Who's Driving?
An engineering student, studying autonomous vehicles, seeks understanding of the broader implications.
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Adam LoweryDirector
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Adam LoweryWriter
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Adam LoweryProducer
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Kayla HallPrincipal Photography
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Micah HardymanPrincipal Photography
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Kat VivaldiPrincipal Photography
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Valerie WhitneyPrincipal Photography
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Adam LoweryPrincipal Photography
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Adam LoweryEditor
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Charles DyeEditor
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Project Type:Documentary, Short
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Genres:Documentary, Sociology, Technology
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Runtime:10 minutes 17 seconds
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Country of Origin:United States
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Country of Filming:United States
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Language:English
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Film Color:Color
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First-time Filmmaker:Yes
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Student Project:No
Though technically trained as a physicist and engineer, Adam Lowery has been an avid admirer of the cinematic arts since his childhood. He is currently a graduate student of Virginia Tech, working towards his terminal degree. When he's not caught up in a difficult problem set, he can usually be found watching foreign cinema, volunteering at his local independent theatre (The Lyric), or, more recently, making short movies. His hope for the future is to one day make a film that is considered a "classic."
The transportation industry is constantly evolving to improve traffic efficiency, conform to popular trends, and meet the needs of urban development. Cities, in particular, offer commuters an immersion into a microcosm of transient-orient systems (cars, buses, trains). Cars, and by extension driving, are unique to this system, in that they allow individuals to exert far greater control and assert their own decision making.
In this film, I seek to examine America’s attraction towards car culture from a sociological standpoint, and illuminate how pop culture may be reinforcing it. I was inspired to create this film while working as a team lead of my university's, Virginia Tech, autonomous vehicle team. Given the predominance of driving, especially in the Southern United States, I hope this film can segue into a larger discussion about an impending, transformative technology.