VIDEO DESCRIPTION:

Play, download and edit the free video Overworked - PSA.

—PSA Assignment for AP Lang and Comp—

Song: A Day in the Life - The Beatles

Special credits: Molly Willis, Olivia Greinke, Abby Gottesman, Bella Schaub, Gabe Richie

Written Analysis:

This short PSA features the slow, deteriorating descent of an overworked, overstressed high school student. The simple, seemingly harmless pleasures of daily life--pouring a warm cup of coffee, pensively writing in the mornings, laughing with friends--eventually turn sour as the student gets consumed by their work. Too much coffee. Too much writing. No more time for friends. A final collapse signals the breaking point. To fully deliver the impact of all of these things, I employ ethos (using facts and statistics), pathos (using dramatic, suspenseful music), and logos (using time signals).

Every PSA needs some sort of informative basis to go off. For me, I needed to establish my credibility as a person who has the right to criticize overworking and overstressing. The two facts at the end accomplish this goal. I first cite that an immense amount of 11th graders (us!) experience regular stress, and then continue to cite the possible effect of that stress: clinical depression. I show that I have done my research on the issue by presenting statistics that prove the significance of the issue at hand.

The subtle logos appeals contribute a great deal to the overall structure and effectiveness. One of the main focuses of the video is the time stamp at the bottom. The time stamps are key to signaling the steady, unhealthy consumption of time by the student’s work, especially when it comes to their sleep. By showing these stamps, the viewer begins to recognize the theme of the video, and many students can even relate to the pain of having to stay up so late to finish projects or assignments. Additionally, the beginning scene (the beeping alarm clock) is directly repeated at the end, making a logical comparison between the pre-stress environment and the post-stress environment.

Finally, appeal to emotion is made in the most obvious, and effective, method--music. The song in question, A Day in the Life by The Beatles, starts out contentful but with a tinge of melancholy. It perfectly encases the “simple pleasures of daily life” mentioned earlier, and gives off the impression that this video is a happy, peaceful one. Little does the viewer know, this beginning happiness primes the dark, dark turn of the song later on. As the student starts showing a descent into the madness that is overworking and stress, the music builds that suspenseful emotion in the viewer. As it gets worse, and as the hours tick by, the music becomes unbearably intense, and the viewer is left with fear of knowing something bad is happening next. This ultimately showcases the scary and detrimental effects of overworking and stress on a young teenager.

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