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.

While we're all on the topic of documentaries I started watching Ken Burns' The Civil War documentary which is essentially 11 hours of describing the Civil War and all of the crazy cool things that happened during its progression. While I've only seen 3 of 11 parts so far, i can already tell that it's gonna be a really interesting movie. Burns has peaceful piano music playing in the background which really intensifies when the audio turns to explosions to simulate cannon fire from battle. The most amazing part has been the photographs amassed by Burns that are seen in the film. So many pictures and so much evidence exists of a war that most of us think of as too ancient for memory. The civil war is also different from all other wars fought in American history because it is the war with ourselves. It is much easier to go into combat with a enemy than a friend. New accepted studies are putting the Civil War American death toll at 750,000 the highest of any war. The war also ended up representing more than just the stars and stripes versus the stars and bars, it was a war about freeing the slaves, it was a war about the phrase "all men are created equal" it was about the motto of this country e pluribus unum, or from many, one.            

The Arizona Cardinals are falling fast. After a superb end to last season the cardinals looked formidable coming into this 2012 season. Fortunately for cardinal fans at the start of the year they didn't disappoint going a perfect 4-0. Sadly enough, the Cardinals haven't won a game since then, and currently sit at 4-9 tied for last in the NFC and are mathematically eliminated from the playoffs. The reason the Cardinals luck has gone dry? offense. In the first four games of the year the cardinals averaged 22.75 points per game, but since then have averaged a mere 10.55 points per game, not nearly enough to win consistently in the league today.

       
To make my capture the fall video, I used my phone and shot the video in the woods as well as at E. Brooke Lee middle school and the birds are from the synagog on Kemp Mill road and Grays lane. To edit it I used Windows movie maker, and thanks to the many tutorials on Youtube posted by Microsoft the software was pretty easy to figure out. I used a dissolve affect for most of the shots and the reason that it only takes up the middle of the screen is because i didn't realize that holding the phone upright would make sideways images that i had to rotate, a lesson for future projects.

So this week's post could only be about one thing: the presidential election. The election had many interesting aspects to it. With Obama's victory, Obamacare will be here to stay, as well as more taxes on the wealthy, and the showdown between Obama and the House Republicans that has gone on for so long. The race probably came as shock to many people, such as Newt Gingrich who predicted Romney to have over 300 electoral votes, and George Will, who stupidly predicted Romney to win Minnesota. But out of this mess cam one man, Mr. Nate Silver, who correctly predicted all 50 states, Florida as by far the closest state, and Ohio as the tipping point state to put Obama over 270. He put the pundits who predicted an extremely close race in their place, and as he said in an appearance on the Colbert Report "When 23 state polls come out and 22 of them have Obama in the lead, its no longer just a coin flip." Nate proved that poll analysis and arithmetic can triumph over Gingrich's "years of experience. So my advice to those interested in having an idea about elections shut off the stupid pundits and look at real math at http://fivethirtyeight.blogs.nytimes.com/ 

I used to play this game all the time during the bush years http://www.playitontheweb.com/games/Give-Bush-a-Brain-game.htm and its so much fun! Not only do you get to drop a brain into his empty head, but also you get to hear something funny upon inserting the brain. Just a nice game for when you need some laughs as you wait to lose power from a storm!

Last night I was watching the vice presidental debate and a graphic came up at the bottom that said go to some site to talk about and fact check the debate live. This made me realize how sad our politics have gotten recently, that we have to fact check our leaders and potential leaders. How low have we stopped, to where our leaders will lie to get more votes. Part of democracy is people knowing the facts so that they can make an informed decision at the voting booth, something that we are seeing slip through our finger tips every day. With parts of speeches being proved false, and ads saying that someone lying, its quite shameful that we as a country where we are constantly surrounded by the media and advertisments trying to sway us that most people already constantly tune them out, that we can't even rely on our commander and cheif, and our potential commander in cheif to tell what's really happening.

    This is a basic poster telling people to drink Bonum, the energy drink that helps to fuel the dystopian society in our film. I wanted the poster to be pretty basic to where it could be understood with just a glance, but also for it to pop out, like someone with extra energy would. If we are going to use it in the filming process is still unclear.

I read the article "A Voting Issue That Isn't" by Eugene Robinson. He does a good job of highlighting the struggle that we will have to go through to preserve our right to vote against tough, powerful opposition. Also I enjoyed the simple way in which he explained the republican effort and showed how terrible it is.

http://diigo.com/0t9j1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zElhrWOM47g&feature=g-upl

1. Bus coming to the stop
2. Luther Rice Church out of the bus window
3. Screen saying "STOP REQUESTED" on bus
4. Goats at a house that I pass
5 .Me opening the door to my house


     To make my 5x5 I used a simple point and shoot camera. I stated at the bus stop, and took a shot of the bus coming around, which lasted about 20 seconds. Next I took many shots along the ride, but I decided after some long weighing of the shots that the one of Luther Rice Church was my favorite. As a transition shot to show the end of the ride, I chose to show the screen saying "STOP REQUESTED." Then, I always thought it was really cool how I walk by goats every day, so I had to include them. And Finally to show the end of my journey, I thought that opening the door with the key was a great idea.
     To edit the video i used the web based, WeVideo, which was not the hard part of the post production, it took upwards of a half hour to figure out how to upload the clips, a process that included me having to install a new software. Overall I am content with my 5x5, considering my lack of experience and skill I think I did pretty well.

For a new video challenge we could make a video of a typical day at blair  

Dystopian trailer

V for Vendetta James McTeigue R 2005

     V (Hugo Weaving) , a fighter against the rule of the totalitarian government, rescues Evey (Natalie Portman) from the hands of the police. Together, they try to fight against the government in search of freedom.


      The trailer for V for Vendetta is exemplary because it clearly illustrates many characteristics about a dystopia and a dystopian protagonist, such as oppressive government, and a protagonist who has been cheated by the system, and finds someone to motivate her to do good. The government in the trailer is shown to be oppressive through shots of marching soldiers, people shooting at V, and torturing Evey in an attempt to get his whereabouts. Also the dramatic music helps to build the idea of forceful power. Next Evey shows many characteristics of a Dystopian protagonist. Firstly, the shots of her parents getting taken away, and her young innocent voice shows what the government has done, which she reflects upon later while talking to V. Also Evey has V who leads by example, and sets the course for her to act out against the opressive government.