Texting and Driving

Stanley Bussey
Essay 2 Draft 4
Eng 103-0870
Dr. David Sibbitt
Texting and Driving, You Never Know Not a care in the world. Teenage years are supposed to be the best time in my life, because all I have to worry about is me. Why should I care about the next person? Who can I hurt by sending out this text? My girls and I are just fooling around and having some fun and I’m just texting some boy teasing my friend in the back. It will only take a second to send this text and then I'm right back to being focused on the road. What can happen in a second? Nothing! Until I look up and it’s too late. I wish I had a second more. Now I’m heading head-first into another vehicle and there’s nothing I can do about it but scream. My life and other people’s lives are on the line and all because I just wanted to play around. Was sending out this text to a boy that important? Texting and driving is such a serious issue as we see in a public service announcement directed by Peter Watkins-Hughes and produced by Tred films called “Cow” and teenage girls need to realize that while they are behind that wheel they are responsible not only for their lives but other people’s lives as well. This video is directed specifically towards teenage girls, seventeen to nineteen, and an unusually strong emphasis on character development in “Cow” helps teenage girls feel a connection of camaraderie to Cassie, Jules and Em by connecting the similarities in personality and life-issues. At the start of the public service announcement there are a lot of techniques being used to help “Cow” achieve its goal in targeting teenagers. Two techniques used in Cassie’s dream are foreshadowing and character development. The target audience can feel suspense and curiosity with foreshadowing and liberated, carefree and fellowship with the character development. In the dream when Cassie is coming out the house to get in the car her parents don’t really pay any attention to her. They just give Cassie a quick wave and go back into their conversation they were having, not showing any interest in Cassie. This could mean there is some disconnect between Cassie and her parents, therefore foreshadowing why Cassie acts the way she does later on. Once Cassie gets in the car, water starts coming out of the vents and begins flooding the vehicle. As Cassie is trying to stop the water coming out the vents with her hands, she’s also screaming for help at the same time. This scene fills the target audience up with suspense because they know something terrible is going to happen later with Cassie and also it gives the audience curiosity, wondering what will happen to Cassie. Also Cassie trying to answer the ringing cell phone while drowning foreshadows that a cell phone will play a major part later on. Next Cassie wakes up from the dream because of the phone ringing and it’s Em that is on the other line. By the use of character development we find out some details in the next scene about Cassie and Em. When Cassie picks up the phone after waking up from the dream she tells Em, “It’s early. Its not even breakfast time yet” (Watkins-Hughes). As the audience sees the clock by Cassie’s bed it says 12:57 P.M and like a typical teenager, Cassie likes to go to sleep and wake up late. Also Cassie has to be at work at 2:00 P.M and still has not gotten out of bed showing that she is lazy and a procrastinator. During the conversation between Cassie and Em, Em is wearing a devil’s headband, showing that she might be the bad apple out of the group of friends. Also she is very outspoken, pushy and aggressive when she tells Cassie, “If you want to be on the tour, you better get your fast ass up you know. Because Jack Ends is going bonkers” (Watkins-Hughes). After Cassie hangs up the phone she goes right back to sleep and doesn’t wake up until 2:30 P.M. As Cassie is rushing for work the audience can see her in the bathroom popping a pimple and as it is ready to burst the scene switches to mayo being squirted onto a potato chip sandwich. Cassie is just like typical teenagers, who just eats anything, worries about her face and doesn’t care about healthiness. Next the audience sees Em inside a gas station buying alcohol as Cassie and Jules wait in the car. Em gets back in the car and takes the first drink and turns and asks Cassie, “Want some Cass?” (Watkins-Hughes). Cassie says, “No, no guys I’m driving” (Watkins-Hughes) and by this the audience learns that she is aware that drinking is dangerous while driving. Although Cassie thinks drinking and driving is dangerous, though, she’s not aware how unsafe texting and driving is. According to Stephanie Hanes in “Texting While Driving Is as Dangerous as Drunk Driving”, texting and driving is as dangerous if not more dangerous than being intoxicated. Just because Cassie didn’t want to take that drink there are other risky actions that could lead to the same result as drinking and driving would lead to. Studies have showed, “A driver on a phone had the same reaction speed as someone legally intoxicated, that those talking on a phone behind the wheel are four times as likely to crash, that texting while driving is even more dangerous” (Hanes). Watkins-Hughes is trying to make the same point that teens see drinking and driving as a bad idea, but don’t realize texting and driving is even worse. Next the audience sees Cassie, Em and Jules riding around in a parking lot having fun and checking for boys. Em is aggressive in her approach towards the guy while they are riding around, more so because she has alcohol in her system. After they leave the parking lot and are driving around police attempt to pull their car over. Cassie tells Em, “Hide your booze” (Watkins-Hughes), knowing that if they get pulled over with alcohol they could get in trouble and Cassie doesn’t realize if she gets caught texting and driving the penalty could be just as harsh if not tougher for texting and driving. In “Teen Gets Jail Time For Texting-While-Driving Death”, Stephanie Mlot tells us that texting and driving can result and jail time just like drinking and driving. “Aaron Deveau, 18, was found guilty on charges of vehicular homicide, texting while driving, and negligent operation of a motor vehicle” and he was sentenced to two and a half years behind bars. With the deaths and injuries that Cassie causes because of texting and driving, she might also have to do some jail time. The target audience’s attention has been mostly on the three teenage girls from the start of the video, setting the scene for the crash, by keeping them attentive with the teen-like qualities of Cassie and her friends. Teenagers see their free spirit, innocent, and not-a-worry-in-the-world attitude, therefore giving them the same effect. As a result the target audience can identify with Cassie, Em and Jules, feeling a connection to them, and they will pay more attention to the crash scene to come and why the crash happens. As Cassie is sending a text, “James my mate fancies u x” (Watkins-Hughes) , and is holding the phone in her right hand up to her face, teenagers can tell by her body language that she is focused on only sending that text. Cassie might think she is in control but in all actuality she’s not. Her eyes look almost closed and by that the target audience can tell she is not looking at the road but down onto the text she is sending. According to an article "Texting Fails Road Tests", reaction time slows down while texting and driving. Therefore, when Cassie looks up during her texting she has no time to react to her heading straight into another vehicle because when she looks up she is already seconds from heading into the other vehicle. “Research from Australia has found that typical non-texting teens take their eyes off the road 10% of the time-to check road signs, change the radio, or just look around-but when teens are texting while driving that lack of road focus jumps to 40%. A spokesperson for the National Safety Council notes not only is that a huge increase in the amount a time a driver’s eyes are off the road, but a 140% increase in lane violations, where drivers weave across lanes because they are not paying attention” ( “Texting Fails Road Tests”). As we see Cassie might think she’s in control and can both text and drive but statistics show that because her focus is on sending that text, not the road that she can’t possibly be in control. Therefore lack of focus on responsibilities and worrying about boys are putting Cassie, Em and Jules in a bad predicament and these are traits teenage girls display all the time. The person Cassie is texting James about is Jules who is in the back seat and Jules’ body language and words show that she is upset about this text. Jules rolls her eyes and tells the other girls, “Please stop” and “It’s not even funny now” (Watkins-Hughes), while the front passenger Em who is an instigator is cheering Cassie on to send the text. Em is also saying, “woo” (Watkins-Hughes) and is laughing and smiling as Cassie is sending the text. Also the camera is focused on the girls and nothing else for the first section of the video to show that teenage girls are in their own world and, just like the audience, don’t know what else is going on outside the car. This is important because teenagers tend to think they are the only ones relevant and that nobody else is important. Texting a boy, playing around with friends, and a free-spirited without a care in the world are things teenage girls can identify with. As they witness these characteristics the target audience is able to relate to Cassie, Em and Jules and therefore pay more attention to the details as the crash scene is being set up. Teenage girls tend to get scared easier then boys and with the death, blood, sound effect, and gruesomeness of the impact this scene is meant to put fear and shock in teenage girls by using the technique of CGI. According to “’The Making Of’ British Text and Drive Car Crash PSA – Special Effects Breakdown”, Zipline Creative production used a green screen in order to make the special effects work. They shot a scene in front of a green screen, then removed it and added the motion background, fake window, blood, glass shattering and cell phone with the CGI computer program (“The Making Of”). Hopefully this technique will make teenagers more attentive to the video and the consequence of texting. Right before the first impact the target audience can see the instant fear on Cassie’s and Em’s faces when they realize that they are about to crash. As the first impact happens the blood shoots right out of Cassie’s head and onto the window. Also during the crash scene Cassie’s air bag comes out, she hits her head on it as her neck snaps forward, and she then hits the side of her head on the driver’s side window as her neck snaps to the side. Since Jules does not have her seat belt on, she is tossed to the front and then tossed to the back where she hits the back of her head on the rear window. After that she is tossed to the side and she hits the back of her head which is the cause of her death. This shot is possible with the help of CGI. They shot Jules with a green screen background and had her motioning her body like she was in a real accident. They then take the shot to the computer program where the green screen is digitally removed. Then the window is added and they speed the motion of Jules’ body up where it looks like she has been in a real accident. Now Em who has no airbag on her side and as the first impact of the accident takes place, her neck is snapped forward and she hits her head on the dashboard. During a pause the target audience can see the fear and relief on Cassie’s and Em’s faces as they look at each other. They are relieved because they think they made it and are still alive, but since teenage girls only care about themselves, neither one looks back at their friend and sees if she is alright. As the camera is on Cassie the audience then sees the fear in her eyes because she sees something. As the camera shifts to Em the look on Cassie’s face causes her to turn around and see what is causing it. She sees the second impact coming and when the camera shifts to Em the audience can also see the second crash coming. Zipline Creative was able to make this illusion happen by shooting Cassie, Em and Jules in the car with a green screen behind them. Then taking this shot to the CGI computer program and removing the green screen and adding another car to the scene to make this shot look realistic. Once the car is added they use the computer program to make the car look as if it’s heading directly towards Cassie’s car, making this scene possibly. The sound effects play a big part in knowing that Em dies in this impact because the sound that her neck makes is clear and vivid when it is snapped. The target audience can actually feel like they are in the car with the girls. Glass is shattering and flying everywhere throughout the car. Also the girls are just being tossed around in the car with no control. With the use of CGI, graphics brought forth the effect of fear, showing how violent an car accident can be, which leaves a lasting impression in teenage girls’ minds, so the next time a teenage girl picks up her phone to send out a text while driving she will remember all the blood, death and horrifying things she has seen in this video. Cassie, Em, and Jules were in their own world for most of the public service announcement but the last scene uses scare tactics to shows teenage girls like them that what they do can have an effect on many lives. By using this technique it’s meant to put fear, guilt and grief into teenagers and hopefully by doing this change the mindset of the target audience. According to Stephanie Cifford’s article, “Some Doubts About Scare Tactics on Drivers Who Text”, some people feel that scare tactics work well and others feel skeptical about the effectiveness of this technique. Watkins-Hughes uses death, blood and violent gut-wrenching scenes as tactics to scare teens from texting and driving. Others believe that these scare tactics don’t work well because teen will forget why the scare tactics are being used in the first place and that’s to stop texting and driving. In the article Richard Tay approves of its use of scare tactics because it catches teenagers’ attentions and holds it. Tay says, “The guilt model does work fairly well in young people” (Cifford). Thus by showing how the girls cause the death of four other people and how they affected many people’s lives with the traffic being backed up and at a standstill, Watkins-Hughes is implementing the effects of fear, guilt and grief. Hopefully this also would make them feel regret that this whole accident could’ve have been avoided. It starts off with Cassie letting out a big scream and calling out for help as she realizes that both of her friends are dead. As the camera is close-up on Cassie the audience can see the fear on her face and this will send chills up their spine. The camera turns to a young man who comes and tries to get Cassie out of the car but can’t, so he tells her, “Stay still. I can’t open the door. I’ll get an ambulance” (Watkins-Hughes). It’s ironic that Cassie was trying to text James, a boy that Jules liked and the first person that comes to help her is a young man like the boy she was texting. As the firefighters arrive on the scene Cassie is in the car screaming for help. They have to cut her door off to get her out of the car, and since teenage girls are in their own world, everything is still focused on Cassie. Then the camera switches to another car involved in the crash and the impact these teenage girls had on others. In this car there are three people dead: a mother, father and a baby. There is another child in the car that is calling for his mommy and daddy saying, “Mommy, daddy wake up. Mommy, daddy wake up” and then he tells the firefighter, “I want mommy and daddy to wake up” (Watkins-Hughes). He doesn’t know they are dead and that they will never wake up because he is too young to understand death. In his mind this is any other time that they are sleeping and he expects them to wake up any second. The camera switches to a close-up of the baby that dies with his blue eyes wide-open. Richard Tay says “Portrayal of the other people being killed in the accident was smart” (Cifford) because death can scare teenagers straight. That puts sadness into the target audience’s minds and hearts because they will never forget those eyes. They also will understand this child could be their own newborn baby and a mother’s bond with a baby is special. Then a camera shot from a helicopter shows the impact the accident had on the traffic. The cars are backed up for miles and nobody is moving. Everything has stopped because of the accident they caused. It’s ironic again how teenage girls think the world is supposed to stop for them and in this video it happened. However, this is not what they expected or wanted. Finally, in two close-ups Cassie is in shock and doesn’t realize the impact she has had on many people’s lives. In the second close-up in the helicopter Cassie looks as if she is reflecting on everything that has just happened and is now coming to terms with the reality of what just happened. Watkins-Hughes uses camera angles, blood, death and reality to hopefully bring of the reaction of fearfulness about texting and driving into the target audience. The last scene focuses on the girls’ parents to puts guilt, sadness and grief in the target audience. By seeing the parents’ reaction to the news from the police about the accident and what happened to their child, teenagers can realize that others can get hurt on the account of their lack of responsibility. Cassie’s mother’s reaction to the police telling her the news is confusion; also she is frantic and looks very distraught. In a Dr. Phil segment “Meet a Teen who Averages 5,000 Text Messages a Month-while Driving”, Chelsea’s mom is also very scared for her daughter. She believes that her daughter is going to get into a terrible accident like the audience seen Cassie get into. Chelsea’s mom says, “Every time Chelsea pulls out of the drive way my spine just tenses up” and “I expect to get a phone call and find that she been in a pretty serious accident because of her text messaging and I don’t know what to do about it” (“Meet a Teen”). The path Chelsea is heading down is going to lead to the same situation that Cassie, Em and Jules are in and Chelsea’s mother is going to be getting the same knock on the door from the police as these girls’ parents are getting. As the audience sees the reactions of the parents they can understand what Chelsea’s mom is probably going through. When Jules’s father is confronted by the police he already knows something tragic has happened and once he sees the police his facial express turns sad and gloomy. After Em’s father is told by the police about the accident and the death of his daughter, he falls to the floor and starts to cry his heart out. The last image we see is Jules’s father holding and hugging his other daughter crying. No teenager wants to see their parents like this and adds to the point that texting and driving can effect others. In short it only takes a second to be distracted. The repetition of this video in the target audience’s minds should make them fear texting and driving. They should be scared if they see their friend pick up a phone and text while driving. Yes, these teenage girls were just being teenagers and having some fun but just being teenagers caused all three of them to lose focus. When behind that wheel in a car teenage girls are no longer just teenagers because responsibility for many people’s lives comes into play: their own lives, the people on the road in other cars and pedestrians’ lives. Just texting and driving can cost the lives of many. In this public service announcement six people’s lives were lost and many other people were impacted. Next time you’re driving and pick up that phone to start to text just remember you have the power of life and death in your hands and this public service announcement should be a reminder of what can happen. The images of this video should play in the minds of teenage girls every time they pick up the phone while driving and these should not be taken lightly.