Zeeshan Rasool and Jordi Pellicer
A Day without Technology
A Day without Technology
Alternative Titles:
Tech-less / Technology Less / Testing a Techy / Tech-less for a Day
Story Description:
21st century is all about technology and staying away from it is a tough thing to do. Certain
people are so used to technology that it seems like a part of their daily life. Not just that,
technology shapes the personality of many individuals and is a source of income too.
Imagine a person born in the world of digital age, without any technology. A Day without
Technology will test human limits from a different perspective. This documentary is about a
person who cannot live without technology. We will choose one volunteer who can give up
the use of technology for a day. From morning until night, our volunteer will not use any
technology (laptop, cell phone, music devices etc.) including things, which are a product of
technology (toothbrush, hotplate food, microwave etc.). The story will start with a general
background of what technology is. After that, our volunteer will be introduced with the
choosing process that he/she went through. Next, this film will show the character’s day
with technology, to give a better understanding of our character and his life with
technology. Then comes, A Day without Technology and the story begin to unfold. This
documentary will film the character throughout his/her day; wake up without an alarm
clock, getting ready for class, submission of assignments on paper, attending class without
laptop, lunch without hotplate and packed food, contacting friends without a cell phone,
working with no internet in the library, and so on. As the day passes, every time our
character did not use technology, the film will show a comparison of time that it takes to do
a certain job with and without technology. The film will address the provocative question
of how tough it is to spend a day without technology. In addition, the film will explore the
limits of a certain individual to what extent he/she can avoid the use of technology. The
documentary ends with the overall experience of our character for A Day without
Technology. In conclusion, how close are we tied to technology and what are the challenges
in not having it?
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Zeeshan Rasool and Jordi Pellicer
A Day without Technology
Story Outline:
ACT I
Scene 1:
Documentary will start (transition – fade in) with an animation of our world, where earth
will be revolving. The revolution speed will increase with the background music and the
frame will start to focus on the revolving earth (transition – abrupt cut).
Scene 2:
Narration will start with a black screen which will fade in (transition) to clips of technology
gadgets – short 4 to 5 second clips mashed together (transition – cuts). There will be 15 to
20 clips (wide, close-up, and medium) of different technology devices that we use in our
everyday life (transition – fade out).
Scene 3:
Fade in, wide angle shot of our main character using technology, medium and close-up
shots while his/her interview voice over. Character talks about technology (transition –
fade out).
Scene 4:
Fade in to our main character’s interview from his/her opening shot. Technology filled
composition shot, which starts with a wide angle, and then jumps to medium and close-up
shots. While our character is interviewed, overlay video will play that matches with what
he/she is talking about – mainly while using technology close-up/action shots (transition –
fade to black).
Scene 5:
Fade in, to a short sequence where our character is shown with his/her day with
technology. Followed by, Medium angle and close-up shots with pan and tilts. Character
talks about what he/she thinks about the next day (day without technology) before he/she
goes to bed (transition – fade to black).
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Zeeshan Rasool and Jordi Pellicer
A Day without Technology
ACT II
Scene 1:
Wide-angle timelapse of our character while sleeping during night until sunrise. Split
screen, showing timelapse of characters room and sunrise. Character wake up without
alarm clock (do not know how), close-up shot.
Scene 2:
Wide-angle opening shot of washroom and our character, followed by a timelapse of
him/her getting ready (wearing clothes and shoes) for class. There will be background
music with characters commentary throughout the scene.
Scene 3:
Cafeteria wide-angle shot when character walks in, orders the food and moves towards the
counter with food. Focus pull from the counter to our character walking towards it. Dining
area wide shot, close-up shot of chair pull, our character sitting down (medium pan), and a
timelapse of him/her eating breakfast.
Scene 4:
Wide-angle pan of a classroom, character walks in, takes his/her spot. Talks to his/her
tutors about what he/she is doing (as tutors will need some explanation for why we are in
there). Timelapse of classroom with few medium and close-up shots of our character and
his/her notes.
Scene 5:
Lunch sequence will be close to what we did for breakfast but there will be different
shots/angles.
Scene 6:
Wide-angle pan of library building, camera follows the character from main entrance until
he/she takes his/her seat. Close-up while our character is looking for the right books for
his/her work (book search). Next will be a timelapse of our character while working in the
library.
Scene 7:
Medium angle, close-up shots while our character tries to look for his/her friends (group)
with whom he/she is supposed to work on an assignment (scene sequence could vary).
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Zeeshan Rasool and Jordi Pellicer
A Day without Technology
Scene 8:
Lunch sequence will be close to what we did for breakfast/lunch but there will be different
shots/angles (unless our character is on half meal plan/no meal plan). In case our
character cooks/make food in his/her room, there will be a wide-angle shot of his/her
cooking area, which will be followed by few close-up/action shots of food and medium
shots – timelapse of food while it is being made/cooked. There will be few pauses while our
character is making comments.
Scene 9:
Medium angle, close-up shots while our character tries to look for his/her friends with
whom he/she is looking for – to play a game, go to a place, hangout, etc. (scene sequence
could vary).
Scene 10:
Sunset timelapse, followed by a candle light fade in. Our character shots after the sunset
(indoor) will be taken in candle light and we will capture what he/she does after that. We
will mainly use close-up and medium angle shots for better light. Character goes to bed
after his/her brief comments about his/her day without technology (fade to black).
ACT III
Scene 1:
Wide-angle timelapse of our character while sleeping during night until sunrise. Split
screen, showing timelapse of characters room and sunrise. Medium and close-up shots of
our character wake up with an alarm clock. Jump cut (transition) clips of washroom,
getting ready, breakfast, classroom, etc (with technology).
Scene 2:
Our character’s commentary fades in (over the end of previous scene), which is followed by
a wide-angle shot of our character’s interview about his/her experience and answers to
certain questions. Followed by, medium angle and close-up shots during the interview. Last
comments of our character, wide angle to close up, slow motion close-up to capture
expressions (transition – fade to black). Followed by, credits and music in the background.
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Zeeshan Rasool and Jordi Pellicer
A Day without Technology
Shopping List of Shots:
“Timelapse Sunrise, Sunset” – Tuesday, September 20th (weather dependent) – Cafeteria
Building, Quest University
“Technology Gadgets” – Tuesday, September 20th – Various locations, Quest University
“Interview – Introduction to our character” – Wednesday, September 21st – Characters
room (South Village, North Village, or Riverside)
“Character using technology” – Wednesday, September 21st – Various locations, Quest
University
“Timelapse – Character sleeping during night” – Thursday, September 22nd – Characters
room (South Village, North Village, or Riverside)
“Characters day without technology” – Thursday, September 22nd – Various Locations –
Quest University/Squamish
“Recording Narration” – Friday, September 23rd – Jake Henderson, Room 309 South Village,
Quest University
For music and sound effects, we will work with our friends who are good at music
composition. Also, free (no copyrights required) music and sound effects will be used.
Equipment Required:

2 DSLR Cameras – for multiple angles while continuous shooting

2 Tripods – for stable footage

Wireless Lavaliere Microphone – for clear character’s voice

Dead Kitten – for recording clear audio in open air

Neutral density filters – for greater flexibility to change the aperture and exposure
time in different light conditions

Light Diffusing Screens – for low light conditions

Laptop – for editing purpose

Adobe Premier – for editing the documentary video and audio

Adobe Soundbooth – for audio, sound effects, and music editing

Adobe Aftereffects – for visual effects and opening closing titles
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Zeeshan Rasool and Jordi Pellicer
A Day without Technology
Documentary Style:
A Day without Technology is an observational documentary, which will somehow relate to
every person who will watch it. The main theme of this documentary is to find out what
problems an individual will face in absence of technology. One day, one person, no
technology, this is the basic idea of this film. Our goal is to film all the possible problems
that one might face due to deficiency of technology. Additionally, do a comparison between
a person with and without technology.
Problems and Solutions:
We cannot restrict our character to alter his/her routine because of our filming. With this,
we have to setup our cameras accordingly to our characters location, which might change
over short span of time. As a solution, we will be using two DSLR cameras so we can
capture as much footage as possible, from different angles. If one camera is setup, other
camera will be free to move. This way we will not let our character to compromise with
his/her routine – without technology.
In case our main character goes out of the university, we will need a ride to take our
equipment while shooting. This could be very hectic and we might miss few shots. As the
person we will be filming would only walk or take a bike ride. As a solution, we would ask
our friends to let us borrow their car for a day and we will pay for the gas. Before we use
the car, we will try a test run to see where and how should we keep our equipment so it can
easily be taken out when required.
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