2 Minutes To Make A Difference (Obesity) Reflection by: Laura

http://docs.google.com/present/edit?id=0ARcrddJyHBAwZGhmc2R3emRfNTdnd256YjVkcQ&hl=en

This is what we started out with, where we put all of our info and pictures and questions and answers. We didn't end up using all of the pictures we collected because we took a lot of our own pictures to match with the theme of the project. However, we did use pictures of real life obese people in our final draft.



This was our first draft of the video.



This was our final draft of the video. As you can see, it's much better.

The differences between our first and final movies are pretty big. First of all, we cut out the unnecessary parts that took up too much time, in order to make room for the pictures of actual obese people and ways to avoid and conquer it. We also did another, (needed) spell check, and included the extra credits for the new pictures and the song that played during the movie. The comments played a big roll in making our final movie better. Almost all of our changes were based on the comments.

We found our expert through me actually. His name is Dr. Shane Hartry and he goes to my church.

Here are 3 important points that Dr. Shane added to our movie:

-Obesity is mainly caused by people being lazy and eating large portions of fast foods full of calories that they don't burn off.

-Girls who are depressed will usually eat to fill the pain. (Like in our movie). As they gain weight, they will start to consider themselves fat, which causes them to be even more depressed, thus causing them to eat even more.

-Liposuction is one of the more dangerous operations and is not recommended by most doctors.

In my opinion, our greatest success with the movie project was relating the cause to a real-life situation. I think this allowed the cause to be more interesting to the viewers.

A skill I have taken from doing this project, and will probably use in the future is the ability to relate to those who have a problem or disability that I don't. Being the obese person in the sketch, I got to experience how it might feel to be an obese person. Everyday things can become a challenge...including looking in the mirror. Everyone is beautiful and unique, but in a world revolving around anorexic super models and air-brushed magazines, being larger can be difficult and make you feel awkward and uncomfortable.

The most frustrating component of the movie project was actually getting me to look obese. The first couple of tries, I just looked pregnant and we couldn't find a way to stuff my legs. Our solution was:
2 pillows
2 pillow cases
2 pairs of pj's
5 pairs of socks
My dad's biggest shirt
and waist-up shots only.

I think the 2 Minutes project is important to grade 8 students, and actually everybody because it gives you a sense of what is going on in the world. Our movie project focused on something in North America, however, along the way we learned about issues in places all around the world, and how we can help.

In the future, I will make a difference by educating other people about what they can do to protect themselves from obesity by means other than the movie. Also, I will contribute to causes that support this issue.

~Laura Kathleen~