Cap Hollywood Reflection #3

     It's crunch time. We have essentially only this week to finish our film and therefore we are going to have to put in a ton of extra time in order to finish it on time. Ross and I went in today and got a but done but its gonna take more. This week our editing is gonna focus mostly on adjusting audio and making sure the movie sounds good. Also we have to record the last voice over. After that i think we'll be good to play it at cap hollywood!

Second Cap Hollywood update

With the filming done, we started to really get into the meat of the editing phase this week. We went through all the clips, and managed to at least get part of a rough cut done even though the rest still needs finishing. Time is really coming down to the wire as we didn't really do any work outside the classroom mostly due to AP's that were today. With those over, we can at least get started on really working hard to finish (well maybe, because we have a vocab test on the 17th and a restaurant review due then) but we'll certainly try our best. Maybe coming in outside of class, but nothing is set in stone. Finishing this on time while managing all the other work is gonna be tricky.

Cap Hollywood Reflection

Our film has made significant progress this week. Our group went out and filmed on both Tuesday and Wednesday with some help from Mayo. Although i was only able to attend on Wednesday, i've seen the footage from tuesday and it looks really good and i think we'll be able to do a lot with it once we really get into the meat of the editing phase. We got all the main shots of the story as well as some important cutaways that will be very useful in making our film interesting and captivating. For next week i hope to be able to sift through all our clips, and get some kind of super rough cut which will essentially just be a timeline of the story and how it will be pieced together.

Today, the Caps faced the Canadiens de Montréal in a virtual must win with their surging archrival Winnipeg Jets having secured a point in a shootout loss to the Islanders this afternoon. With the point, the Jets pulled to within one point of the division lead, but gave the caps a game in hand which they burned tonight in Montreal. The caps came out firing and did away with the horrid memories of an ugly 3-1 loss to the Ottawa Senators in the Canadian Capital. The Caps jumped early with two goals from Alexander Ovechkin and Troy Brouwer to take a 2-0 lead 5 minutes into the 1st period. Brouwer would add a second tally in the second period, and Backstrom added another to give the Caps a 4-0 lead heading into the 2nd intermission. Then in the 3rd Ovechkin scored a power play goal to to give the caps a secure 5-0 lead which was only blemished once. On Tuesday the Caps have their most important game of the season against those same Winnipeg Jets. 

Jacob Popper

Period: 2

Documentary Reflection

            The Documentary project was by far one of my favorite school assignments, and definitely the one about which I am most proud. My group worked rigorously, and ultimately achieved our goal, of creating an informative, interesting, and most of all meaningful film. Throughout the making of the film I only became more interested in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and looking for ways to help create lasting peace in the region.

            The freedom we had in choosing our topics was essential for the creation of the film. Had we been limited to only Blair topics, we would not have been able to embark on the journey of analyzing a conflict that far surpasses anything that could happen at Blair in terms of importance to me. During this analysis, I learned many things about the true severity of the conflict, much of which I learned from watching videos of potential b-roll about the bombings in both Gaza and Israel. The sheer destruction and the people injured have the ability to send such strong messages about the importance of creating peace, a message that we tried to furnish in the film.

            The biggest challenge in the making of our documentary was by far the time constraint. The project was introduced in late December and the C-Span deadline was January 17^th. To finish our seven minute documentary in one month required a lot of extra time both during lunch, and after school. Because of all the extra hours of work we put in, we were indeed able to overcome the time constraint and produce a winning product. If we had this project to do over again though I would have started earlier to get more interviews and have more time to edit thoughtfully.

            To make the process smoother, I think an earlier start time would work perfectly. It would not only allow more time for those wishing to submit their productions into the C-Span StudentCam competition, but it would also allow more time to create longer, better CAP Hollywood productions which look as if they are going to be pressed for time this year.

            Overall it’s a great idea for a project, because a good documentary really can have a big impact. Also it can allow people to gain intelligence about a topic, which making an education film to help others learn. A final suggestion would be to have a screening because documentaries are useless unless they can be seen.

  

     On Saturday the Caps traveled to Winnipeg to take on the division rival Jets. The caps were coming off a 4-1 loss to the flyers, in which the flyers held the lead for 59 minutes and 38 seconds. The Jets had won 5 of their last 6 games and were trying to get into the top 8 in the conference, the spot needed to qualify for the Stanley Cup playoffs which start close to the beginning of May. The Jets came out firing and outshot the Caps 15-5 in the first period. Braden Holtby, the Capitals goaltender, held firm to stop all 15. In the second period the Caps reved up the offense and started to strengthen up devensively, as they outshot the Jets 13-4, including a goal on a beautiful deflection by gritty center Matt Hendricks. In the third the Caps seized control as Troy Borwer and Mike Ribeiro each scored in goals separated by 52 seconds to give the Caps a 3-0 lead. Holtby would preserve the shutout as Washington took it 3-0. The Caps have now won 6 of their last 9 games, and host Boston on Tuesday   

 Yesterday something happened for the first time since Jan. 22, 2011, Alexander Ovechkin registered a hat trick. It was a much needed boost for the Washington Capitals, who have struggled out of the gate and currently sit tied for last in the eastern conference. The Caps started off the season by losing 9 out of the first 11 games but then started to heat up with a 3 game winning streak. They then lost at the Rangers and then at home against the Devils and it looked as if their hopes of rebuilding the season were lost. Until yesterday, when their captain took the wheel and propelled the caps to a win. Their new found resilience will soon be tested however, as 3 of their next 5 games will come against southeastern division rivals. 

Here it is Living in Wheaton! (Cause going to Silver Spring is out of the way)

Just shot it with my iphone around downtown Wheaton. Check it out it's really a dandy!

     The Double Overtime Thriller

Matt Prater, dressed in a bright orange jersey, has a look around, raises his hand, and then runs up to kick the football as far as he possibly can to the sound of thousands of screaming fans. Matt Prater is the kicker of the Denver Broncos and the divisional matchup against the Baltimore Ravens has begun. Every single screaming fan is confident, for they haven't witnessed their beloved Broncos lose in almost three months! In the Ravens camp, many are hoping they can ride the wave that started with a convincing victory in the wild card round against the Indianapolis Colts.
     This game's main story line consisted of the two wily veterans, Payton Manning and Ray Lewis. Manning has been in the league for over ten years, has a super bowl ring, and is in the MVP conversation this year. Ray Lewis' playing time has also exceeded a decade and he also has a super bowl ring.
     Throughout the first three quarters the teams exchanged touchdowns, scoring them with interceptions, punt returns, kickoff returns, and 30 plus yard completions. Coming into the fourth quarter the game was tied at 28. After a series of punts, the Broncos finally took the lead with 8 minutes left on a Demarius Thomas touchdown reception from Payton Manning. After the Denver defense forced a Raven's punt the offense ran time off the clock and gave the Raven's the ball back with less than two minutes left. However a blown coverage allowed the Raven's to tie it up and force overtime:


And after 15 minutes of scoreless play the game entered double overtime where the Ravens finally put it away. With a field goal. The game was undoubtedly one of the best contests that I've ever seen.

Last Sunday the 2012-2013 NFL regular season concluded paving the way for twelve teams to take part in the playoffs to eventually crown a Super Bowl champion. The picture in the American Conference is a follows:

1. xDenver
2. xNew England
3.Houston
4.Baltimore
5. Indiannapolis
6. Cincinnati

x=First round bye

The matchups are Cincinnati vs. Houston and Indiannapolis vs. Baltimore. The ladder carries extra weight this week because of Chuck Pagano's fight against lukemia and Ray Lewis' shocking announcement that this season would be his "last ride." Cincinnati vs. Houston features a home team coming off a disappointing final week that cost them home field advantage which they could have locked up with a win against Indiannapolis.

In the National Football Conference the playoff picture shaped itself on the final day with the Vikings and Redskins clinching spots on the final day of the season. Here's the picture:

1. xAtlanta
2.x San Francisco
3. Green Bay
4. Washington
5. Seattle
6. Minnesota

x= First round bye

The matchups for this week are a week seventeen rematch of Green Bay vs. Minnesota and a matchup of two upstart teams Seattle vs. Washington.