final projects, final papers, and final finals!

I can't believe I'm almost done with this semester! This is my final project for Motion Picture Production. I've concluded that I am, nor ever will be a video person. However, other than a few details with the audio and certain video clips, I'm pretty proud of this. I spent almost 12 hours in an edit bay working on this thing, constantly having to render, readjust and make subtle changes. 


I never really knew how prevalent child abuse was in Hawaii until I wrote the article on the Pinwheels for Prevention event at the State Capitol. It really is scary to think that kids in or around my neighborhood are being abused. They say that more than 4,000 cases of child abuse are reported, however only about 1,500 of those are confirmed. And then you think of the amount that isn't being reported. Just learning those statistics and talking to people working to prevent child abuse at the event inspired me to make this video.


I've never been abused, nor have I ever known of anyone who has been abused, but I love kids. My mom does home daycare and I'm a Sunday school preschool teacher at my church so to think of any of those kids being abused breaks my heart (you'll see some of them in the video). 


The executive director of PARENTS Inc, Lisa Groulx, told me that she was never abused but she grew up with a father who treated boys differently than girls and who abused her brother. Now she's a single parent and works to educate parents on how to effectively parent their children without abuse.


Child abuse survivor David Louis is now an established founder of Heart Gallery Hawaii. He helps children in foster 
care find families that will match them and also helps to foster their dreams or career goals. The work he does has been featured on Hawaii News Now and other news organizations throughout Hawaii. He is also busy raising two sons, a daughter and another 3-month-old baby boy. 


I learned a lot about this particular issue through doing this project and I hope to educate those who may not know how prevalent this issue is. Although it was a lot of hard work finding professionals, scheduling, filming and editing, I think it was worth it. I hope you enjoy it! :)