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This project seemed to be the easiest for me.  After watching the 1940 short documentary Experiments in the Revival of Organisms in class, I quickly harked back on this absurdist story that we read senior year in high school.  I tried my hardest to look for it, but the name of it never came and to this day, it still bugs me.  The story, though, if I remember correctly, was being narrated by a man whose suggestion to kill all the poor people (so we wouldn’t have to worry about them), was told in the most nonchalant way possible that it could almost be taken seriously.  Between this memorable story and the eye-opening documentary, I decided to make something akin to both those ideas.

I knew that using AIDS as the main objective of the film was a risky move.  I thought about it for some time and decided to go ahead with the project, though, because clearly it was not trying to be offensive, but instead serving as a social commentary.

I knew that for this, I wanted a credible source, just like in the film.  I needed an older person and so I pitched it to my supervisor.  I figured she would be the perfect infomercial host since she is not at all camera-shy.  I knew, though, that she would probably have some reservations on the matter.  So after proposing it to her and having her look at me weirdly, she said she would sleep on it and give me an answer the next day.  If this didn’t work, I thought, this would majorly suck.  The next day came and she said that after much deliberation, she was willing to do it.

I quickly wrote some dialogue for her and though she found it oddly worded, she made the best of it.  She even brought her own wardrobe, and for the first time put makeup on.  Everyone at the office was in awe.  After work, I set up the camera in a room and we went over the lines.  I had her play it two ways:  a nice, happy, naive woman and the other, a psychotic one.  The psychotic one was fun to watch.  Again, the equipment I had was not the best and the video quality as well as the sound quality was not up to par.  I decided to get some voiceover just in case.  After the shoot, I edited the footage right after.

When editing, I tried using color correction and it proved to be effective when spiking the whites to create that sterile science environment that we all know and love.  I tried my best to fix the sound. The voiceovers sounded so different from the production audio that it was jarring whenever it came up.  I’ve learned now that I’m no sound mixer.  But anyway, I did have some fun using stock footage from www.archive.org. 

One morning on the bus, on my way to school, I was listening to my iPod and “We Are The World” started to play.  In that moment, I knew that this song would be perfect for the end of the video.  I could just hear this song playing as the statistics I got from www.until.org appeared on the screen.  My mindset was so cynical, but it was the best way to end it.  The lyrics, if you can think of them in a different meaning, just fit so well. 

In closing, this video is not to be taken seriously, of course. It is merely a way to satirize and parody such backwards ideals and beliefs.  It is not my intention to offend anyone.

For more information on Experiments in the Revival of Organisms, click here.

For more information on experiments like those shown in AIDS-Free Society, click here.

Read the script for AIDS-Free Society here.