Common Censored is crafted around one central monologue performed by many voices. In the background plays famous footage from the fall of the Berlin Wall, MLK’s “I Have a Dream” speech at the feet of the Lincoln Memorial, anti-war protest marches of the 60s, and Tiananmen Square. These were all instances in the past when the freedom of speech (or lack thereof) played a critical role in the writing of history.
It was important to me that the flow of the script and the flow of the camera movement were smooth but fast paced. The style of camera movement that I settled on is very involved in what my actors are saying. This film was created (from the writing of the script to the polishing of the final edit) in the course of three days.
A few times in my script, you hear my actors make references to newspapers (“Extra extra!”, “…these thoughts from a paper boy…”). I am very passionate about the freedom of speech as utilized through the freedom of the press. Last year, I was privileged to be the senior editor and chief of my high school newspaper. And it was during my editorship that she was censored. She was literally pulled from the stands and no student was allowed to posses a copy unless it was the “edited version” (edited by the administration).
This sent the message (among others) that what we have to say, as students, is not valid because of the very fact that we are students. This is wrong and simply not true.