I am going to produce a video project which explores how we as individuals, constantly compare ourselves to others and how social media fosters this. I want to show how we strive to find and live the perfect life. Media representations of the perfect life have dominated society, and many have strived to achieve ‘The American Dream’. Today many individuals, through social media partake in, ‘The Humble Brag’, where they present online how ‘perfect’ their life is online. My video starts with an individual looking at their Facebook profile on their laptop, and seeing how their friends are presenting their lives on the social network. The individual will see their friends posting about their ‘perfect life’ with photos of their brilliant boyfriend or exotic holiday, as they partake in ‘The Humble Brag’. The individual will feel dissatisfied with their own life. Then a pop-up will appear on their laptop screen inviting them to an auction where they can buy ‘The Perfect Life’. The individual will enter an auction house, where an auctioneer is selling items that people want to have which will grant them the perfect life such as a mansion and a beautiful wife. The auctioneer will address a seated audience in the auction house. When the audience in the auction room purchase certain items, they post their items on Facebook, so the circle of boasting and dishonesty about their life continues. My Idea

I have decided to set the video in an auction house and have an auctioneer as the focus of the piece, as I want to capture a traditional setting which is associated with selling items of high culture. Then I will juxtapose the auctions house traditional nature by selling the commodity of the perfect life. My video project will be unscripted, and this will help create a documentary-style feel rather than a drama narrative. I am using a real-life auctioneer, so the language will feel natural and not constructed. My video piece is intended to be viewed in a video gallery. I want to create the feeling that the auctioneer is auctioneering directly to the audience watching the video. I will achieve this by shooting close-ups of the auctioneer talking directly to the camera. This will then hopefully invite the audience to think about what items would make their life perfect. My video shows an extreme version of reality where people can buy their perfect life. It also explores our consumer culture and how we use social media to present a perfected version of ourselves.

Helga Dittmar: Consumer Culture, Identity and Well-Being: The Search for the Good Life Helga Dittmar’s book comments on the negative psychological impact that consumer culture has on the way individuals view themselves. She also details how important consumption is in our society, and she looks at the social and psychological consequences of having, buying and wanting material goods. ‘Goods are marketed as bridges toward achieving the material “good life”. It is very hard for consumers to not ‘remain un- touched by the continuous exposure to the normative socio- cultural ideals portrayed in the mass media as “normal”, desirable and achievable’ Dittmar’s book relates directly to my concept as I am exploring the negative effects of ‘wanting to have it all’ and I am directly looking at the effects of consumer culture on individuals behaviour. Shauna Niequist: ‘Instagram’s Natural Envy Effect’ Shauna Niequists article highlights how social media encourages people to present their lives as perfect. She also suggests how dangerous ‘The Humble Brag’ is to our relationships with one another. ‘My life looks better than it does in real life. Everyone’s life looks better on the internet than it does in real life. The internet is partial truths- we get to decide what people see and what they don’t, and that’s why its safer short term and that’s why its much, much more dangerous long term’ Her article links well to my idea, as I am showing how there is a cycle where people look at friends Facebook boasts, and then afterwards boast about their own life on the social network. Readings

The Higton Bros have produced a video which shows people boasting about their perfect lives on social media websites such as Facebook. This has greatly influenced my own video project. The video tells the fictitious story of one man’s life. It shows that what the man posts on Facebook about his everyday life, including his work and relationships on Facebook is very different from what is happening to him in real life. For example, in the video, the man is fired from his job, but on Facebook he posts that he ‘ just quit his dead end job’. This video made me think about how we now present a perfected version of our life on social media websites and how this could increase or change in the future. The boastful nature of individuals’ posts on social media surely affects our self-esteem levels, and changes the way we communicate with one another. The Higton Bros

Joe, the auctioneer in the piece demonstrates here the type of language he will use to sell the items at the auction. I am intending to use close-up shots similar to those used in Les Miserables when the auctioneer is selling. outu.be