What You Can Learn From A Film That Tells 26 Stories At Once

Social Media Thriller "Searching" Tells 26 Stories At Once

How many times would you watch a movie? When it comes to the hot new thriller Searching from first-time director Aneesh Chaganty, you will need more than a few because of the number of easter eggs and elaborate side storylines hidden in the movie.

The film is about a frantic Dad, played by John Cho, searching social media for clues about his missing daughter. Many of the shots in the film are from the viewpoint of the screen, which created an early challenge of what content to use for all those side windows. To do it, Chaganty estimates writing 25 times more content than the actual screenplay just to fill those screens and managed them all in 26 different Google docs. And it's not just noise.

All of this background content—images, email text, subject headers, news articles and headlines, text messages, and so on—are used to create parallel storylines that you will only notice the second or third time you watch. In the process, they have created a film that is redefining the rules of filmmaking and offering the rarest type of experience: something you can see over and over and always find something new.

The Love-Hate Relationship We All Seem To Have With Branding

Last summer comedian and actress Mindy Kaling did a series of ads for McDonald's with a curious omission - she never mentioned the brand. Instead, they would use phrases like "the place where Coke tastes so good" to allude to the brand. It was an interesting strategy and turned a few eyebrows. This week, Heineken launched an entire campaign intentionally omitting a tagline - and entire initiatives like Brandless are redefining traditional branding so deeply that they are even causing some to ask if no brand is the new brand?

But then, there was also a story this week about NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine conceding that, thanks to budget cuts, NASA may consider offering naming rights for rockets or spacecraft. It is easy to imagine there will be plenty of brands lining up for the chance to do this. The thing about brand is that it's easy not to care about it if everyone already knows who you are. Or until an opportunity comes along to slap it on the side of a rocket and watch it orbit the Earth.