Out of all of the elevator pitches I saw during Tuesday’s class, Dominic’s choice of an emotional commercial about why vaccines are important to stop the pandemic really hit home for me. Not only did he do a fantastic job with his presentation and had a clear goal in what he wanted to discuss in mind, the artifact he chose concisely used the idea of family and isolation fatigue to convince others to get the vaccine.

I’m immunocompromised. I cannot get the COVID vaccine, so I have to depend on others who are able to be vaccinated to do so. Videos like that showcase selfish reasoning, and for some adults that haven’t been vaccinated that’s exactly what they need. When I see things like that, I am able to take a step back and observe not only what it does well in concept, but how it actually impacts viewers. I saw a few students tear up, eyes get red and puffy, and Dominic had to take a moment before breaking the video down. That means the video did its job; it appealed to our emotions.

I liked most of the elevator pitches given during class on Tuesday, but the reason this one seemed to go above and beyond is how Dominic explained what he wanted to do with it. He wanted to look at the story the video told. How it used mothers to showcase unconditional love and how heartbreaking it is that it can’t be shown. He wanted to identify certain visual elements and how they heightened the emotional strain that the video showcased. Of course, there is no catharsis in the video, but it presents to the viewer an opportunity for catharsis: being vaccinated and ending the pandemic.

Overall, I loved Dominic’s portrayal and analysis of the video he presented and I’m on the edge of my seat for how he develops it going forward.