Thesis: It is necessary for modern workplaces to have updated and efficient technology.

We attempt to convey this message through humor with a parody of the popular
television show, The Office.

Filming:
Alumni, Badin, and Como

Opening:
Office music and Notre Dame montage with cast members head shots

Main Concept:
Battle of whether or not to incorporate new technology (Intercom system) into the office.
People who are against it: Angela, Dwight, Phyllis, Stanley
People who are for it: Jim, Pam, Andy, Kelly, Jan
Michael is oblivious

Cast:     Pam – Elizabeth Gibbons (Pro)

    Angela – Molly Pummell (Con)
    Kelly – Ashley Bowman (Pro)
    Jan – Casey Dollard (Pro)
    Phyllis – Mara Stolee (Con)
    Jim – Nicolas Martinez (Pro)
    Stanley – Sarah Fleming (Con)
    Kevin - Margaret (Secretly a genius)
    Dwight – Blake Weaver (Con)
    Andy Bernard – Carl I. (Pro)
    Michael Scott – Damek Mitchell (Oblivious)

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
----

[Andy is putting a sandwich together happily, when Kevin walks in and comments on the
niceness of his sandwich.]

Andy: This is gonna be the best sandwich EV-AH!

[Camera shows Andy putting the sandwich in the fridge with a thumbs up.]

Interview
Andy: It’s exactly seven minutes before lunch, countdown to munch time!

[Andy dances on his way to the fridge.. Andy is frantically searching high and low for his
sandwich.  Realizes it’s gone.  Screams loudly.]

[Camera shows everyone’s shocked face as they hear Andy scream.]

OPENING INTRO (headshots with theme music)

Andy: Did NO ONE read my tweets about NOT eating the Nard-dog’s sandwich?!

[Camera shows Kevin is at his desk eating the last crumbs as we zoom in on his guilty
face.]

Kevin: You have a bird?

Phyllis: What kind of bird is it?  I love birds.

[Andy first goes to Michael and complains about it but Michael thinks everything is just,
“honky dory.”]

[Andy gets so super pissed about Kevin eating his sandwich that he tells Jan]

[Then the camera pans around the office and shows Angela and Kelly using paper cups
and string to call each other and Dwight is using an abacus while Jim and Pam are
throwing paper at each other to ‘instant message.’]

Interview
Angela:  I’ve been using abacuses my whole life because Jesus says that calculators are
the devil.

Interview
Dwight: The abacus is all we use on Schrute Farms.  I am the AAGP Northeastern
champion at abacus proficiency. [long stare into camera.]

Interview
Jim: No, he’s not.  He made this.

[Camera follows Jim as he takes one bead off of Dwight’s abacus.  Dwight is double
checking his calculations with a smug look.  He slowly turns to stare down Jim as if he
had triumphed over him.]

[Camera shows Michael sitting in his desk doing nothing but being on Facebook staring
at pictures of Jan, completely oblivious to the situation unfolding around him.]

[Dwight turns in his calculations into Jan.  This causes Jan to question the branch’s
knowledge of technology.  Jan takes them all into the conference room to introduce them
to the smartboard and this is where the revolt begins. As Jan begins the presentation of
incorporating more advanced technology into the work place]  
INCORPORATE MORE DATA ABOUT TECHNOLOGY FOR POWERPOINT

Interview
Dwight: The Schrutes have a long history of witch hunting, so I know black magic when
I see it.  And this reeks of witchcraft.

[Michael interrupts the meeting in the conference room.]

Michael: Jan’s here.  Oh, Jan’s here.  Jan, Jan the man.  Well, not the man because, well,
I think you all know.  But okay seriously. We need to be thinking about going paperless.
Because I mean really who uses paper nowadays right?  It’s really a dead industry.

Jan: No, Michael.  Just, just no.

[Scene changes and everyone is back at their desk with their computers.  Only Angela,
Dwight, Phylis, and Stanley are seriously struggling with the technologies.]

Stanley: I will stand here and let the kids set up their toys on my desk but that does not
mean I’m gonna be usin’ em’.

[Phyllis stares at the black iPhone screen.]

Phyllis: But I don’t understand, where are the buttons?  How are you supposed to use it?

[Dwight will not even touch his new computer or phone.  Then it starts buzzing and he
tries to smash it.]

[Angela is holding a rosary in her hand and is making disgusted faces at those around
her who are using the new technology as if nothing is wrong.]

[Andy is sitting cheerfully at his desk using the computer and the camera zooms in on his
computer screen where it shows that he is making up fliers saying, ‘NO ONE BETTER
TOUCH MY F*cking (blurred out) SANDWICHES’ with a picture of Andy’s face.]

[The camera goes back to Jim and Pam and it is obvious that they are texting back and
forth on their iPhones.]

Interview
Cameraman: Since about 2000, global use of office paper has leveled off and is now
decreasing, which has been attributed to a generation shift: younger people are believed
to be less inclined to print out documents, and more inclined to read them on a full-color
interactive animated display screen. What are your thoughts on this?

Pam: Jim and I recently conducted an online survey while I was trying to renew
Michael’s Home&Garden subscription...(interviewer interrupts)

[Camera pans over to Michael as he pokes his head in the room.]

Michael: Did someone say, Home&Garden?

[Pam looks bewildered.]

Pam: Our data showed that, 53% of college students never go anywhere without their
mobile phones and 40 out of 75 students spend more than 5 hours a day on their
computer, even though at least half of these students are on Hulu or YouTube for at least
one hour.  Because most college curriculums incorporate technology effectively, I am
confident that our office can handle this new high tech software.
Then camera shows Kelly, Jim, Pam, and Andy reading documents on their computers
happily.  

Cameraman: So how do you like the new computers and phone system?  Is it making
your workload lighter?

[Jim and Pam: While on their phones using Facebook. They both look up.]
Pam/Jim: Yes it helps / Yeah, it helps.
Pam: I just poked you Jim.
Jim: Ouch.

Dwight: Are you suggesting I can’t handle my workload? I come from a long line of
German beet farmers. The Schrutes were able to defend themselves against pillagers
during the great Beet Rot of 1742 with nothing more than rocks. I don’t need a MePhone
to do my work. ”

Michael: I’m sorry, can you repeat the question?

[The cameraman repeats the question.]

Cameraman: So how do you like the new computers and phone system?  Is it making
your workload lighter?

Michael: Okay, I don’t understand why you are asking me this. Are they talking about
me out there?  ‘Cause you know they did get me this mug that says World’s Greatest
Boss, so I’m really not worried.  Yeah, we’re like one big family here at Dunder Mifflin.
[He looks nervously over to the side.]...Yeah, I’m not worried.

Interview
Cameraman: In 2009, US cell phone users sent roughly 4.1 billion texts everyday.
That’s 17 messages a day for every person with a data capable phone.  What do you think
about this statistic, Kelly?

[Kelly engrossed in something funny on her iPhone.]

Cameraman: ...Kelly?

Kelly: [Looks up from her typing something on her iPhone]  Sorry, someone just liked
my status.  God, I’m so popular.  Well obviously I’m young and I’m hot so I already
know about texting and IMing and I’m even on twitter.  I have like 3 followers.  But
yeah, Ryan and I talk like all the time.  He can never really get enough of me so
obviously we wouldn’t mind being in touch like all the time. Duh.

Interview
Jan: The technology is really catching on around here.

[Camera turns toward Angela who is looking up Bible quotes, Stanley who is playing
Sudoku online, Phyllis is looking up crochet patterns, and Dwight is downloading plans
for his bomb shelter.]
Andy: Good thing I made a second sandwich.  This is gonna be suh-weet!
[He opens the fridge]
What the f*ck?!
[Then Andy flips over the kitchen table with some stuff on it.]

[Camera turns towards Kevin who is eating Andy’s sandwich again behind his Kindle.]

Kevin: I love turkey on Rye.

[Camera turns back towards Andy as he is storming out of the kitchen to the parking lot.
Then the camera pans everyone’s scared/wary faces.]

[Camera shows Jim as he watches Andy bike/cardboard Prius off.]

Jim: And that is what we call an overreaction...

Interview
Kevin: I know what Twitter is. I just wanted a sandwich.

______________________________________________________________________

Props Needed for Monday:

Abacus: Elizabeth (email calc teacher)
Paper cup with string instead of a telephone - Damek
Throwing paper messages instead of emailing - Carl
Everyone needs their own costumes and their own computers and cell phones!
“World’s Best Boss” Mug:  Molly
Rosary for Angela: Sarah
Sandwich (es): Margaret
Kindle : Ashley
Cardboard Prius : Damek
Home&Garden Magazine: Molly

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Works Cited

Day, C. William. “How will technology affect the education office environment?”

American School and University. N.p., 1 May 2009. Web. 27 Apr. 2011.

Dretzin, Rachel. Digital Nation. Douglas Rushkoff. PBS, 2010. Public Broadcasting

Service. Web. 28 Apr. 2011.

Ferguson, Jay. "The Scrantones." The Office Theme Song. 2005. MP3 file.

FYC 13300-02. “Technology Research”. Survey. 19 April 2011.

O’Dell, Jolie. “How Millenials Use Tech at Work.” ReadWriteWeb. N.p., 9 Feb. 2010.

Web. 27 Apr. 2011.

“Paper and Paperless Technology.” Information Technology and the Environment. The

Club of Rome, 22 May 2010. Web. 28 Apr. 2011.

“Paperless Office.” Wikipedia. N.p., 26 Apr. 2011. Web. 28 Apr. 2011.

Pierce, Justin. 2010 USC Annenberg Digital Future Study Finds Strong Negative

Reaction to Paying for Online Services. Center for the Digital Future. University

of Southern California Annenberg School, 23 July 2010. Web. 28 Apr. 2011.

“Technology brings efficiency - and frustration.” Management-Issues. N.p., 5 Sept. 2003.

Web. 28 Apr. 2011.