noteworthy, albeit unusual.

At 0:30, the boys have returned to their white backgrounds, and again seem to be older than in the previous sequence.  They each appear to be approximately 18 years of age.  The boys are both smiling at their phones, while the boy on the right asks via text message, “Wanna catch a movie with me and the guys tonight?”  At 0:32, the left boy replies with, “For sure, be there soon!”  Once again, both boys move their thumbs while texting.  Two seconds later, at 0:34, the boys have moved again.  The boy on the left is shown behind the wheel of a car, evidently on his way to his friend’s location.  The second boy leans against a wall, with his arms folded comfortably, awaiting the arrival of his lifelong friend.  While both are originally smiling, the boy on the right begins to frown at 0:35, slouches lower at 0:36 and by 0:38 has reached into his pocket and texted his friend, asking, “Are you coming??”  Meanwhile, the boy on the left is still in his car—and, worryingly, not wearing a seatbelt over his shoulder.  This cannot be a good sign, and the context of the PSA suggests that the driving friend is about to meet an untimely death.

At 0:39, the driving boy looks down with a mildly interested facial expression, apparently having received his friend’s text message.  He reaches into his pocket, but then looks up in horror, as if seeing something that is not shown to the audience.  What is the matter?  Why is the boy frightened?  This question is soon answered at 0:40, as the boy’s side of the screen is suddenly filled with thick, dark, scribbly lines, and then becomes entirely black.  This is clear evidence of a car accident, unless the same force that brought the second boy into existence has now just as mysteriously caused the first boy to cease to exist.  This, however, does not seem likely, when considering the subject of the PSA, and the fact that the boy was texting while driving.  Recalling the original question at the beginning of the video, it now becomes clear that the toy car was foreshadowing the first boy’s own death.

By 0:43, the remaining boy looks quite concerned, and he has taken his phone out of his pocket.  “Where are you?” asks the speech bubble above him.  At 0:45, he is standing up straight, no longer slouched against the wall.  He looks distraught, and a new speech bubble is coming from his phone.  “Are you okay?” it says.  He continues to stand, looking quite concerned.  By 0:47, the second boy’s side of the screen fades, leaving the entire screen black.  However, this blackness does not symbolize the death of the boy (unless he was suddenly mauled by a bear, suffered a massive heart attack, or died from some other invisible and unforeseen cause), but rather the death of the friendship that existed between the two boys.  This is clearly the most effective part of the video, as it shows a lifetime of friendship being destroyed in literally one second of real time, due to the careless acting of texting while driving.  It is particularly successful because of the style in which this video is done—these two crudely drawn friends do not have any features that strongly set them aside from anyone else, which therefore allows the audience to imagine either of them as anyone.  These two boys could be any two people, since they are nothing more than lines on a screen.  This allows the message that death resulting from texting and driving can strike anyone to become clear and intimidating.

At this point, it is also important to wonder if there is any blame to be placed after this tragic event.  Surely, the right boy is at fault for texting his friend while he was driving, thereby distracting him—right?  Or does the blame rest entirely on the left side boy for looking at his phone while he was driving?  It is my opinion that in this case, both boys are at fault, as either one could have singlehandedly prevented the entire situation.  Therefore, this PSA not only establishes the dangers of texting while driving, but also the potential dangers of texting someone while being aware of the fact that the intended recipient is driving.  While it may seem insensitive to immediately attempt to place blame on either character, this reaction in fact bolsters the message of the video, as it is highly unlikely that any individual wishes to be responsible for their own death, or for that of one of their friends.

The screen remains black for one second, and at 0:48, a simulated sequence is shown.  It depicts the yellow dotted lines of a road, moving towards the camera.  It is partially lit, as if by headlights.  This is a clear depiction of a first-person view from a car windshield.  It is important to note that the camera is right over the lines, giving the impression that the “driver” in this case is right in the middle of the road—which, interestingly, could happen when someone texts while driving.  This seems to be a final attempt to reinforce the dangers of texting while driving, in case the PSA and the story of the two boys did not make it clear enough.  In the center of the screen, the words “PUT IT DOWN.” can be seen in white letters.  At 0:51, the words are replaced by “SAVE YOUR LIFE.”  The road sequence continues for the rest of the video, as the url for stoptextsstopwrecks.org replaces the command at 0:54, as well as the logos for the Ad Council, Project Yellow Light, N.O.Y.S.  The video ends at 0:59.

Girls Are Bullied Too

0:01

In the first shot, the camera whirs around kids walking and standing in a school hallway. The kids look young, their ages presumably ranging from thirteen to fifteen years old. They could be in eighth or ninth grade. The majority of the kids shown are Caucasian, and they are all dressed well and carry backpacks. They are hastily going about their day; keeping their heads down, walking fast or talking to their peers close by. In the distance of the hallway, there is a commotion between three girls. One of the girls has pushed another girl against a locker.

0:04

Seconds later, the three Caucasian girls are shown standing by the lockers. Two of them are taller and are seemingly well put together than the third girl, according to their style of clothes. The third girl could be stereotypically classified as a nerd because of her glasses and sloppy appearance.

0:06

The two girls are cornering her against the lockers and seem to be taunting her by pulling at her hair and laughing at her. They are talking to her, too. I can guess that they’re either insulting her or making fun of her. These girls are bullies. The victim swats the bully’s hands away from her hair. Her eyebrows are furrowed and she’s hunched her shoulders up, expressing her insecure and frightened demeanor.

0:07

One bully knocks the girl’s backpack off her shoulder and her stuff spills onto the floor. She gets down on her hands and knees to try to gather her things, and the other two continue to pull her hair and make fun of her.

0:11

As the bullies continue to taunt the girl, the other students in the hallway walk right on by, not bothering to stop or even look at what is happening. It’s kind of hard to miss what is going on, so I think they are just explicitly ignoring the situation. Maybe these girls are the bullies of the school, and this sort of confrontation happens everyday with the nerdy girl? Or maybe the other students support the bullying of the girl? Either way, she does not ask for help from anyone walking by. We are only able to see the faces of the three girls involved, the other students in the shot walk too fast or don’t look in the direction of the girls.

0:20

While the victim is still on the ground, one of the bullies grabs her face in and forces it in the direction of the other students in the hallway and says something to her. Is she telling her that no one likes her? Is she highlighting the fact that no one has come to help her? Either way, the students passing by still do not stop to look or help. The bully exudes physical and mental control in this instance.

0:23

The angle of the scene switches and another girl’s head comes into the shot. She is looking at the bullies and the victim through the mirror in her locker with a guilty expression. Was she watching the whole time? Why wouldn’t she step in? Maybe these girls once bullied her, and now she is too scared to help. Or maybe she is friendly with the bullies, but she doesn’t support what they do, and doesn’t do anything to help because she doesn’t want to sacrifice their friendship. Or, the girl is a friend of the victim, but she thought it would be “uncool” for her to come to her aid. In addition, the girl may have once been a bully, but stopped because she knew it was wrong, yet she still didn’t want to interfere with the situation, which may explain why she looked so guilty. Her face is solemn, and her eyes express guiltiness, but she does nothing to help the victim.

0:27

The scene fades and the words “Teach your kids to be more than a bystander” appear on the screen with a tan background. This suggests that the girl who was watching the bullies did not know how to stop them, so she remained a bystander. It also suggests that the other students who did nothing need to learn how to step in and stop bullying. In addition, it suggests that kids have to learn how to be a bystander; it’s not something that is innate. Since no one stopped what he or she was doing to help someone in need expressed the point that bystander intervention must be taught. This ad’s goal is to create awareness of the lack of knowledge many people have as bystanders, and to encourage the discussion of what to do and how to interfere in situations of bullying.

0.01:

In the opening scene, there is a young girl, about 15 years old, walking alone down a high school hallway. She appears to be walking quickly, and her pink backpack is swinging in time with her stride. Her back is towards us and it appears she is going to class or her locker. There are other students crowding the hallways and talking by the lockers. This looks like a typical day in a typical high school.

0.02:

In this shot we can see that most of the students have dispersed into classrooms. The bell is probably ringing to signal the beginning of class. There are a handful of students left in the hallway. The young girl continues to stride quickly towards a classroom or locker.

0.05:

Two girls, a blonde and a brunette, approach the young girl in the hallway. From the way the young girl backs up against the wall, you can tell they are not friends. The blonde and brunette proceed to touch and pull on the young girl, and the young girl responds by slapping their hands away. The other girls seem to find this amusing.   No one else in the hall seems to be concerned with the confrontation as they continue to casually walk to their next class.

0:10:

The bullies drop the pink backpack onto the floor, spilling its contents. As the young girl drops to her knees to pick up her books, the brunette bends down to mock the young girl while the blonde girl pulls on the young girl’s hair and laughs. They are obviously harassing the young girl. Still, no one in the hallway seems to pay any attention to the obvious bullying going on right in front of them. Interestingly, the young girl being harassed is dressed plainly and wearing glasses, while the bullies are attractive and fashionably dressed. Not all “popular” girls are “mean girls”, and I have known nerdy people who are truly obnoxious. But for the purposes of this advertisement, the producers went with the stereotypical bullies and victim.

0.15:

The bullying picks up in intensity. The brunette proceeds to step on the young girl’s backpack while the blonde girl takes the young girl’s glasses and acts as if she is going to break them. The brunette and the blonde continue to touch the young girl and pull at her hair as she tries to pick up her backpack. The young girl is obviously very upset and this seems to fuel the bullies and they continue to harass her. Students continue to ignore this scene, carrying on like nothing was happening. Perhaps they are afraid of the wrath of these “mean girls”, or bullying like this happens so often that it is hardly noticed. Maybe they just don’t know what to do, but it is clear that no one will step in to rescue the young girl.

0.20:

The bullying escalates even more. The brunette kneels on the ground next to the young girl. The touching turns to aggressive grabbing as the brunette yanks the young girl’s head to turn it in a specific direction. No one is stopping the brunette and blonde, which seems to make them even more bold. They are now grinding their feet on the pink backpack while the young girl looks on helplessly. Again, no one stops to help her. It is not clear why this is happening, but it appears to not be first time, based on the nonchalance of the other students in the hallway.

0.25:

A new view is established through a locker mirror directly across from the bullying scene. It is the locker of another young girl who is watching the entire situation through the mirror. She looks upset but resigned by the bullying. The look on her face tells me she is disgusted, and she closes her locker. Will she take action against the bullying, or will she walk to her class not really knowing what to do?

0.30:

This powerful advertisement ends with the words ” Teach Your Kids How To Be More Than A Bystander. Visit StopBullying.gov”.   Parents seeing this advertisement will probably be motivated to talk to their child about bullying and whether or not they are being bullied in school. I think people are more comfortable staying out of confrontational situations, however when it is their child that is involved, people are more likely to demand action. Most, if not all, schools now have a no tolerance bullying policy in place, but parents need to become involved to give their children the skills to deal with bullying behaviors.

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QKNnCHfOdXg

0:02

A not too old, black car drives down what it looks to be a quiet and well off neighborhood.  The car seems to be going speed limit down the street.The driver is not shown in the shot as the car drives. The viewers are watching the scene from an outside point of view.

0:03

A young blonde girl, maybe a junior or senior in high school is driving the car. She seems attentive and is paying attention to the road ahead of her. The girl is in a seat belt. She has both hands on the wheel tapping her thumbs. It can be assumed that she knows how to drive well. It seems that the viewers are viewing inside the same car that was shown previously.

0:05

In the next second after the girl is shown, there is a screen that is showing a new text message. It seems as if the viewers are seeing the from the girls point of view. The shot is specifically focused on the fact that the girl got a text message. Based that the cell phone is facing front, it can be assumed she had her phone sitting somewhere where she could see the screen.  The screen is extremely zoomed in to the screen of the phone.

0:06

The blonde girl driving is now looking down, her eyes not on the road. She is most likely looking at the phone somewhere nearby in the car. She looks as if she is contemplating on whether to look at the phone or not. The view is from the inside of the car.

0:07

The girl then looks back up to the road as she continues to drive forward for a few seconds, ignoring the fact that she has a message on her cell phone.

0:10

The young girl is now reaching for the phone, it appears to be in a cup holder. The focus of the shot is on the cell phone and not the girl. It seems as if the cell phone is empowering everything that is happening. It is now shown that the girl had put her phone in a place that she could see while driving.

0:13

The girl is now smiling and looking down. Her eyes are not on the road anymore. Her mind seems to be captured by the looking and replying of the text message shown at the beginning. The car is still in motion going down the street.

0:14

The screen goes black.

0:15

The screen flashes back an we see the cell phone from the girls point of view. The cell phone is in her hand and the image is not focused.

0:16-0:19

The screen not focused, it seems blurry. The girl has the cell phone in her hand, it is on and there is a keyboard showing. It seems as if the picture is in motion. The screen flash back and forth from black to showing the girl typing on her phone. The focus of the shot is on an intersection, it seems as if the viewers are seeing the intersection from the inside of the car. This intersection during this moment does not have any cars. There is a stop sign.

0:20

The view is now from an outsider’s perspective. Now at the intersection has the girls car and another new car. The cars are not too far apart from one another. The car that the girl is driving is over the white line where the stop sign is.  Within another second the cars look like they can easily crash into each other.

0:21

The girls head is tilted up as she sees what is happening in front of her. Her eyes appear to almost be closed as she screams.

0:22 The screen reads in “Stop the texts Stop the Wrecks” in all caps. The girl in the video must have crashed into the car in the intersection because she was distracted by a text message.

.https://youtu.be/-jFAvIuAev0

• 0:01 There are two hands along the outskirts of the screen. I am not able to tell if they are male or female hands but they are both are holding wine glasses. They are very full of what appears to be wine.
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• 0:03 The hands are coming together in slow motion from opposite sides of the screen, possibly for a cheers. Presumably a momentous occasion that inspired a celebration? Why are they coming together slowly? Maybe to exaggerate the occasion and enhance the effect of the cheers.
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• 0:06 The glasses are clinking for their cheers.
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• 0:07 The glasses came together for a cheers but when they touched, they shattered. There are pieces of glass flying all over. There is also wine everywhere. The whole scene is just one big mess. It is hard to tell why they crashed because they seemed to be coming at each other slowly. DO the glasses represent cars crashing after alcohol consumption?
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• 0:15 Now two glass mugs full of beer are coming together for “cheers”. The mugs have a logo on them that appears to be a University logo. It appears to be the same set of hands as before. These glasses are also coming in at slow motion. Are they being clinked with the same force as the first set of glasses? Did they not learn their lesson the first time?
  
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• 0:16 When these mugs clink, they also shatter everywhere. Indicating that another set of cars have crashed due to alcohol consumption.
  
  
• 0:22  A third set of glasses, full of whiskey coming in the cheers again. Still appears to be the same hands. Will the people monitor their cheers so that a shattering of glasses may be avoided? So the accident may be avoided?
  
  
• 0:23 A hand appears and intercepts the collision of the two glasses. Someone stepped in so the another accident does not occur. Is that the hand of a police officer? Did law enforcement have to step in? On the top of the screen, the words “Drinking and driving can kill a friendship” appear. We realize that the accidents that already occurred had been deadly. The glasses represent car collisions that could happen if drinking continues.
  
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• 0:28 The glasses do not collide and there is no shattered glass. That means they avoided the crash and the mess that goes along with it. It was very effective in demonstrating how detrimental drinking and driving could be.