Crisis and Media

Our web series First World Crisis Call Centre follows three questionably qualified call centre operators Joe, Elliot and Tina who under the leadership of their dim supervisor Allan attempt to help citizens with their first world crises. Filmed in a mockumentary style aimed at a young adult audience familiar with office-style soap operas/comedies. This style of comedy has been extremely popular with this generation in the past so we felt it would be received well by our target audience because they can directly relate to the content.

Snapchat released the GPS location feature known as Snap Maps last year and since its release, it has caused controversy. Our video explores some extreme cases of people using Snap Maps and the dangers for young users on sharing sensitive information as well as explaining how the feature can be disabled. The purpose is for it to be informative and aimed at parents of young teenagers, so they can be more aware of the possible risks their children are exposed to. 

Courtney is relaxing on the couch, using Snapchat filters and browsing snap maps. Meanwhile, out on the street, Dan is also browsing snap maps. Then, outside of a house, Dan continues to look at Snapmaps before turning his attention to an upstairs window. Later on, Courtney is browsing Snapchat when she receives a message from Dan asking “How’s the coffee?” Courtney is startled and looks around the cafe for her stalker Snapchat friend. Back on the couch, Courtney goes into the settings on her Snapchat account and turns on “ghost mode” so her Snapchat friends can no longer track her through the app. She then continues happily taking selfies.

The talent used is so that parents can relate the image of the characters to their own children.

Our Radio features were created to show 3 significant crisis in New Zealand and depict how the media was used to expose and communicate such events. Our goal was also to try share little moments of information that people often missed previously whilst hearing about these times of crisis. We decided to target the audience of RNZ as the we believe the older demographic will welcome the serious tone. Each feature was also made to play on the anniversary of all events at about midday, just to bring some relevance to the subjects. Our serious tone was decided to re-educate and hit the heart strings of the listener and we kept this consistent throughout. The Wahine Disaster, Flight 901, and the 1855 Wairarapa earthquake all share similarities. Each of these events didn't get as much media coverage as it would today due to technological and geographical reasons.

“Life after Crisis” looks at the lives of two refugees who had to flee their countries due to extreme danger and unrest. Galawezh Noori and Zeinap Hussein point out the struggles of settling into a new country after leaving Iran and Somalia. Differences in customs, dealing with trauma and mental health, media portrayal of refugees and racism are several points that the pair had to adapt to when arriving to New Zealand. General Manager of the Christchurch Resettlement Services, Sheryl Wright gives an expert insight into refugee resettlement in New Zealand. The director of the AUT Refugee Education Centre, Maria Hayward also provides expert opinion around the process of refugees when they arrive in the country and the uniqueness of the Centre itself in relation to others in the Western World.