Monday, February 11, 2013

Case Study No. 0779: The Information Genie

Information Genie Part 1
4:59
Part one of a viral video library science project
Tags: information genie library science broker humor school project
Added: 5 years ago
From: LibrarianStudent
Views: 284

[scene opens inside of an office building, as a male worker is exiting the room when he waves to someone in the hallway]
BOB: Hey, Jeff.
JEFF: [from off camera] Oh, hey Bob!
[he enters the room, whistling, then turns and points to someone in the hallway]
JEFF: Oh, Nancy! Hey, my favorite accountant ... What? Really? I love Grey's Anatomy, too! Oh hey, uh, those Woods reports? Give 'em to you ASAP!
[he enters the office and puts down his bag]
JEFF: Hmm, another day on the job ... Oh, I love life!
[he sits down and leafs through some papers on his desk]
JEFF: Not the Woods reports ...
[cut to Jeff logging into Facebook on his computer, then cut to another man sitting in a different office]
MR. CREESON: Jeff should be back to work by now ...
[he picks up his phone, then cut to Jeff answering his ringing phone]
JEFF: [into the phone] Jeff Rockson, regional director here.
[cut back to his boss' office]
MR. CREESON: [into the phone] Jeff, Creeson.
[cut back to Jeff's office]
JEFF: [into the phone] Oh hey, Mister Creeson.
[cut back to his boss' office]
MR. CREESON: [into the phone] Got my Luther report?
[cut back to Jeff's office]
JEFF: [into the phone] Oh, yes sir! The Martin Luther King Junior Appreciation Day is coming along nicely ...
[he opens a drawer in his desk and pulls out a manilla folder]
JEFF: [into the phone] Mm hmm, yes sir ... I've been working very hard and diligently on it.
[he opens the folder, to reveal just a single post-it note inside]
JEFF: [into the phone] Uh huh, I could tell you every minte I spent on it, in fact ... Okay. Mm hmm. Oh yeah yeah, I've researched some very good information for your opening speech.
[he starts spinning around in his chair]
JEFF: [into the phone] Mm hmm. Mm hmm. Oh, much better than the usual droll and drum you see with Doctor King these days.
[cut back to his boss' office]
MR. CREESON: [into the phone] I see. Well, good work on that.
[cut back to Jeff's office, as he types on his computer]
JEFF: [into the phone] Well, mm hmm ... I think, I think I can do that yes. Alright, alright. Well, it sounds good, Mister Creeson.
[the browser changes from Facebook to the ESPN homepage]
JEFF: [into the phone] Oh, you're comin' in for dinner on Sunday? Okay, well ... Yes, sir. I will, uh, have your speech ready to go in easy-to-read cards, no worries. Gotcha covered. Alright, alright. Thank you very much, sir.
[he hangs up, then starts flipping through his desktop calendar ... before going back to surfing ESPN's homepage]
[cut to a closeup of Jeff's computer screen, as he types "Martin Luther" into the "Mergle" search engine ... he starts whistling as he hits "Search", and the following results page brings up information on the other Martin Luther]
[he looks over the results, as Bob enters his office]
BOB: Hey Jeff, what's happening?
JEFF: Oh, hey Bob, what's going on? Just putting together a report for the boss for the holidays.
BOB: Good stuff?
JEFF: Oh, great stuff, thanks to my trusty friend ... the World Wide Web!
BOB: Sure you just wanna use any old thing off the web? I mean, a database would probably be a better bet.
JEFF: Huh? Oh ... yeah, yeah. I'll fact-check, no worries.
[he picks up a stack of papers from the desk and hands it to Bob]
JEFF: Um, hey ... Uh, don't you have some widgets reports to send to accounting?
BOB: Right ...
JEFF: Well, hey, thanks buddy! I'll see ya later!
BOB: Bye ...
[he leaves, then cut to a closeup of Jeff's computer screen, as he continues to look up information on the German monk rather than the civil rights leader]
JEFF: I'll mess with this later ...
[he switches back to the ESPN home page]
JEFF: Time to see what's going on in football here! Ooh ...
[cut to Jeff walking to his car outside]
JEFF: I love lazy Fridays!
[he gets in, then cut to Jeff driving down the street]
JEFF: Let's see what's on the good old public broadcast ...
[he turns on the radio]
RADIO ANNOUNCER: And that makes the fifth Bigfoot sighting in just as many days. One has to wonder if the big guy's becoming a little less shy around people ... In other news, Lance Creeson, CEO of Widget Corporation, made a terribly embarrassing speech earlier in this week at the Widget Corporation's Martin Luther King Junior Appreciation event.
[cut to another shot of Jeff driving, as he stares down at the radio with a concerned look on his face]
RADIO ANNOUNCER: During his speech, he cited Luther's bold steps in breaking away from the Catholic Church in reformations, before stopping himself and excusing himself from the podium. Our sources tell us that the errors in his speech were the result of faulty research provided to Mister Creeson by a worker of his.
[cut to Jeff at a stoplight, as he continues to look concerned]
RADIO ANNOUNCER: Coming up next, Aquadox toys ... should you still buy them for your children?
[his cellphone rings, then "Some time later ... " appears on screen, as the scene changes to a disheveled looking Jeff (wearing ripped jeans and a bathrobe) wandering around the docks]
[cut to Jeff sitting next to a garbage can, as a male passerby throws his lit cigarette away ... once he's out of sight, Jeff pounces on the spent cigarette and tries to get a few last puffs out of it (to no avail)]
[cut to Jeff lying down underneath a tree, using newspapers as a blanket and his bathrobe for a pillow ... however, he's unable to get to sleep, and tries to adjust his "pillow" when he notices a stereotypical genie's lamp buried at the base of the tree]
[cut to Jeff holding the lamp, then (after making sure no one is looking) he rubs it with glee ... his face falls when nothing happens, but then he looks up and a "genie" (i.e. an overweight man with no shirt on and a blue towel on his head) is suddenly standing before him]
INFORMATON GENIE: Ha ha ha ha ha! Free at last! My captor, Solomon, dead! And I free, after two thousand years!
JEFF: A genie? King Solomon? Wasn't he king more than two thousand years ago? Wasn't he on a continent more than six thousand miles away?
[the genie shrugs]
INFORMATON GENIE: It is not important, the important thing is that I am free, to do as I please ... after your three wishes, of course.
[he holds up three fingers]
INFORMATION GENIE: A fact I would normally hide from you, but my magic tells me that in this day and age, that knowledge is somewhat ... cliche.
JEFF: I hate to tell you this, but it's also cliched that you speak English when you're a djinn with roots in Arabic and Bedouin traditions.
[the genie wiggles his fingers over Jeff's head]
INFORMATON GENIE: Magic, it's magic!
[Jeff stands up (seemingly not under his own power), as the genie crosses his arms over his prodigious gut]
INFORMATION GENIE: So, Master, what will you wish for? Money? Power? A bigger willie?
JEFF: Sweet ... sweet! Man, I thought genies only existed in stupid jokes about deserted islands.
[he shakes his head]
JEFF: This is different ... I gotta be careful what I wish for. I saw "Wishmaster," I know what you assholes can do!
INFORMATON GENIE: But Master, what do you have to lose? You look like one of the many disenfranchised homeless ...
[the genie holds up his hand and pretends to cough, muttering the word "Loser!" under his breath]
JEFF: Hey, pal! I was a very successful businessman, before I was fired a week ago. I was regional director! I have a resume! But, I made the unfortunate mistake of ...
[he turns and speaks directly to the camera]
JEFF: Poor researching!
[he turns back to the genie]
JEFF: Okay, I wanna start with something small. Something that'll get me to bigger and better places ... Genie, can you help me correct a mistake that I made?
INFORMATON GENIE: Your wish is my command!
JEFF: But, I didn't--
INFORMATON GENIE: Just go with it!
[cut back to Jeff's office, as he is sitting at his desk (where the ESPN homepage is still visible on his computer) wearing his regular work clothes again]
JEFF: What?
[the camera pans over to show Bob leaving the office (just like he did before)]
JEFF: Was that just a dream?
[the camera pans the other way, showing the genie standing behind Jeff]
INFORMATON GENIE: Well, my master!
[Jeff nearly jumps out of his chair, startled by the unexpected voice]
INFORMATON GENIE: As you can see, we've travelled back through time, to allow you to correct your life-changing mistake!
[he holds up one finger]
INFORMATON GENIE: That's one, Skippy ...
JEFF: Huh? Whu ... Couldn't you have just "magicked" everything right? Doesn't seem right for you to deconstruct my wishes this way. Now I guess I'll hafta wish for you to help me finish this project.
[his phone starts to ring]
INFORMATON GENIE: That's pretty much how I operate. And your wish ... is my command.
[he waves his hand over the phone, and Jeff answers it]
JEFF: [into the phone] Hello?
[cut back to his boss' office]
MR. CREESON: [into the phone] Jeff, Creeson.
[cut back to Jeff's office, as he stands up to take the call (and the genie sits down at his computer and begins typing)]
JEFF: [into the phone] Oh, Mister Creeson ... hi. Yes. Yes, sir. Uh, yes sir, I'm working on it right now. Uh, alright. Thank you, sir.
[cut back to his boss' office, as Mister Creeson hangs up the phone and shakes his head, then cut back to Jeff's office]
INFORMATION GENIE: Your second wish is granted!
[as Jeff hangs up the phone, the camera zooms in on the computer screen (which features a form entitled "Brennan Independent Researching")]
JEFF: Well ... that wasn't very magical.
INFORMATION GENIE: Yes, well, I like to operate simply when I can. This is the page of an information broker. They can take your information from your botched project, because of your pathetic research, and organize it into something much more manageable for you. Uh, so this way, nothing is left to chance.
JEFF: So ... I just fill out this survey right here?
INFORMATION GENIE: Yes, all you need to do is give some simple information and pay the guy, and that's pretty much it.
[cut to a closeup of Jeff's computer screen, as he types in "martin luther king jr. speeches" under the "Describe what information you are looking to find" field (there is also "widget co." under the "Company representing" field and "trading firm" under the "Describe what your company does" field)]
JEFF: And done! Phew!
[the camera zooms out to show Jeff leaning back in his chair, as the genie looks on]
JEFF: Adam will email me that presentation, then I'll be set to go! Well, guess it's time to start thinking about that last wish ...
[the genie leans in close and adopts a mocking tone]
INFORMATION GENIE: Any thoughts on that?
[Jeff gets an annoyed look on his face]
JEFF: Screw you!
INFORMATION GENIE: Your wish is my command!
[he laughs, then leans in to give Jeff a kiss, as the scene fades to black]

The Information Genie

Written and Directed by
Adam Brennan

Camera Work
Adam Brennan and Joe Myers

Props and Wardrobe
Adam Brennan

Cast

Jeff Rockson is
Chris Leonard

Mr. Creeson
Joe Myers

Bob the Coworker
Sean McBee

Radio Voice
Adam Brennan

and Travis Budd
as the Genie

Music (used under Fair Use as a student project)
George Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue
Theme from 13th Warrior

Filmed on location in Tulsa Oklahoma

Special Thanks to
Michelle Farabough

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