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Are eating disorders such a significant issue?

Why is the media's portrayal of eating disorders wrong?

Is it possible to fully recover from an eating disorder?

Do people even want to recover and is it important that they do?

How would the families of people with current eating disorders feel if they saw this video?

How would someone who is 'pro-ana' react to this message?

How would someone who has no knowledge of eating disorders view this video? How would they view eating disorders after seeing this video for the first time?

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Attention: At the beginning of the video I intend to get the audience's attention by using no music, to evoke tension and suspense. The shots and imagery used will evoke feelings of disgust. The audience will be left needing to know want is going to happen, they will be curious as to the message behind these emotions.

Interest: My target audience will comprise largely of girls who have already begin to develop disordered eating behaviours. Their interest will be caught by the character in the video engaging in behaviours the audience possibly uses themselves and can relate to. It gives the audience the message that as they are now, they are heard.

Desire: Feelings of discomfort and disgust will be evoked especially at the beginning of the video. This will then be joined by a sense of fear or sadness as the reality of life with an eating disorder kicks in and the message starts to become clearer. The video will however end with hope, putting an end to the fear and hopelessness.

Call to action: At the end of the video the viewers will have a call to action. The phrase 'Reach Out And Recover" will show on the screen with a website below it. While watching the video, the audience will be challenged and even uncomfortable, ideally realising that disordered eating does not lead to the glorified life the way media so ofter portrays it as. But it is important to give the audience hope. Following this website and engaging with the organisation will put them on the path to recovery and a better life.

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I found this ad to be very powerful, and I loved the simple but incredibly effective design. With 'mental health is health' being its message, the ad focuses on a young woman who initially looks like she is in hospital however, the camera slowly zooms out until we realise that she is at home. Throughout this zoom there are flashes of shots of the woman struggling to breath - a symptom of anxiety. The motion contrast between the stillness of the woman as she sits in bed versus the high energy flashes of symptoms of panic/anxiety really drew me in as an audience member, a technique which I will really keep in mind while developing my treatment. I also liked the dim lighting, which felt very gloomy especially at the beginning of the video, almost with a green tinge, and is the type of lighting I would like to use in my own video.

CAMH 2018, I Can't Breathe - Mental Health Is Health Campaign | CAHM, video, YouTube, 7 May, viewed 2 April 2021, <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jBS7v-v5oMo>

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I Can't Breathe - Mental Health Is Health Campaign | CAMH

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Video discussing Netflix's 'To The Bone' film and it's portrayal of eating disorders

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Video discussing Netflix's 'To The Bone' film and it's portrayal of eating disorders

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This video is a news segment discussing Netflix's film, 'To The Bone' and it's portrayal of eating disorders. It interviews people who currently suffer from eating disorders and how its message, while intended to be positive, has affected them. I found it very much worth noting that the interviewees really struggled with how eating disorder behaviour at times seemed to be glorified, such as the obsessive counting of calories as at this point in the film there was a humorous tone. These people also found the portrayal of the main character being another 'skinny white girl' difficult, as while this is a large demographic of people affected by eating disorders, people of any size, shape, race, gender, sexuality, and appearance can suffer from an eating disorder. My target audience is girls between 15-25 but I think is important to recognise that even in this more specific target range, there will be variations in weight, appearance, race, and shape, and these variations have no effect on how valid the current struggles of my target audience are.

CBC News : The National 2017, To The Bone criticised for portrayal of eating disorders, video, YouTube, 15 July, viewed 2 April 2021, <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKa5GS-htOI>

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To The Bone criticized for portrayal of eating disorders

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For this message, I am using an Analogous colour scheme, as visually I personally find this appealing without being incredibly harsh and loud to look at, and using a range of colours which promote important emotions and symbolism regarding eating disorder recovery. Straight away, I felt it was important to include blue, with its association with calmness. It is also a colour linked with trustworthiness which is very important when the message is to encourage the audience to reach out and embrace recovery - for this is a scary thing!

Greens, are also important and can be used in quite a wide range of symbolism. Green is vibrant and fresh, associated with a healthy environment and growth. These are all associations I feel are important for the audience to link with recovery. Two of the greens in this colour scheme are quite yellow based, which has been specifically chosen. Yellow itself has positive connotations, such as happiness. However in certain environments, greens and yellows can be sickly and mean ill health. I feel that these negative undertones could be used in the video when aiming to evoke feelings of disgust or reinforce that suffering from an eating disorder, really is not glamorous, but is unhealthy.

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While deciding what font to use at the end of my video and throughout the website, I quite quickly came to the conclusion that I should choose a sans serif type font, as I want to keep the font simple and clear, as well as modern and less traditional. I want to keep the font serious, as recovery is something to be taken seriously, and will stick to only one or two different fonts.

Main heading text will use Beckman which is an all bold, in caps font, as it is attention grabbing and serious. This will also be the font used in the video at the end as it is impactful and its seriousness will be a good match. It shows the viewer that the message is important and worth pursuing.

Subheadings on the website will use Adam (medium) as is is a simple yet visually appealing font. The uppercase 'A' style adds subtle interest while not taking away from the website's purpose.

General text will use Adam (Light) for a sense of unity and for clear readability.

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Before seeing the promotional video, the target audience may have mixed opinions about eating disorder recovery. They may feel strongly against recovery, and reject the idea. They may feel like recovery is something they want to experience but feel hopeless or scared to let go of their eating disorder. Others again may feel like they are ready to accept recovery.

After seeing the video, the aim is for the audience to switch from feeing afraid of recovery, to feeling afraid of relapse. I want the video to evoke feelings of disgust and fear towards experiencing life with an eating disorder, which will then turn to hope at the prospect of recovery.

Evoking hope is essential as I do not want to leave the audience feeling afraid and disgusted. The message - reach out and recover - will not come across if the audience is left feeling hopeless. With the solution offered at the end of the video - reach out to the organisation - the audience is able to pursue recovery.

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This video is an example of a TV commercial which aims to bring awareness to anorexia, particularly aiming to turn potential victims away from 'pro-ana' websites which glorify starvation and essentially give instructions on how to have an eating disorder. I thought the beginning scene was particularly effective, showing a young child making a collage of 'thinspiration' with a voice over of what she will do in the future eg, lie to her parents as she develops anorexia. The commercial aimed for shock value with heavy, serious overtones, and at times evoked feelings of disgust as I watched it. The PSA aimed to show the reality of suffering from an eating disorder - that it is toxic and ugly. In my video these are feelings I hope to evoke in my audience too.

WorldIssues90 2009, Anorexia Awareness TV Commercial, video, YouTube, 19 March, viewed 2 April 2021, <https://youtu.be/6pzbzOkZIjM>

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This mind map explores a vast array of directions I could go with this message, and has helped me expand on my ideas and how they connect and link to each other, and the main focus itself. Pursuing eating disorder recovery is so much more than just recovery vs relapse. It is coping mechanisms, good and bad, obstacles, physical symptoms, affected relationships, and long term benefits. This mind map has helped me to reflect on what is behind recovery, but also importantly, what is behind relapse, as this is what many of the target audience will have experience with and it is essential to acknowledge that struggle for it can be used to help inspire recovery.

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The video will begin with a close up shot of the main character's (17 F) hands as they meticulously prepare a toasted cheese and tomato sandwich. Lighting is dull and of low saturation. Light is a very subtle green tint. There is no sound but for the noises of the kitchen which are a loud, uncomfortable focal point. Still in close up, the sandwich is toasted, and taken to the table where it is pulled apart scrap by scrap, seeds are taken out of the bread, the tomato is pulled out and separated from the cheese. What is left of the sandwich is squeezed in an effort to get the oil out, until the sandwich is left on the plate utterly demolished. While the close up is still of the sandwich, we see the girl leave the table, leaving the sandwich behind.

The next shot is in the kitchen, centred on the fridge. The girl enters from the side of frame, reluctant but almost desperate. She opens the fridge and stands in front of the fridge with the door open, frozen, unable to make a decision. She has her back to the camera. Frozen in place, there commences a slow zoom in towards the girl. While this zoom is happening, there is a high pitch droning sound, and the zoom footage is cut by very quick flashes of close up scenes with the girl in distress and intense emotion, engaging in ed behaviours and other scenes of distress such as obsessive weighing, body checking, and episodes of panic.

The zoom shot ends and the angle now shows the girl's face, looking into the fridge. The high drone has stopped. The girl takes a deep breath, reaches into the fridge, and pulls out a meal.

The screen cuts to white and then fades into light blue. Text appears reading 'reach out and recover', beneath which 'www.reachoutandrecover.com' is listed. The video ends.

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Spettigue, W and Henderson, KA 2004, 'Eating Disorders and the Role of the Media', The Canadian Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Review, pp 16-19.

This article discusses and confirms the contribution media has to the development of eating disorders in women. It explores specific studies and research done which links western media to the development of disordered eating attitudes and behaviours, and how the thin ideal so consistently promoted in the media alongside diet products, just shrinks further from reality, as models and actresses grow smaller and how the average weight of American/Canadian woman increases, becoming more unreachable. I found this source to be useful as it confirms the normalisation and glorification of disordered eating and directly links this to the development of eating disorders. It is this glorification that I want to challenge with my promotional video and this source was able to show that challenging this view of disordered eating is very relevant to promoting recovery.

'Not only do the media glorify a slender ideal, they also emphasis its importance, and the importance of appearances in general.' (Spettigue, W and Henderson, KA 2004, pp 16)

Roberts Strife, S and Rickard, K 2011, 'The Conceptualization of Anorexia: The Pro-Ana Perspective', Affilia: Journal Of Women And Social Work, vol. 26, no. 2, pp 213-217.

This article examines pro-anorexia (pro-ana) websites and statements given from people who create them, to better understand how these people conceptualise the function of self-starvation. It explores the diversity of the views these people have, such as viewing anorexia as an illness or disease where recovery cannot be possible, to anorexia as a lifestyle, a chosen way of living. It outlines the dangers of these websites which are full of tips, instructions, competitions, and motivations all relation to starvation and extreme restriction. I found this source particularly useful in the way it highlighted that many of these websites use empowering language, and that people who feel helpless, are drawn to this empowerment. From this source, I am encouraged to use empowerment in my video to combat the feelings of helplessness that the target audience would feel after seeing disordered eating portrayed in an ugly but realistic light.

'We are more than mere "survivors". We are "thrivers!"' (Roberts Strife, S and Rickard, K 2011, pp 215)
'A power to be reckoned with.' (Roberts Strife, S and Rickard, K 2011, pp 215)

Branley, D B and Covey, J 2017, 'Pro-ana versus pro-recovery: a content analytic comparison of social media users' communication about eating disorders on Twitter and Tumblr', Online communication about eating disorders, Vol. 8, No. 1356, pp 1-8.

This article compares the discussion of eating disorders on social media platforms Twitter and Tumblr, both of which have been identified as online communities potentially encouraging eating disorders. This article explores the 'pro-ana' community which has a strong tendency to view anorexia and disordered eating as a lifestyle choice, and their encouragement of engagement in disordered behaviours. I found this article useful as it brought attention to the media's portrayal of celebrities and when these celebrities have been perceived to have an eating disorder, this has influence on online practices around eating disorders which also affect offline behaviours in turn. This helps me to further understand the media's influence on the development of disordered eating. Importantly, the article did acknowledge that social media can also be used effectively as a tool for recovery and finding support. This could be used when thinking about the recovery organisation and message I wish to convey to my audience.

'Many users expressed feeling pressure to conform to the cultural norm of thinness as the ideal.' (Branley, D B and Covey, J 2017, pp 6)

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Who does this issue involve or affect?
Eating disorders can affect every person, however there are some groups of people who are more susceptible, such as young girls. Eating disorders have effects on many more than just the sufferers themselves however. They affect the families of those who are victims. They affect friends and workmates. They affect people in the medical system offering treatment, such as people working in hospitals or clinics, and people working as paramedics when emergencies occur.

Who is my target audience?
My target audience is young girls and women who have varying levels of disordered eating , and who are likely being conditioned by media content to see this behaviour as normal as they strive for the societal ideal of a thin body shape. I aim to challenge this normalisation, and encourage recovery.

How do these people feel, and why is it a problem?
These people feel many different emotions surrounding the topic of eating disorders and recovery. The main notable emotions would be apathy or helplessness in the face of recovery. Possibly even repulsed by the idea. Others may possibly already have a small degree of hope. While hope is of course a positive emotion to have which my video would encourage, these other emotions would be challenged when faced with reality. Apathy, helplessness, and repulsion each get in the way of recovery by pushing it to the side and ignoring it. By challenging these emotions, I aim to replace these with hope for the future.

Who/what do I need to consult while researching?
I will engage with different journal articles to help me understand the mindsets of people who suffer from eating disorders, and the motivations behind their disordered eating patterns. I will also find examples of how mental health recovery has been addressed in the media previously, as well as how eating disorders have been portrayed in film and commercials previously, to help me create my own successful message.

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Chosen target audience: females 15-25 approx. The target audience may currently be diagnosed with and battling an eating disorder. They may be people who are developing disordered eating patterns and unhealthy thinking regarding body image, weight, and appearance. A lot of these people may be currently influenced by social ideals of beauty which is held at an impossible and unattainable standard. They may be at a point where they are ready to start a journey of recovery, are very hesitant about recovery, or are strongly against it. Or they may not be aware they have or are developing a problem, often due to the normalisation of disordered behaviours and unhealthy goals.

My aim is to focus on the dangerous and unattractive reality of eating disorders. My goal is to 'hit a nerve', to make the audience uncomfortable, afraid, and then to offer a solution. Recovery is possible, and help is available.

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Eating disorders are not normal or healthy. Reach out and get help by interacting with this organisation 'Reach Out And Recover'.

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1. Eating disorder awareness, deglamourise it
2. Functional depression awareness
3. The damaging nature of diet culture
4. A fictional charity group
5. A fictional 'fun run'
6. Zest Community Theatre Group
7. Tourism in Victor Harbor
8. The importance of an active lifestyle
9. A fictional dog food/treat
10. A fictional app for coping with anxiety
11. A fictional protein powder
12. A fictional activewear line
13. A dog walking company
14. A fictional brand of candles
15. The Heysen Trail
16. A fictional energy drink
17. A fictional brand of earbuds
18. A local artist - Belle Stormonth
19. The importance of reading
20. The benefits of yoga
21. A fictional alcoholic beverage
22. The dangers of drug driving
23. A fictional board game
24. A fictional app for video chatting with family/friends
25. A fictional workout app
26. A fictional jewellery brand/range
27. A fictional insurance company
28. A fictional new brand of phone case/protector
29. A fictional brand of coffee
30. A fictional brand of tea
31. A fictional pair of sunglasses
32. A fictional brand of sunscreen
33. The importance of sun safety
34. A fictional brand of roller-skates
35. A fictional fruit company
36. A fictional skincare brand
37. A fictional brand of candy
38. A fictional new chocolate bar
39. A new tutoring business
40. A new fictional perfume
41. A fictional dry cleaning company
42. A fictional weighted blanket
43. A fictional app for white noise/sleep music
44. A fictional community group for women mentoring women
45. A new makeup setting spray
46. A fictional brand of false eyelashes
47. A new cleaning spray
48. A new fast acting headache medication
49. A new brand of mint
50. A new brand of pillowcase
51. A fictional box of cookies
52. A new brand of vitamin supplement
53. A fictional brand of washing powder
54. A fictional gardening set for beginners
55. A new brand of hairspray
56. A new brand of eyeliner
57. A fictional music teaching business/company
58. A new fictional navigation app
59. A new fictional app for logging the places you travel to and explore
60. A new brand of toothpaste
61. A fictional brand of plant fertiliser
62. A fictional new meal/nutrition supplement/replacement drink
63. A fictional shampoo and conditioner
64. A message about getting rid of mental health stigma and reaching out
65. Are You Okay? Day
66. A new first aid training course
67. A new healthy bread
68. A new fictional veterinary surgery
69. A fictional brand of running shoes
70. A fictional self help book
71. A fictional costal care organisation
72. A fictional daycare program for people with dementia
73. A new fictional school
74. A new fictional medication for menopause symptoms
75. A  fictional company for reusable period products
76. A new tourist attraction in Victor Harbor re preservation of fairy penguin population
77. A new fictional dance school for people with autism
78. A basket weaving online class
79. A new fictional wine and yoga class
80. A fictional sunrise hiking group

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Initial thoughts and feelings about the task

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Initial thoughts and feelings about the task

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Initially, I feel somewhat daunted about in the future creating a promotional video. I want to create something I can feel good about and proud of and hope that my current creative abilities don't restrict me. I am not new to editing videos or to filming, but my experience with a DLSR and iMovie doesn't take me far! However this is why I am here studying and I aim to embrace the opportunity to learn new skills.

Starting to think about potential topics, I feel like promoting a message rather than a product would be something I could muster up more inspiration about as there are a lot of things I feel strongly about, however I will keep an open mind throughout this brainstorming process! However, using personal experiences and passions are an ideal starting point.