C-SPAN Documentary

Politician's Contest from nickscap2016 on Vimeo.

Assignment/Activity Title— C-SPAN Documentary

Year— Sophomore

Skill— Media

Portfolio Category— Media & Communication           

This project was for T.V. Studios, and had a pretty straightforward objective: to create a documentary (seven minutes or less) on a topic under the overarching theme of an issue Congress should address in 2014. Now, because of visits to Blair from Representative Pete Visclosky and Maryland Majority Whip Jamie Raskin, Neida and Julian had the idea to focus on Congress itself. Our Congress currently has the lowest approval rates ever in its history, and part of the reason is because of its inability to compromise.

Weekly World News

[No record of assignment available]

Assignment/Activity Title— Weekly World News

Year— Freshman

Skill— Creative

Portfolio Category— Media & Comm.

            This assignment was to create the cover page of a newspaper, such as the Weekly World News (WWN). The WWN focuses on out of this world topics, much like tabloids. Our assignment was to take pictures, and use the techniques we had learned from CAP Photo to effectively Photoshop different, crazy scenarios onto the page. We also had to edit the layout, coloring, and text to make it seem like a professional front page of a paper or magazine.

            I chose to do multiple images. As my main story, I took a picture of my friend on the ground, in such a position it looked like he was crawling forward. I took the image at an angle. When I rotated it in Photoshop, it looked like he was climbing the face of a building. I had to utilize techniques I learned to cut the leaves and twigs out of the image, to make it look like a grey building.

Mentor/Sage Monologue

Mentor/Sage Monologue

Assignment/Activity Title— Mentor/Sage Monologue

Year—Freshman

Skill— Creative

Portfolio Category— Social Awareness

During this project for our Drama class (or Oral Interpretations), we had to go out and find an elderly person (preferably over 60) and interview them for class. We then had to present a monologue as them, based on our interview and what values or perspectives our individual had. This resulted in some really well done monologues, but also in a lot of comedic results. For example, Matt interviewed his elderly, African-American female neighbor (who was coincidentally wearing a shower cap and long light pink gown). But along with laughing, this project made me think about everyone as a separate individual.

            I’m not sure if social awareness is the right category to put this in, but it fit the best. Listening and watching people present, it made you think about their distinct personalities (what they were changing to act older), as well as the perspectives that they represented respectfully.

1960s Interdisciplinary

[No record of this assignment available]

Assignment/Activity Title— 1960s Interdisciplinary

Year— Freshman

Skill— Creative

Portfolio Category— Media & Comm.

            For the 1960s interdisciplinary project, I was in Mr. Bustillo’s group. In his group, we focused on producing a live news bulletin (hence the media and communication categorization), based on a part of the 1960s – like drugs, fashion, or the Vietnam War. Gabe, Ethiopis, and I focused on sports in the 1960s.

            To prepare for this project, we had to do a lot of research. In our research, we found three major athletic events/people from the 1960s. The first person we researched was Muhammad Ali, finding clips of him to use in our show. We also found Jim Brown, one of the first football stars in America who made the sport well known. To finish the project, we researched the Battle of the Sexes, a tennis match that took place between female player Billie Jean King (in her early 30s) and male champion Bobby Riggs (in his 50s). This event was widely publicized, and was a touchstone of the 1960s feminism movement. After researching and finding appropriate clips, we had to write the script. This didn’t take very long.

CAP 10 Debates

Assignment/Activity Title— CAP 10 Debates

Year— Sophomore

Skill— Public Performance, Research

Portfolio— Social Awareness

When I got introduced to the CAP 10 debates (which are exactly what they sound like, two versus two debates), I was immediately excited. I like public speaking, and I think it’s something I’m fairly good at. In middle school, and even last year, I liked group discussions and debates because it’s the only time academically you get to challenge and attack someone head-on. They’re not just tests of the issue being discussed; debates are tests of character as well as how powerful and eloquently one speaks. So, I was excited.

            When we got the topics, the only two that really stuck out at me were gun legislation, and the NSA spying scandal. When I saw Richard pick gun control, I chose it too because I like working with him. This is another aspect of two-person debates: you need to really trust your partner. As a duo, you need to hit home with your audience and deliver your points powerfully.

Senate Debate

[No record of this assignment available]

 

Assignment/Activity Title— Senate Debate

Year— Freshman

Skill— Group Dynamics

Portfolio Category— Critical Reasoning

           This was a simple assignment, read up on a topic from one person’s perspective and argue his or her view in a debate conducted like a senate debate. But you couldn’t pick your person, you had to take the perspective. I got stuck arguing against something I agreed with…and I got a little worried. But I saved the project.

            I realized the only way to really win a debate in school is to care about something, to have some sort of passion. I convinced myself that it was an important issue, and I got fired up. So fired up that I went and worked on it as soon as I got home.