Tips

Creative Tips | Filming Tips

Digital media may be something you have grown up with- it’s evolved along with you and you may even take for granted the many ways it impacts your life. It has changed the way we run our finances, make purchases and get our news. It influences how we live our lives, from the way we communicate to the way we work and spend our personal time.

We all adapt in some way to these changes, but is it more pronounced in people over the age of 50? Are there differences between how people who have grown up with digital media use it versus people who have adopted the technology? Is there a generational gap on how digital media is utilized? Are boomers using the technology for different purposes compared to other generations?

We want to see your take on how people age 50 and over interact with digital media and technology. Some questions to take into consideration...

Has online video and user generated content in places like YouTube impacted baby boomers?
What about created video content on websites like Hulu and CNN? Has media consumption habits changed with technology?
How do baby boomers interact on social networking sites such as Facebook and LinkedIn?
Do they get news and information from blogs, feeds or micro-blogging sites like Twitter?
In what ways are baby boomers utilizing smart phones, such as the IPhone or Droid?
How the internet has influenced the way we make decisions

We’re interested in your POV on the above points as they relate to baby boomers. Interviews and observation are great ways to gain insight and provide your perspective, but remember creativity is encouraged. So come up with some really thought provoking questions, create some interesting situations, or try something completely unexpected and original! Just remember to tie it back in to the way baby boomers interact with digital media.

Here are some current digital media platforms and some sample ideas and questions you might incorporate into your film:

Twitter:

Film a conversation with someone 50+ and ask them to explain what Twitter is and why they should be on it.
Challenge your parent(s) to set up a Twitter profile and see how many people she/he can get to follow in an hour (works especially well if they don’t know what Twitter is!).
Have your subjects converse in real life in 140 characters or less. Some parents like to repeat themselves, this time they have to keep it brief!
Document someone 50+ using Twitter as a way to communicate in the workplace and show how it works for them.

Facebook:

Tell us about the people in your life who are 50+ (teachers, family, family friends) who you are friends with on Facebook.
Interview them through Facebook.
Illustrate how they use Facebook differently or the same as people in other age groups.
Document someone 50+ building a profile and getting acclimated to Facebook over 1 or 2 weeks.
Do/did your parents Facebook stalk you? If so, tell us the story about what happened and how you dealt with it.
What do baby boomers think about Facebook? Do they approach the network differently than younger people? Do they share as much of their lives with their Facebook friends?
Build a profile for your parent (or someone 50+) and have them build one for you and record the results.

YouTube/digital video

Ask someone 50+ what their favorite videos on YouTube are. People in the younger generation seem to have “classic” YouTube videos they return to- is it the same for the older generation? Is there a difference in the video content?
Do you know anyone 50+ that video blogs? What do they blog about?
Create a YouTube page for someone 50+ and encourage him/her to post a video blog on a topic of their interest.

Other digital media platforms

Make of list of 10 random things to do on the internet and document how subjects your age accomplishes those tasks versus someone age 50 and above . Compare how they differed in their methods.
- You could do this same idea with smart phone
Do baby boomers play any online video games? If so, which kind and for how long?
How do baby boomers use instant messaging? Do they utilize text?

Now that we’ve got your creative juices flowing, why not read some filming tips?