0:00-0:01

The ad starts off by showing a teenage girl, maybe around 16 or 17 years old, sitting on her bed with all of the lights off. The only light coming into the room is through the window. She is not facing the camera, but she is turned to the side so we can make out that she is staring down at her phone and has a sad expression on her face. Has she been waiting for a text from a friend? Is she looking at a picture of herself? What is causing her to be sad?

0:02-0:05

This next scene shows the girl sign and toss her phone on her bed. It is now clear that she is upset and that something on the phone is bothering her. The camera pans down to show the phone screen which has a text message conversation open. There are two messages from what one can only assume is her friend. They read, “it’s all in your head” and “just think happier thoughts”. These messages imply that the girl may be depressed or lonely and her friend does not care enough about her as the messages seem to blow off how the girl is feeling. 

0:06-0:08

The scene now shifts from the original girl to two different girls, about the same age as the first, sitting at what appears to be a dinner table. There is one girl in the front of the screen that is blurred out slightly and is looking down at the table. The other girl is seated next to her at the table and is in full clearity. She is looking at girl #1 with a concerned look which makes the viewer wonder why she is looking at her. From the previous girl, it can be inferred that girl #1 may too, be depressed.

0:09-0:10

We switch areas once again and this time see a young teenage boy, who again looks about 16 or 17 years old. He is in the middle of the screen and the other people around him are blurred out so he is the sole focus of this shot. He is at a diner with friends and is sitting down at a table. He has a drink in front of him with a straw and is spinning the straw around the glass. This boy, like the first girl, is looking down with a sad expression. Is he sad and depressed? Why aren’t his friends talking to him? Do they not notice he may be depressed? After three instances of sad looking teens, the audience now knows that this ad has something to do with mental health.

0:11-0:12

The shot switches to a different young girl laying down on her bed looking up at the ceiling in the complete darkness. She has her phone held above her head and there is a light shining down on her face from the phone. This can only be assumed to mean there is so much happening on her phone. The light from the phone then covers the whole screen and turns it white. 

0:13-0:15

This next scene continues to zoom out from the phone and show images of tweets and other social media posts. These posts are most likely what was happening on the girl who was laying in her bed’s phone. We see text like “harden up” and “positive vibes only”. These words go back to the text messages the first girl had received from her friend. They are common things people say to dismiss their feeling of being sad which is what the ad maker was trying to get at. Everyday, people look down upon those with mental health disorders and try to make them seem non-existent by telling the person to just get better. Which, as most people know, is not that simple.

0:16-0:18

Once again, a new girl is introduced. She starts off by looking down at her phone and then collapsing back onto a couch looking upset. She lets out a big sign and then breathes heavily. This girl can be assumed to also be depressed. 

0:19-0:21

In the same room as the previous girl, the camera pans over to a boy sitting on the floor looking at the girl concerningly. He says some words directed towards the girl on the couch, then the camera looks back at her and she gives a slight nod. What he said, we do not know, but the girl must have agreed with him. Based on the premise of the ad, one can infer he asked her something along the lines of “are you okay” or “do you want to talk about it”.  

0:22-0:24

These next two seconds show similar scenes of the last one. They include the first girl and her friend outside leaning on a car. The friend says something to her and she nods. The other two girls from the dinner table also have a similar scene, where one asks the other something and the response is a nod.

0:25-0:30

The words “When the world doesn’t listen, be the friend who does” appear on the screen. This confirms the idea that the ad is about mental health and having people you can rely on to be there for you. All of the teens in the first half of the ad were alone and did not have anyone to talk to. The ad took a turn at the end and showed the teens with their friends and how they wanted to help. The words “Seize The Awkward; Learn how to help a friend with their mental health at seizetheawkward.org” show up after. Again, confirming the message of the ad was to show that mental health problems are common and people may be shy or embarrassed to admit to them. But with friends and people who care around you, it makes it easier to talk about and get help.