Editorial Report 13a

My project is essentially complete, but I'm going to post the editorial reports for the sake of blog continuity.

Audience Questions

• I cut quite a bit from my script to make it shorter, but otherwise it's the same content. This streamlines the argument a bit.
• Now my content is in video form instead of just a script. I already recorded myself reading off the script but now I have pictures and clips to go along with it; it looks much better now that the eye has something to follow instead of just me talking. 

Here's some of script:

One of my most vivid childhood movies is of me ducking behind a couch when i was four crying my eyes out because my parents were watching one of the Chucky movies. That movie stayed on my mind for years after that, and I can still remember the specific scene I saw. When I was young, I was incredibly afraid of big dolls like Chucky, and they still make me a little uncomfortable to this day.

Many people share this experience with me. How many of us could still be experiencing side effects from our childhood fears today? I want to briefly discuss the effect these films have on children that causes so much concern in parents before I delve into why the MPAA is not the solution.

Like I said, the content in scary movies can vary greatly. There is no way to rank which one of these movies is the scariest or which ones are completely off limits to kids because it is dependent on the movie and everyone’s own individual fears.

The same study I mentioned before done at the University of Michigan identified the most common types of “phobia-producing stimuli” found in horror films; animals, as in predators and monsters, environmental, which ranges from earthquakes to nuclear warfare, blood and gore, situational (like heights and small spaces), and disturbing sounds/distorted images, (DeGroat). Any one given horror film could use several of these stimuli to frighten their viewers, so there are many opportunities for a child to create their own phobia based on just one movie.

This complicated genre may work for adults, but the big issue is how children are affected by them. The most important thing to keep in mind is that the minds of children work much differently than adult brains; they can’t differentiate between fiction and reality until they’re about 7 or 8. Even at that age, it’s very easy for a child to let their emotions get the best of them and override their knowledge of fact and fiction. Studies show that the younger a child is exposed to frightening stimuli, the more likely that negative effects will follow the into their adult lives.

Now here's a link to this bit of script in video format. I've tried a few different ways to upload it, and sometimes it opens and works and other times it doesn't. It might be necessary to download the video, sorryyy.

It feels AMAZING to be so close to being done!