Cost of Silence: Portland Police Bureau

[fivepiece]

This video is a great idea poorly executed. It's difficult to follow who each of these people are, which crime is being referred to, who came forward, what they said, and the effect it had. Getting witnesses to come forward is a VERY worthy cause.

But a worthy cause does not automatically make a great video.

[keypontrucken]

How is the video confusing? I thought it was pretty clear and since there are only 3 people telling their stories. The only negative comment I could say is that the guy who is in jail doesn't really seem remorseful.

[fivepiece]

At first it seems like the three people are related to the same crime and we're going to see how these lives intersect. But they don't. Halfway through the video it becomes apparent that these are separate stories but we've never been given the background on each individual like we got with the first guy.

It's a great idea; people don't realize how damaging silence truly is. This video just has a severe storytelling problem that makes it difficult to follow the first time around.

[OffTheMenuProduction]

As one of the creators of the video, I think you actually have some good points. It was one of the struggles we had because of some severe time restrictions. We would have loved to have spent some more time with the characters. Instead we decided to display some of the emotions associated with each character.

There's definitely more to each story that could have been told. We're willing to take suggestions for future projects.

[fivepiece]

The quickest, easiest solution in this particular video would be to overdub some narration or, at the very least, text inserts. Something to clearly separate the stories and provide a little info on each character as it relates to "breaking the silence."

I support the cause, please keep working toward getting the word out!

[kdrains05]

Good Job! I don't think the ppl that keep silent realize how many lives are affected by keeping silent. Speaking up takes courage!