Michael+Lee

= = = = =** ** OCT 23rd 2010 ** ** =

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Here is a story board of one of our concepts. This concept plays with idea of how not to act stupid. Based on our research, we found out that most of the drowning incidents happen simply because people are not acting smart. For example, alcohol plays a role in causing death and injuries on water which could have been easily avoided if people actually thought about the consequence of their action, much similar to drinking and driving. As a result, in this video, a person will be featured in different "floating devices" which he thought would work and he is stupid to test them out in a pool. Obvious to the audience, this person suffers a negative consequence every time he tries until he thought about a floating device, which he misunderstood as floating tubes and sleeves for kids. Again, reinforcing the stupidity which is the essence of this concept. =====

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = ** OCT 23rd 2010 (postposed posting from Oct 06th) ** =

**(PART2)**
 * MORE FACTS ON DROWNING**

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Small open boats, including motorboats and canoes, were predominant in recreational boating drowning incidents (Figure 12). There was a decrease in drownings involving small open motorboats and canoes between 1991-1995 and 1996-2000. Most drownings of boaters occurred in lakes, 55%, followed by rivers, 21%. For recreational boaters, 62% of drownings occurred in lakes, 24% in rivers. =====

**WATER AND ALCOHOL: A RISKY MIXTURE**
Of all recreational boating drowning victims, 25% had an alcohol level above the legal limit of 80mg%, for 10% alcohol was present below the limit, and for another 6% alcohol was suspected. These are conservative statistics, since in 29% of cases, the presence or absence of alcohol was not reported. As seen in Figure 13, there was little improvement in the proportion of boating drownings involving alcohol between 1991-1995 and 1996-2000.

**MANY “SWIMMERS” DO NOT KNOW HOW TO SWIM SAFELY **
Although strong swimmers sometimes take unwise risks and can be swept away in unfamiliar currents, at least 32% of swimming victims between 5 and 14 years old did not know how to swim or were weak swimmers. Swimming ability was not specified for another 26%. Of concern is that 42% of swimming victims in this age group were unaccompanied by an adult, and 27% of swimming victims 15 and older were alone when they drowned.

EASILY ACCESSIBLE HOME POOLS WITHOUT AN AUTOMATIC GATE: A SERIOUS HAZARD FOR TODDLERS PLAYING OR LIVING NEARBY
Non-aquatic activities such as playing or walking near a home pool are the most frequent activities for pool drownings (Figure 19). These incidents mainly involved young children who gained access to a pool without a self-closing and self-latching gate. Only 6% of home pool drownings among 1-4 year olds in Canada occurred in pools equipped with such a gate. Most pool drownings of children occurred during the momentary absence of a caregiver. While there was an improvement in drownings of children playing near pools, pool drownings associated with other activities showed no decrease. Such incidents frequently involved adult non-swimmers, who tend to overestimate their swimming ability when they are under the influence of alcohol. As well, about half of all home pool drownings of 1-4 year olds occurred in Quebec, which has about half of the nation’s pools, especially above-ground pools with a patio joining them to the house (Figure 20). While there was a decrease in the pool drowning rate for children in Quebec, it was less in Ontario and British Columbia.

Seasons: The peak months for drowning incidents take place in beginning of May and lasts all the way to August during the summertime and tapers off in September. Week of day: Drowning incidents happen mostly during weekends. Time: Afternoon when it's the warmest and most suitable for outdoor/water activities.

= = = = = = = = = OCT 01st 2010 =

Today, I managed to had a conversation with a friend of mine who is an experienced boater. We were talking about life jacket usage and personally, he is very cautious about his own safety on water and he <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">would put on a life jacket every time. He shared with me some observation of how other people use life jacket. He mentioned that there is a negative correlation between the experience level as a boater as life jacket usage rate. That is, the more experienced a person on water, there will be more occasion in which he/she chooses not to wear a life jacket. The reason of that is usually due to convenience factor and time constraints.
 * INTERVIEW**

This correlation makes perfect sense to me because a person who does not swim, for instance, would obviously be more fearful about the water than another person who knows how to swim. Hence, he/she will be more likely to put on a life jacket. As such, the level of fear for water plays an important role in life jacket usage. I believe this is a good point to consider as it further defines the target audience of this campaign. We already know that men are more likely to underestimate the risk involved in water activities. On top of that, we now know amongst these men, those who are experienced, or perceived themselves as experienced in water activities are more likely to avoid putting on a life jacket.


 * MORE FACTS ON DROWNING**
 * (PART1)**

-Boating, swimming, and playing near unprotected water such as swimming pools were leading causes of drowning. -The study shows that the death rate from drowning, land and air transport drownings, was stable at an average of 1.8 deaths per 100,000 Canadians per year during 1991-1995 (Figure 2). Between 1996-2000, the drowning rate decreased steadily to an average of 1.4 deaths per 100,000, an improvement of 21%. -More than two-thirds of drownings occurred during recreational activities. -The highest drowning rates in Canada occurred in the northern territories, followed by provinces on the east and west coasts -irst Nations and Inuit peoples tend to have greater exposure to drowning hazards than the average Canadian, and their drowning rates were up to 10 times higher. -The highest rates of hospitalization for near drownings were seen in toddlers and infants An adult male is fishing from a small motorboat on a lake and wearing no flotation device or hypothermia protection garment. Strong winds, large waves, cold water, and approaching darkness are often present.Capsized, falling overboard, or swamped, the victim finds himself struggling in the water. He is unable to retrieve his personal flotation device from the boat. Even if he does find it in the chaos and panic of a capsize, hypothermia and other adverse circumstances make it too difficult to put on and fasten up. As the muscles of victim’s hands weaken from the effects of hypothermia, he loses his grip on the submerged boat and sinks beneath the surface.
 * -TYPICAL VICTIM PROFILE**



Drownings Red Cross and other water-related injuries in Canada 1991-2000
 * SOURCE:** CANADA RED CROSS: WHAT WE HAVE LEARNED: 10 YEARS OF PERTINENT FACTS ABOUT

SEPT 30th 2010 = = = =

When I was brainstorming for more concepts today, I remember being shown a video during a Sunday service at church. The video was made of a series of stop photos which are stitched together to form a stop motion piece. In the clip is a woman, presumably a model, who is transformed from looking ordinary to being distorted to a glamorous model through make up, hair styling and using photoshop. When I first saw the clip, I was deeply compelled by the message. Today when I was serving the Youtube, I came across it again and to my surprise, it has racked up over 10 million hits by the world as it is part of a viral campaign. I think the concept of this clip is extremely brilliant. It is extremely low budget and honestly speaking, I'm sure anyone whose given the equipment can reproduce this clip. So, I think that while many of us are spending too much time on the little details of our clips such as the props, the plot casting, etc, I believe that we should really be spending time in sculpting the big picture. Just like how this example shows, you don't have to be technical savvy or have extraordinary budget and casting to make a viral video that works. I would like to share this with everyone.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hibyAJOSW8U&feature=related



= SEPT 29th 2010 =
 * DOES IT FLOAT CONCEPT**

After making some research on how and where people make decisions about wearing a PFD, I found out that the image of a PFD would not cross their mind until they are asked to wear one. To give an example, after visiting a canoeing shop at DEEP COVE, I observed that there is a designated area where all the PFD are stored. The tourists, for example, are led to this area and asked to put on their life jacket by the instructors, that is, if the tourist sign up for a guided tour. Experienced boater, on the other can simply bypass this area and proceed straight to setting up the equipment and taking the canoe/ kayak to the water. As a result, there seems to be a need of more decision making points to remind of people about wearing a life jacket. Most importantly it forces them to re-consider their decision on to wear or not to wear before departing from the shore.


 * HOW IT WORKS**

This concept plays with the idea of what float and what doesn't. There will be an area near the dock where this installation/ 3D billboard will be placed. In this area, different garments the boaters would typically wear will be floating in close proximity to each other such as jeans, bikini, boots, t shirts, wet suits, sandals, etc with a life jacket amongst them. The idea is to question and remind the boaters that with all the clothing that put on, none of them floats when it comes to life saving. Only the life jacket does the job. This installation hopes to serve as a final reminder to the boaters to go back to the shore to ask for a PFD.


 * HOW IT DOES NOT WORK**

Charles made a very good point about this concept would not work because it is too costly to install in multiple areas across Canada. Also, not every boaters would see it. Besides, it would be difficult to get all the clothing to not sink and stay floating on the surface of the water.