Amnesia Research
Questions for the Interview:
The 7 questions I have written are to give me an idea of how my character life will be like. What is forgotten, what is remembered and how it affects his life. In addition to that get an insight on what people know and if they know anyone who suffers from it.
The Interviews:
Jerome
I thought that Jerome gave me a really honest opinion. The anecdote gave me an insight as to his past experience on the topic, I think that the anecdote was very intuitive, this is will help me in my project because I understand more about how amnesia works and the effect it will have on the person as well as the person’s family. I like the part of the interview were he dreads forgetting about his friends and how he would want to forget the girl who broke his heart because it is very sympathetic and may relate to others.
Eryk
I liked the fact that Eryk’s answers were short, direct, thoughtful and honest too. When I asked about how he would like to be injured in an accident, he was really concerned and he would not want to live with a disability and thereby becoming a burden to his family. As a result, he would prefer to die in an accident then go through short or long term memory loss. This interview exposes how different people would react to the same situations that are thrust upon them. This will help me because my main character could have that mentality of dying or maybe he could say he wanted to die, so many angles.
Finn
Finn has a more relaxed approach to the questions and the topic, he seems to have a in depth knowledge as to how memory loss affects people in different ways. I liked how he compared amnesia to dementia, people may confuse the two. Also, that we need to have a history of what has happened in the past so that it is not repeated in the future. Finn’s answers had helped me identify the varies scenarios in which memory loss can occur for example, hit by a bus or an object accidentally falling on somebody’s head as well as how my character will develop Amnesia.
James
After looking back at James’s interview, I found that he was more concerned on the impact that it would have on his family rather than himself. When pressed about what he thinks the impact would have on somebody with Amnesia, he honestly gave an answer that we could relate to, such as simple tasks that you are used to doing becomes very difficult, which means you having to rely on other people. He dreaded finding himself in a situation were his mum develop amnesia and then forget who he was. James’s answer will help me build character’s in my pilot who will play a supportive role.
Karim
Karim is quite knowledgeable about Amnesia and how it may affect people. For example, he knows someone who has a condition similar to Amnesia and feels that it is not the best condition to be in. When I had asked Karim about what he would like to forget if he had Amnesia, he said that he would want to forget all the mistakes had he has made in this life so far. This is benefited me because it has given me a clue as to what role my main character is going play in my TV Pilot.
Jack
After listening to Jack’s feedback, I like the fact that he would not want to forget how to do day to day functions such as walk and talk, this feature would be good to play with making the audience have sympathy for my character. The mentally that he described was good for example, memory recovery and a person with amnesia would have to frustrated mentally. Jack’s feedback has helped immensely.
Maria
I really appreciate how honest Maria was when answering my questions, plus I liked the idea of my character drowning and having someone save them. I think it would be a great backstory into how my main character develops amnesia. When Maria said her mother would be sad and blame herself, it was sad but influential and I think that every answer that she gave was good because it has made me think about what I want and what my episode will include.
Jeremy
Firstly, I like how he would not want to forget sentimental things such as the many Christmas moments that he has had and how he would want to forget painful memories. Secondly, he said a person with amnesia would be in distress and would have a scared mentally as well as the person’s family being very caring, which is great. Jeremy’s response has given me an idea, about what my character’s life would be like if they had short term memory.
Conclusion:
All of these interviews have been useful to me, I like how every response that I had received. Most of them said that they would not want to forget their family. It gives me a bigger picture on how it will affect such family, close friends. Furthermore, the respondents have helped me by making me start to think a lot more about what I am looking for, and what I will be including in my pilot episode.
Stephanie Corr-Amajor 