Private Project

Dramaturgy

The fashion film ‘Dramaturgy’ forecasts the ways we could outperform ourselves within Web 3.0 and lose touch with our ‘real’ selves, which we had before shifting daily life all online and being behind a VR headset 12+ hours per day, and illustrates the effect of performing on social media: young adults suffer from depression and anxiety in ‘real’ life while showcasing a perfect cheerful version(s) of themselves online. This creates an absurd dystopian, where ‘real’ life and our ‘online’ life will contradict, diverge and accelerate.

The story plays in a futuristic 2032. We follow protagonist Roxy who is dealing with online & offline self-destruction due to their loss with their real-life self.

  • Denise Bakker
    Director
  • Denise Bakker
    Writer
  • Denise Bakker
    Producer
  • Audrey Bianca Callista
    Key Cast
    "Roxy"
  • Pauline Skoreng
    Cinematographer
  • Donna Sgabri
    3D designer
  • Dagmara Kucińska
    Editor
  • Jurriaan Kruithof
    Sound design
  • Luca Ariello
    Sound composer
  • Sean Low
    Gaffer
  • Lotje Tempelman
    Hair & Makeup
  • Project Type:
    Animation, Student, Web / New Media
  • Genres:
    Sci-fi, Fiction, Drama
  • Runtime:
    6 minutes 35 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    August 15, 2023
  • Production Budget:
    2,000 EUR
  • Country of Origin:
    Netherlands
  • Country of Filming:
    Argentina, Netherlands
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    Yes - Amsterdam Fashion Institute
Director Biography - Denise Bakker

Denise Bakker (b. 1996, The Netherlands) is an Amsterdam & Berlin based creative & visual artist graduated in Fashion & Branding at the Amsterdam Fashion Institute. Fuelled by a need to observe and comment on social and technological topics, she cultivates her passion between the mediums of photography, film and fashion. Offering an intimate view into atmospheric worlds, and with a strong emphasis on art direction, she makes hidden stories come to life.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

Dramaturgy is my graduation project for the BA Int. Fashion & Branding at the Amsterdam Fashion Institute.

During my time at the VIA University in Denmark, where I followed a semester in Fashion Film, I was confronted with the possibilities of new mediums like VR, Web 3.0 and the Metaverse. While we discussed a lot about the opportunities of the medium, I noticed myself asking a lot of questions about how it will impact society and future life. With these questions as starting points, I centred my graduation project research on the mental and physical impact of Web 3.0.

Research conclusions & context film:
We log onto social media to perform; we strive to show a better version of ourselves. This is especially profound amongst young girls as they’re still looking for who they are or want to be. Simultaneously, the numbers of depression and anxiety among young adults have increased. The increases were particularly steep after 2011 due to teenagers' increasing dependence on social media. The timeline makes sense: YouTube was invented in 2004, Facebook in 2006, Instagram in 2010, and Snapchat in 2013.

Today, Gen-Z spends an average of 9 hours a day on social media, usually with one or two profiles to maintain (personal & work). But with Web 3.0 emerging, what happens when we spend 9+ hours in the Metaverse? Where a cool character is key. Additionally, in the Metaverse, we will have to maintain multiple characters.

Considering that youth who spend more than 30 min a day online are more likely to suffer from depression or anxiety or the fear of missing out, the risk of online addiction and therefore neglecting, or losing, the ‘real’ self becomes dangerously high.

The concept of ‘Dramaturgy’ is based on a 1959 theory from sociologist Erving Goffman which he describes in “The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life”. In his book, Goffman lays out a theory of identity built around playacting. In every human interaction, every person performs to create an impression for an audience. For example, at a job interview, you perform differently than when spending time with your friends. A performer might be fully consumed by their own performance even if they stop trying and their actions still have an effect. At home, you might feel like you can stop performing altogether. Within Goffman’s dramaturgical framework, you might feel as if you made it backstage. The self, therefore, is not a fixed, organic thing, but a dramatic effect that emerges from a performance. Social interactions, therefore, are seen as a theatrical stage performance. This book, published in 1959, exclusively discussed ‘offline’ interactions. As we move towards web 3.0, what would our online performances mean within the metaverse?