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For my Capstone, I performed skits from the sitcom “In Living Color” for entertainment purposes. One of the purposes of this project was to practice performing more than one character in a small allotted amount of time. This is important for me because I plan to go to college majoring in Theater, then later graduate with my BFA (Bachelors in Fine Arts) and spend my life performing in plays, musicals, and films as a career. I had to show complete distinction between each of the character that I played. Even though I did take the scripts from “In Living Color”, I did add my little twist on some things and give all credits to “In Living Color” writers of course. After I searched for skits that I felt were perfect for me, I had to think of the people that I thought would be perfect for certain roles. When I found the actors that I wanted to use, it was a little hard to work with everyone’s different schedules, which is why I wasn’t able to do as many skits as I would’ve liked. However, it still worked out because this project helped me to be comfortable with being uncomfortable, which I will have to do frequently in the acting realm. I wanted to help my community by entertaining them. The emotional state of the members of my community is just as important as their physical state.

Bibliography:

"SNL Highlight: Girls Promo." YouTube. YouTube, 29 Sept. 2013. Web. 28 Jan. 2015.

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=female+skits+on+snl

This is a comedic skit on SNL. It’s about a group of girlfriends who are all very unique and going through very different problems in their life. Later they meet another girl from Albernia who becomes their friend and helps them with their problems, which makes all of their lives even more interesting. This source was helpful because it gave me another option for a skit to use. One limitation of this skit is that it’s so much going on in the film it may be harder for me to do it. I found YouTube helpful most importantly because they never let me down when it comes to finding scenes or skits from shows or movies.

"How to Improve Video Quality." WikiHow. Mediawiki, n.d. Web. 30 Jan. 2015.

http://www.wikihow.com/Improve-Video-Quality

This website gives good tips on different ways to edit your videos. This was very helpful because I’m my final product is going to be a film and I’m going to need a lot of help editing. I like how this website goes step by step on what to do and had many other techniques to use on making movies. This website provides information on different editing applications I could use. I selected this source because I need to learn how to edit nicely to have my finished product looking swell. One limitation of this source is that it’s “wiki” so whether it’s as reliable as it says it is.

"In Living Colour - Go On Girl." YouTube. YouTube, 27 Mar. 2009. Web. 30 Jan. 2015.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vogAflT4h18

This is a skit about a woman who has show called “Go On Girl”. This is a show that’s suppose to empower women to remind them that they can do anything without a man,. She has two guest women on the show who talk about how the recently broke it off with their boyfriends. The skit later shows that these two women are actually with the same guy, which makes the skit more interesting. This source was helpful because it gave me another skit to use for my film. One limitation about this source is whether I’m going to be able to use the people that I want to use for this skit.

"In Living Color - Oprah Winfrey Show-[legendado Portugues]." YouTube. YouTube, 6 June 2014. Web. 30 Jan. 2015.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nxrKA_MQxO0

This is a skit that’s based off of Oprah Winfrey and her show. Oprah has three couples on her show who are all having problems. The couples would explain their situation and Oprah would always take the women’s side explaining how the man is no good for the woman. Which makes it interesting is that Oprah is eating a bunch of food during the show, and comparing her relationship life to their situation. I selected this source because, I could possibly use this skit for my film. One limitation about this source is whether I’m going to be able to use the people I want to use for this skit.

"In Living Color: Andrea Dice Clay on Love Connection." YouTube. YouTube, 13 June 2013. Web. 30 Jan. 2015.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DbIRiDaCxLo

This skit is based off the old show Love Connection. There’s a rock and roll type of lady and a sweet man who went on a date. The lady talks about how bad the date was and how much of a punk the man is and the man talks about how scary the lady is. What makes it interesting is that the host of the show is really trying hard to get the couple to go on another date despite how bad the first one was. The two decided to give the date another try. I chose this source because This could be one of the skits I could use. One limitation about this source is whether I’m going to be able to use the people I want to use for this skit.

"In Living Color Milli Vanilli HD]." YouTube. YouTube, 4 Oct. 2013. Web. 30 Jan. 2015.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fVpItnFES_4

This skit is called Milli Vanilli. It’s about two brothers who have a show and they are promoting a Milli Vanilli kit which has some of their different products that can help the public be just like Milli Vanilli. What makes the skit interesting is that items that they are promoting are mop wigs, contact lenses cases, and dvd’s that can help you to have horrible accents just like Milli Vanilli. I picked this source because I could possibly use this skit. One limitation about this source is whether I’m going to be able to use the person I want to for this skit.

"How to Improve the Quality of Video." Improve the Quality of Your Video. Movavi, 2015. Web. 30 Jan. 2015.

http://www.movavi.com/support/how-to/enhance.html

This source shows different tools you can use to enhance your film quality by downloading different apps. What I really like about this source is that it shows the before and after of the quality and how well it really changes. It also gives you different downloads and what to use those downloads for. I picked this source because I’m going to be making a film at the end of my project and I’m going to need different tricks and tips on how to enhance my film quality. One limitation about this source is that it doesn’t really go step by step on what to do and how to do it.

Becker, Christine. "Acting for the Cameras: Performance in the Multi-Camera Sitcom." Mediascape. UCLA's Journal and Media Studies, n.d. Web. 30 Jan. 2015.

http://www.tft.ucla.edu/mediascape/Spring08_ActingForTheCameras.html

This source talked about how sitcoms and usually set up their cameras and how they transfer over from one camera to the next. What i like about this source is that it’s very credible because they compare the different sitcoms and how they did their products. I would use this source because I’m going to be filming my skits and I’m going to be changing the camera to different angles. One limitation about this source is that I’m not going to be changing the camera angles the way the professionals do in sitcoms.

"In Living Color - Racism Skit." YouTube. YouTube, 9 Apr. 2011. Web. 30 Jan. 2015.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=La4DNXzdLhU

This is a skit about a guy who’s uncle dies in the cave where they lived. So he leaves the cave and comes in contact with the real world and he still thinks he is in slavery times. What makes it interesting is that he’s in the 90’s and the people he comes in contact with thinks he’s just crazy. I chose this source because I could possibly use this skit for my final product. One limitation I may have is not having the people that I want to play the roles that I want them to play, and that I may have to shorten the skit.

"In Living Color - Snackin' Shack - Season 1 Episode 6." YouTube. YouTube, 27 Aug. 2013. Web. 30 Jan. 2015.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_m__CbXiUIo

This skit is about a couple who goes to this restaurant for the first time called the “Shackin’ Shack”. What makes the skit interesting is that everyone in the restaurant has their own perks about them, which makes the couples experience at the restaurant very interesting. I chose this source because I could use this skit for my final product. I found this source useful because there are so many characters in the play there are so many different characters I can play. One limitation about this is whether I’m going to be able to use all the people that I want to use for the skit.

Trying to be original without repeating “For my capstone” or “This year…” is extremely difficult so i’ll let this serve as my introductory sentence in hopes that it might provide some type of variety for the students, staff and human beings on this blog today. One could say, my capstone, encompassed a plethora of topics and enterprises including, early child development, constructive community development, peer/ teacher mentoring and mindfulness skills and practices. Although, this list of subject matters may appear scattered and somewhat unrelated, it was my job during the time spent on my capstone to use all of these skills/tactics to guide and mentor students ranging anywhere from kindergarten to fifth grade.

The locale of my capstone activities took place at “The Common Place”, located on 58th and chester. Here, they provide empowering, enjoyable and impacting after school programs such as anger management, art therapy and general homework help and horse play. The purpose of these programs is to serve as a positive and productive outlet for children that, otherwise, may not be lucky enough to have. Although, to the kids, i may only be remembered as a double dutch champion but during the time not spent skipping, I worked hard on creating programs of my own to help them utilize some skills they may need in order to become more productive and effective adolescents and adults. My two largest projects during this time were the diary card and the hip-hop music therapy program.

The diary card was a mindfulness tool that the kids were to take home weekly. It’s function was to afford a more observant and advantageous way of expressing emotions and events that happened to them throughout the week. A list of mindfulness skills and stress tolerance practices were also included on the bottom of each sheet as a reference and reminder of more productive emotion regulation techniques. I also helped my super in the crafting of a hip-hop after school program that incorporated music therapy techniques. It did this by allowing the children to express themselves both lyrically, and rhythmically using music as an emotional and creative outlet making both of these projects an asset in the betterment of the kids emotional intelligence.

All in all, my time spent at The Common Place was anything but common, it was life changing, inspirational and everything else cliche. In truth, it was an amazing experience helping impact and guide these children’s lives and i'm excited to share my full experience in june. Thank you!

Disclaimer: Unfortunately the presentation/ visual aspect of this project is still underway. Due to privacy violations and possible confidentiality breaches parts of my visual are pending approval requests. You’re patience is appreciated! Thanks!

Bibliography: https://docs.google.com/document/d/13iZKa-KZiMxT8l2bHFUR-7lKirl38Q7-kYil9oe0uOM/edit?usp=sharing

Abstract:

Abstract

   This is an Idea for a story I have been writing since Christmas of 2013. It has gone through many changes and it's meant to be a movie type of story. What I am presenting to to you is a brief description of the universe it takes place in the society of the place, charters, etc. This is still in the works so if anything looks like it needs to be fixed I’m sorry about that.

Harmony And Discord

Note: “Harmony And Discord” is still in development

The plot may not be finished and characters need worked on

If you have question please feel free to email me at pmeier@scienceleadership.org

Major Characters

Charles DeVon (Hero): Is a young intelligent man who has been training under his mentor and father figure Marcus and has been training to become a Knight and to Fill his father Grand Knight Title. He was raced by his mother until she died when he was 5 and Marcus has raced him ever since his mother's death. At times it's hard for him to control his rage for “betrayer” that he is responsible for the death of his father. He also has the fear of losing the one he is close to and will do anything to protect them and let someone die because of him

Rachael (Warrior): Is Young Woman who grew up with charles and has been being trained by Charles to become a Knight and is very intelligent person beyond her years and has a very love passion for love and peace to the world. She was raced by her mother along with her younger brother.

Marcus Johnson (Mentor): Is an old very wise man at age 50. He is one of the last Knight masters to survive the “Knight Purge”. He was the student of Grand White Knight Daniel DeVon IV. For 20 years has avoided capture but the Empire but his hopes are that Charles can bring back peace to the world.

Jennifer DeVon (Damsel): Is the half sister of Charles DeVon. She is the last family charles has and has been on her own with her brother in Union City for 3 years. She is 2 years younger that charles

Minor Characters

Betrayer: He is the one who had started the “Knight Purge” and is the leading general in the Cusentent Army. he also is one of the grand knights that has the trait and uses his power to do what he calls good but in reality he is doing horrible things to other countries and his own people.

Timeline

Pre-Union Era: Empires ruled the lands of the continent and ended into a grand wars between the big empires which ended in death and destruction killing millions of people. The Knights were divided on what side they were on 16 grand knights fought 15 of them were killed only 1 was left to live

Union Era: The Grand Knight established a peace organization to prevent another Grand war, all the empires were dissolved and became independent countries. an Island on the Grand river was named Union City and the place where the union congress would talk out issues happening in the world. the system lasted for 1000 years

Rise Of The Empire Era: The “Betrayer” helped bring an end to the Union and started with the purge of the Knight Peace Corp and came to an end with his followers invading Union City and taking down the flag of the Union. Grand Knight Daniel DeVon IV attempted to kill him and stop him from seizing control but Daniel's fate was unknown but many think he died after and had no children and the Grand Knight Cycle was broken. The Union fell and the “ Betrayer” got control and wanted to expand his power

Empire Era (plot): The Empire started to expand into the former union countries

The Grand War

In the beginning there was war between 8 knights of white, 8 knights of dark with the whole continent at war. In the end each Knight fell, 1 was left to live by the gods and the dead and the goddess Harmony gave a stone to the knight known as the resurrection stone.True peace we come when a Grand Knight open the Grand Knight chamber and learn the shadows of the past and will bring back the light of peace and close the suffering of the past. the suffering had been brought upon by the fighting between the goods fighting over power. The Goddess Harmony and the God Discord both want control over the mortal world so this was was a result of this.

Religion

Harmony: She is the goddess of wisdom and intelligence.  She is very clever with her fights. She has been trying to get complete power in the mortal world for 2500 years.

Discord: He is the god of Power and war. He uses force and power to get what he wants. He has been trying to get complete power in the mortal world for 2500 years.

Both Gods have fought power and has used mortals as pawns in this game in with this lead to the grand war. in with the goddess gave one mortal god like powers and used in to put the mortal world back to peace. this was a knight and he told the goddess that he serves his people not the god or the goddess because of what the world had come to because of this conflict.

Plot Outline

The empire has expanded in the north trying to put down multiple countries. Our hero Charles is a soldier for hire in Union City. He has been on his own with his sister for 3 years now. He gets hired by a group to take a out the musket  Manufacturing shops. This is a dangerous job but this is how he brings income for him and his sister. after he completes the job he returns to the group's Headquarters and finds out that they are spies from the northern countries trying to weaken the empires supplies. they ask Charles to join him, he does not know and says no the offer and as he is leaving a woman's voice yells his name. He turns to see it's a woman that recognizes, its Rachel. Rachel is a woman that trained with him. she tells him why he should join but still refuses the offer but as he leaves she says “we need someone else on the next job”

this is the audio that explains what's on this doc and gives you more in depth about this

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B2MVVyLCfn8nWmZ0RkdRQjZXZ3c/view?usp=sharing

Bibliography

this source is about the crusades in the middle east during the middle ages. theses wars were motivated by religion, I wanted to use a motivation for my story so I looked at the Crusades as an example of religion giving people a reason to fight.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crusades

“Crusades.” . http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crusades (accessed January 30, 2015).

This source is about the roman empire. The empire showed a great power that it was, that what I want the empire in my story to be like to show it has very great might

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_Empire

“Roman Empire.”
. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_Empire (accessed January 30, 2015).

This source is about Nazi Germany. this empire was similar to the Roman empire but how it did terrible things, My empire in the story will have the same thing from Nazi Germany cruelty

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nazi_Germany

“Nazi Germany.” . http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nazi_Germany (accessed January 30, 2015).

This source is about the Soviet Union. This empire had all the might as the roman empire and the cruelty of the Nazi Germany but this empire with all its might will fall. This is the building blocks of the empire in my story

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet_Union

"Soviet Union." . http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet_Union (accessed January 30, 2015).

This religion is help me get the basic of the religion in the story but with less gods and how the relationships of the gods efet the mortal world.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hellenistic_religion

"Hellenistic Religion." . http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hellenistic_religion (accessed January 30, 2015).

This gave me how the elements help Star Wars became a story so im looking the elements that help it and use it to form the elements in my story

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TUGdipRYsLY

"Star Wars - The Legacy Revealed." History (TV channel). compact disc, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TUGdipRYsLY.

This is a format that can help me get the story i'm trying to tell form

http://www.creative-writing-now.com/how-to-write-a-story.html

"How to Write a Story that Comes Alive." . http://www.creative-writing-now.com/how-to-write-a-story.html (accessed January 30, 2015).

I wanted to use mythology into my story so I needed to know the basics elements of mythology into my the story

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mythology

"Mythology." . http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mythology (accessed January 30, 2015).

This Film Used many elements found in mythology. the story really used it to its advance to shape its story and world

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Wars_%28film%29

"Star Wars." . http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Wars_(film) (accessed January 30, 2015).

The bible has many mythology elements into its stories from the old to new.

http://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/

The Bible. http://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/ (accessed January 30, 2015)

The purpose of this capstone was to improve on my photography skills by taking pictures of students at Science Leadership Academy. Since the school does not have any memories of students, I did a handful of photo shoots. A small section of the wall has pictures of scenarios which are located by the door on the far right.  After each session of taking pictures of my clients, I learned how to use Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 5 for enhancing the quality of each of the photos I selected. Students that signed up for my photography project, each of them were asked to print their pictures.

The past few months was hectic because I was in a tight budget; I decided to  collaborate with a senior, My Truong, so we could work together. We decided to fundraise. The process in creating an art gallery was a lot of work for one person so we combined our work to have a master piece. At the end, we had enough money to buy  our supplies; frames, strings, paint, printed pictures and many more. We wanted to be more creative. We decided to have a string on top of the ceiling to hang frames and pictures. We noticed that we can transform part of the school into a place where visitors, students, families of SLA and teachers to look at the diversity of SLA, therefore people can have their own interpretation of the photos. Luckily, we have an amazing photographer that does portraits and we printed some of her portraits she took. We credited to the students that volunteered our station and it is located on the black ribbon.

After graduating this school, I really want the future graduates to add more pictures. My capstone is a first step to show new photographers to display their work in a meaningful and creative way.

When coming up with an idea for a capstone, I wanted to do something that would interest me and also give back to the SLA community somehow. That is how my partner, Kenny Nguyen, and I came up with the idea to build a game about SLA. We both enjoy playing video games, and also wanted an engaging way to teach future generations of SLA students about the Core values. Our video game does just that, but it in a slightly more engaging way than how they were originally introduced to us.

The game starts with the freshmen Yael, whose curiosity leads them to venture onto the forbidden fourth floor. (It's a very known thing that the 4th floor is off limits so we wanted to use this to start the game's lore.) Next, Yael wakes up on an islands beach, and seeks help to get back to Mr.Reddy's class. After receiving help from the village leaders "Mr.Worst" and "Doctor Echo" they learn that they must collect the 5 core values, which are the heart of the island. Once they collect the values (and learn what each value is) they are teleported to fight and defeat the islands guardian, the “Benchmark”.

My partner and I collaborated throughout the capstone, and used our talents to make it better. I focused on creating the environments, animating the characters, and coded the mission and boss battles. Kenny focused on finding resources that we could use, recording the voices, and he coded the combat and dialogue in the game.

Bibliography:

"Getting Started with Unity | Unity Cookie." Unity Cookie Getting Started with Unity Comments. Unity Cookie. Web. 29 Jan. 2015.

This is a website featuring useful tutorials, videos on how to use Unity, and a user forum that allows feedback on how to use Unity. This will be a useful source because, if need be, we can simply look at the tutorials they have. It also has a forum which we can also look at if we face a problem that others may have experience as well. This will be a valuable tool for references; if we don’t know a string of code to add, then we can simply look on this site, in the tutorials section. It also features free (and some for a  price) premade models and games we can use for tests.

"Tutorials." - Blender.org. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Jan. 2015.

This is one of the programs we’ll be using to create the characters; the site features downloads you can use in your blender projects, a FAQ area, and contact information in case we want to contact the team about copyright models. We plan to use pre-made models if designing our own is too difficult, so being able to review all of the legal stuff with using pre-made models is important. Also, this is the official website for Blender, so it has a wide variety of tutorials made from professionals. This site will be very useful also because it features a forums section, so we can look there of we have similar issues other users have had too.

"Blender Stack Exchange." Blender Stack Exchange. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Jan. 2015.

This website’s best feature is the huge forum it has that allows blender users to post their experiences with blender. This is a good source for a project because of this; if we have a problem in blender we can’t figure out, we can simply look on the forum to see if someone has had a similar problem. We can also use some of the posts that outline how to make new, interesting things for our game. Since the site is free to use, it’s easy to navigate around the website and use the many tools that are available. It’s organized by the most popular posts, by if we have a problem, we can simply search for it on the websites database.

"Characters 3D Models - Free 3D Characters Download." Characters 3D Models - Free 3D Characters Download. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Jan. 2015.

This is the main site we’ll be using for NPCS and character objects. It features thousands of prefabs and premade character models that we’ll need for our game. Spending extra time to model every single NPC in the game will take up more time then we have, so having a site where free prefabs are available is a great for our project and the process. This site will save us a lot of time. It allows it’s users to upload their work for other users to download their work. having a plethora of free NPCS models will make the extra month working on NPCs turn into extra work time. The website is easy to navigate, and free to use.

"2. Interface and Navigation - Blender Cookie." Blender Cookie 2 Interface and Navigation Comments. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Jan. 2015.

This is essentially the same as  cg cookie “Unity Cookie”, but for the program Blender. This features lots of information about using blender and character creation, which is part of a crucial first step for creating the game. The first things we need to do involve advanced CGI, and a site that has step by step instructions on charactering modeling is a valuable source we need. It also features mostly free downloads that we can add to the game. The website is partnered to “Unity Cookie” so the videos have a lot of tutorials where the user uses both Blender and Unity. That’s great for us because we’re using the same programs. Exporting files from Blender (with animations meshes etc.) seemed difficult at first, but this site has shown us a simple way to do it.

"33 Brilliant Blender Tutorials." 33 Brilliant Blender Tutorials. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Jan. 2015.

This sites may purpose for our project is that it includes a lot of great tutorials. Watching tutorials for references while building our game is going to be very important, because we’re learning new skills while we’re building. This site has lots of sources besides itself that we can use, and has professional tutorials done by professionals in this business. The entire website features tutorials on other programs, and also includes a forum section for questions and comments. The website is neat, organized, and user-friendly. Most of the things on it is free, so it’ll be a great reference source for the Capstone.

"C Games and Graphics Code Examples." C Games and Graphics Code Examples. Happy Codings. Web. 29 Jan. 2015.

This website will be an important reference website for our game. Instead of spending hours on hours trying to write our own, brand new code, we can use already written code from this website. It features a plethora of different languages and lines of code that are free to use. This will be great for our project because this will allow us to make a more organized, better game. Instead of spending hours on a simple part of the project, we can add even better things to the game that we otherwise couldn’t. The website is organized and easy to navigate through.

"Learn to Code." Codecademy. Code Academy. Web. 29 Jan. 2015.      

This is the website me and my partner used during the summer. This is one if the first thing we used to help us learn programming, and it’s a fantastic site for that. The curriculum is easy and teaches well, it’s free to use, and has great courses. It has a wide variety of languages to learn, and the website itself is appealing. When I first started learning coding, I was a bit intimidated because of how hard it appeared. This website really did make learning code very easy. It helped me learn a few languages fast, and will aid us with the Capstone. If we have a certain language we want to use for code, but don’t know it, we can simply use this website as a reference or use it’s free courses to learn the new language.

"Amplitude Studios Chose Unity." Unity. Web. 29 Jan. 2015. <http://unity3d.com/>.

This is the site that contains that program Unity. Unity is the engine we will be using to build our game. The website will be our main platform for learning how to use Unity. It has useful tutorials, user experiences, and support for the company that produced Unity. It allows easy access to many of it’s files, and, includes a forum where users can post comments, concerns, or experiences. Unity itself will be a great option to use because it’s easy to use, free, and already includes many of the assets and prefabs we'll need to make the game.

• Rauschmayer, Axel. Speaking JavaScript. Sebastopol, CA: O'Reilly Media, 2014. Print.

This is an online book me and my partner found that will be a valuable source. We’ve decided that the main language we’ll be using is Java Script, and we both aren’t experts in that language. This will help us brush up on this language, which is another important part of the next step of making the capstone process go smoother and faster. Jumping into a project without know the basic code needed to make it will only make the process harder, so it’d be wise to learn the language first then use it. We plan to do that, and this book will be a great aid that will make making the game a lot easier.

    Hi, my name is Chris Tran. Today I’m going to talk to you about my capstone that I have been working on over the past few months of the school year. A capstone is a graduation project that can be on any topic of your choice. I decided to choose something that I have been passionate about and that was to fundraise and donate money to Doctors Without Borders to specifically provide them money to help them on their mission of aiding the world. Also another reason why I donated to Doctors Without Borders because they were accepting donations to provide care for those who are ill with Ebola. I believed that all I could do is do my best to fundraise a specific amount of money to help them with their mission. I also dream that someday I could have an opportunity to do a fundraiser by myself. The process that I took to complete this project is really easy at times, but it can be difficult. The easy part is to make a website that provides the people on the web information about Ebola. I used information composed by research and compiled them into a website. Then I went out and went store-to-store asking for donations to support my capstone. When I ask them for donations, I give them a card that has all of my information as well as a link to my website. I ask them to read it and spread the information that they have learned about Ebola to people that they know. At times asking for donations is difficult because they aren’t as open to donating, but I later learned that there is a technique to talking to others and I used that to my advantage.

My capstone ended up being totally different than what I was originally going to do in the beginning. After some things weren't working out with my first idea, and then my second idea, I was stuck. Seriously, for most of this capstone process, I was totally stumped. Since a capstone is supposed to benefit your community, I was thinking of ways I could benefit other people by doing things for them, like fundraising, community service, donating, etc. But I wasn't passionate about any of those things. I love giving and being able to help other people, but I realized that doing things like fundraising, and community service weren't really my forte. What I didn't realize was that I could benefit people simply by giving them what I had within myself, and what took me so long to realize this is that I didn't think I didn't have much to give. I'm passionate about music, and writing, and that's how my final capstone came out. I decided to do an inspirational spoken word, and I put it up on youtube (although it's private now, I plan to make it public once I copyright it). My hopes is that it will one day benefit people by inspiring them and uplifting them. That is the whole point of my capstone.

Throughout the year I attempted to developed my own photography style. My goal was to create a photography book. However, toward the end of the year I realized I wanted to create something that can be displayed for the whole school to see. Aaron and I ended up working together to create our SLA Pictures in Time wall. We started to take pictures of student in and outside school. We held a photoshoot for anyone who like get their picture professional done. We want to create a wall of memories of SLA over times so that if incoming freshman can see what had happen in the pass. At SLA we have a  lot of visitor the visitors, so they will be  able to look at our wall and have an idea of what kind of work we do at our school. We create this wall in a large space so that over time upcoming senior who want to take over our capstone and continue to add pictures on the wall.

"How to Use a DSLR Camera: Learn DSLR Camera Basics Shutter Aperture ISO." YouTube. YouTube, n.d. Web. 14 Jan. 2015.

How to use DSLR camera?

Using DSLR camera can be really confusing for beginners. Without knowing the technique it’s hard to get the right outcome that I wanted it to come out. So I have been looking up a lot of Youtube tutorials to get a better understanding on how to work with a DSLR camera. I learn that there are 2 important features that I need to work in order to get good pictures. Shutter speed and aperture. Shutter speed controls action, so when working with moving objects it’s best to change the shutter speed. Aperture control how much light can get through the camera. The higher the aperture it the less light there will be and the lower aperture is, the more light there will be.

Digital Photography for Dummies (Books)

For a better understanding, I used a book to understand Digital Photography. In this book, they talk a lot about, when to use a certain settings in the camera. It also show how to organize pictures and give me tips on how to edit pictures and keeping them so I will be able to access it easier. They also give me a lot of details on Photoshop that I can practice along with my photoshop program that I have on my computer.

"How to Compose Your Photo Using the Rule of Thirds." YouTube. YouTube, n.d. Web. 14 Jan. 2015.

Rules of third

I learned this technique in photography but I don't fully understand it. Using this rules of third tutorial, shows me that all picture doesn't look great in the center. The rule of third is when imaging the 3 by 3 grid and taking the picture at the intercept point. They apply the rule of third because at those 4 corner it catches the viewer's eye the most.

"Street Photography Do's and Don'ts." YouTube. YouTube, n.d. Web. 14 Jan. 2015.

Street photography

Part of my project is taking pictures in different genders. Street photography is one of the many pictures that I will be taking. This video show me what should I do and not do when taken street photography. I can use most of this technique in term of landscape photography. This video tells me I should always have my camera ready to shoot because street photography is all about the moment. It will be a waste of time if during the photoshoot time, was spent to set up the camera instead.

"Natural Light Portraiture - Get A Little Known Secret!" YouTube. YouTube, n.d. Web. 14 Jan. 2015.

Portrait photography

If the model doesn't already know their best angle of their portrait it’s alway best to start out by taking a few pictures to see which angle look best for them. This is one of the tips I found really helpful in the video because sometimes when I do portrait pictures, I didn't know why some picture are better than other. Since I’m the photographer and the model I work,  normally doesn't have experience being a model and I need to position them. Talk to the model, tell them what to do and keep them engrade are very important.

"Picture Perfect Day." YouTube. YouTube, n.d. Web. 14 Jan. 2015.

Pictures days

Taking portrait pictures as the model makes a big impact for the outcome of the picture. Make-up that the model wear has a lot to do with the quality of the picture. Make up that had sunscreen make the model face shiny when the flash is on. I research a little of what should the model do and how to get ready for picture day. Depend on what kind of portrait, studio or outside model should use proper make up so that it does not create trouble for the photographer. It’s alway better for the model to know their angle, and what look best for them before doing the photoshoot.

"14 Photography Project Ideas - Click It Up a Notch." Click It Up a Notch. N.p., 27 Dec. 2013. Web. 14 Jan. 2015.

Project idea

When I first started my capstone I didn't know what my project will be like, all I know is I want it to be involved with photography. I did a lot of research and I find this website helpful to me. I use many of their ideas to create my own project that I can work with all year long. Instead of the 52 projects, I decide to do the 25 instead because that’s a perfect time line for me to do a photoshoot every week. I also leave a couple month extra so I can work on my final presentation which is creating the books.

"50 Essential Photography Tips - CNET." CNET. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Jan. 2015.

Tips for photography

This website shows a lot of techniques that I can use when working with camera, lens, and how to program the camera. I think it’s really helpful to learn. I learn to use the graph on the camera to read the quality of the pictures. Most of the time when I come back during the photoshoot and try to review the pictures to make sure they look okay. It turn out that the picture on the camera screen doesn't look as nice as the one on the computer. The best way to tell if the quality of the pictures are great or not is to look at the graph. Most important thing is not to delete any pictures during the photoshoot because those picture might turn out really good if is on the computer screen

"Photo Books, Photo Albums, Create a Photo Book, Personalized Photo Album | Shutterfly." Shutterfly. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Jan. 2015.

making photography books

Since my final product presentation is to make an photography book, I did a little research and overview of how to make books and the cost. It turns out the book is not that expensive as I thought it might be. I still need a little more research but shutterfly is one of the best sources I find so far.

"Best Fundraising Ideas In America." Easy Fundraising Ideas for Schools, Churches, Sports and Non Profits. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Jan. 2015.

Fundraising idea

Creating books, making websites, framing, and printing out pictures can cost a lot of money. I did a lot of resource on how to fundraise and I can make the best out of it. I will start doing fundraise during February. I think selling candy and snack is one of the best way to make the most money out of it. So I plan to sell candy during school (not lunch time because other people will do bake sale). Since this is a long term thing I decide to do, it when other people are not having any fundraise. I also research different websites that did sponsor that can be very helpful.

​The idea for this senior project first sprouted when I was junior at SLA. Having three easily accessible sources of raw ingredients or pre made foods within the vicinity of the high school made me realize how our students’, and even sometimes faculties’, consumption of their products was taking a substantial toll on our environment, with something typically seen as trivial - non reusable bags. Every time we buy from these establishments and our purchases are stored in plastic bags, we are verifying its inevitable fate of finding its home in a landfill, where it will not decompose for 20 to 1000 years (ABC Australia). I did not want to help in the continuance in creating an unavoidable horrendous reality for my great great grandchildren. Large scale reusable bags are now sold at some supermarkets for large groceries, but I knew this was not practical or appealing to the average high schooler. So for my capstone, I constructed the blueprint for making reusable, desirable to everyone, regardless of age. After a few meetings with my mentor, who also is my grandmother, seamstress extraordinaire, we decided on the best design for my product. Prototypes were made and given to two testers, who then gave me back honest criticisms on how to improve my products. I found that although accessible and easy to carry, my product could be slightly larger to accommodate for various items, like dance shoes for the dedicated teen ballerina. I am going to major in Entrepreneurship in college and this project was a great stepping stone in my higher learning and future endeavors.

Name: Bryanna Jones

Mentors: Leah Stein & Joshua Block

Goldsworthy, Andy. Andy Goldsworthy: A Collaboration with Nature. New York: H.N. Abrams, 1990. Print.

What’s interesting about Andy Goldsworthy’s book is that he is a site specific artist. He creates art from material in the environment because he is interested in “movement, change, light, growth and decay.” Although he is referring to art these can also refer to dance. He believes that his work is inseparable from the earth, which is similar to site specific dance. He also reads his spaces like choreographers, to see if they are conducive to creating art and allowing the art to thrive. Like site art the choreography in site dancing wants to rely a message to the audience that is specific to the space.  

Kloetzel, Melanie, and Carolyn Pavlik, eds. Site Dance. Gainesville: U of Florida, n.d. Print.

When Mr. Block first recommended this book he did it with the intention of having me read Leah Steins chapter. Little did I know this book would be a gem. In the introduction the author describes site choreography as a “performative translation of a place that heightens our awareness of our surrounding.” Artist go into communities/spaces such as schools, offices, apartments, neighborhoods, and parks and “read” the environment. The artist analyze the space “physically, sensually, intellectually, and emotionally.” With this research and analysis the author is able to choreograph work that is pertinent to the contextual environment. Site artist take the most obvious spaces and force us to take a close look at them. Site choreographers purpose is to forge a relationship between “people and place.”

Kwon, Miwon. One Place after Another: Site-specific Art and Locational Identity. Cambridge, MA: MIT, 2002. Print.

https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=s8KviDnz1SwC&oi=fnd&pg=PP6&dq=site+specific+art&ots=F4luU0Qkrk&sig=u8RvnLsbex_U_VVLXINVTaC8MIA#v=onepage&q&f=false

Dance is an art form. Site specific art refers to art that is obstinate in presence, but ephemeral in tangibility. Unlike auditorium performances site specific art uses location as a part of the performance, not just a venue. On site locations give the performance more depth: texture, real life sounds, color, scale and nature. “Site specific art whether it’s interruptive or assimilative, gave itself up to it environmental context, being formally determined or directed by it.” Sites specific art is created from its contextual environment. Therefore the art must be destroyed by the contextual environment. The most beautiful part about site specific art is no one will ever run out of exhibit spaces.

"SLA/Leah Stein Dance Company Collaboration 2012." YouTube. YouTube, n.d. Web. 28 Jan. 2015. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OuW_V3NvxmE>.

Since I’ve worked with the Leah Stein Dance Company in the past and will be working alongside her team for my capstone; I thought I’d use a source where she explained her passion for site specific dance and her purpose for doing a SLA dance residency. She describes the work she does as “movement based.” Her goal with creating this residency was to introduce the students to the creative process of site specific dance and perform at the end. Her style of performance is different from those of normal performances that happen on stage. She performs in public or unconventional performance space to engage the audience differently as well as the performers. Before the students are able to create their own performances Leah and members of her company teach the students the basics of interpreting a space through movement and sound. Once the students have these basics down pat they are able to choose a location within given limits to create a performance.

"Rivers and Tides." YouTube. YouTube, 10 Dec. 2013. Web. 28 Jan. 2015. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQiHfgFnY_A&noredirect=1>.

For Andy Goldsworthy art is a form of nourishment. He expresses his need for the land because of the similar energies he feels in the land and within himself. The idea that this growth and time will only last for a duration of time inspires many of his pieces. His art makes a temporary mark on time. When he flies to new sites he does not waste a second on research or resting because time will continue to move on with or without his readiness. He prefers to manipulate piece nature with inherent care and creativeness. Especially part of nature we tend to over look like leaves and icicles. “Total control can be the death of work,” is a quote he uses to describe the uncertainty he felt when he began to create art outside of his university.  

Lerman, Liz. Hiking the Horizontal: Field Notes from a Choreographer. Middletown, CT: Wesleyan UP, 2011. Print.

I had a meeting with Leah today and she gave me a list of great resources! The following source was perfect for figuring out the space that I am. The book follows the creative process of a site-specific performing, from questioning the performance to the final product. Lerman’s first chapter is called Fueling the Imagination, in this she talks about her visit with a Nobel Laureate. She ask him “how do you ask yourself a question.” He responds, “I am fueled by my ignorance.” She thought that his simple answer was not only profound, but also described her artistic process. This question to self leads to asking people other questions, even with the fear of asking them. Since we define smartness by the precisions of someones answer, instead of the steps they took to find an answer. Throughout my process my questions may seem silly, but i have to remember that it is apart of learning.

Borrow, Jonathan. "Subject / Inspiration / Stealing / Familiar Movements / Choreography / Referencing Others Self Expression." A Choreographer's Handbook. Abingdon:. Abingdon: Routledge, 2010. 30-36. Print.

Leah also recommended A Choreographer’s Handbook. In a chapter in this book I focused on the chapter called Subject / Inspiration / Stealing / Familiar Movements / Choreography / Referencing Others Self Expression. Jonathan Borrows talks about having an idea and treating it as such. For example, Thinking that someone with do fouettes throughout the performance is a cool idea, but does it work? How does it fit with the space? Sense this is site dance what does this movement mean? In order to create a great piece I must put in the work and utilize my space. It almost seems that he is alluding to procrastination.

Black Performance Theory. Durham: Duke UP, 2014. Print.

I am equally interested in site dance as I am in Black performance theory. Since I am using all Black dancers I thought this would be a great idea to add an elements of Black performance. Black peformance is an art form that translates the black experience in America. It’s political and therefore controversial. This theory “gives distinct attention to” the beauty of black bodies. Movement that is created to accent the bodies of black people and the struggles they have been through. Black performance theory does not only pertain to dance, but also art, poetry, prose, music, fashion design,etc.

Bloom, Lynne A. The Intimate Act of Choreography. Pittsburgh: U of Pittsburgh, n.d. Print.

This source focuses on the art of actively creating choreography. Since choreography is an action it can only be planned and carried out by doing it. Similar to my Subject / Inspiration / Stealing / Familiar Movements / Choreography / Referencing Others Self Expression annotation, since I am creating site specific dance I need to make sure I am well acquainted with my spaces. Therefore I can create choreography that is specific to where I am working. In order for the performance to be effective it needs a theme. Specifically a theme that can be easily conveyed. So far my theme is going to be education in SLA.

Olsen, Andrea. The Place of Dance: A Somatic Guide to Dancing and Dance Making. Connecticut: Wesleyan UP, 2014. Print.

This book speaks about dance as a universal language, making it one of the best art forms. It makes communication between cultures easier and enjoyable. As humans we belong to each other and more importantly we are belong to the Earth. Since we have evolved with the world, naturally we have learned movements that are a part of our environment. Therefore, as a choreographer I am not creating movement I am mimicking the world's natural movements. This also stems from the theory that we are all natural born dancers. Dance is movement and movement is dancing. As a choreographer I must tap into the human body's natural movements to make my theme easily conveyable on a universal scale.

Bibliography

1. Steve Hoefer, dir. "Zoey 101: Season 2, Episode 2." Time Capsule. Nickelodeon. Http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0754877/, 18 Sept. 2005. Television.

This preteen based show is located on nickelodeon taken place in an on campus high school that tells the lives of a group of friends. On season, two episode two the story line was taken place in a class room with a different kind of assignment. The assignment that was given was to create a inclass time capsule. Freshmen year I watched this episode and thought about my senior capstone. Creating a time capsule for the class of 2015 which would hopefully be continued as a tradition for each senior class at Science Leadership Academy. The main character Zoey created a documentary of her life so for my part in the time capsule I will be creating a video that tells my four years at SLA.   

2. "How to Create a Time Capsule." WikiHow. N.p., 02 Jan. 2007. Web. <http://www.wikihow.com/Create-a-Time-Capsule>.

This website is very informative and shows different ideas of how to create time capsules. The website lays out step by step on how to create a successful time capsule and ways to make sure people are actually excited for the time capsule altogether. Something else that was also very helpful that was shown in the website is the fact that there are sample letters that are done to help lay out different ideas that you may want to include in a write up. This is good because for the capstone that is being created for each contributor there is a short write up to explain why which ever item was put into the 2015 time capsule and what does it represent the year at SLA for that person.   

3. Seibert, Patricia. We Were Here: A Short History of Time Capsules. Brookfield, CT: Millbrook, 2002. Print.

This is a book that is very helpful in many different ways. It tells about different time periods and holding different types of time capsules. This book is basically the backstory of a time capsule. If you want to know anything about a time capsule, what was the first time capsule ever made, of just different ways to make a time capsule this book is recommended. This book was both interesting and informations also useful to get great understand on what a time capsule really is and the exact meaning for one. To see change, advantagement, disadvantagement, and what just remained the same.

4. Matt Novak. "First Video of the Steve Jobs Time Capsule Being Unearthed."Paleofuture. N.p., 12 Feb. 2014. Web. <http://paleofuture.gizmodo.com/first-video-of-the-steve-jobs-time-capsule-being-uneart-1521353151>

Steve Jobs was someone who created a very big change in a lot of people’s lives today. The creator of apple made a time capsule that was recently dug up with very unique items inside. Being placed in the groups for years this time capsule made many people gather because of the significant meaning. The reaction of people who witnessed what was uncovered and that is what makes this article interesting. How surprised people were with the positive revealing moment. Something else that was also interesting about this article is that it holds different information that is laid out with great detail. Something along the lines of how much time is took to move the dirt away from the actual time capsule itself which lead to believe that it would be more successful to store the trunk for this capstone instead of actually bury it like a normal time capsule would be stored.  

5. JAMIE FRATER. "Top 10 Incredible Time Capsules - Listverse." Listverse. N.p., 27 Apr. 2009. Web. <http://listverse.com/2009/04/27/top-10-incredible-time-capsules/>.

This article was very useful on how to create an eye catching, creative time capsule. This website links a handful of other time capsule projects that were recognized for its uniqueness and the backstory that follows it. The article links to one of the biggest time capsules that was ever created. This time capsule was an actual older model car with different things inside. From the passage it tells the backstory of wanting to see how different the world changes in the sense of cars, gasoline, and other things along that line. This article is very useful in the sense of helping thinking about different ideas that will make the capstone time capsule different, unique, and memorable so it will be continued with the future SLA senior classes.

6. Jefferson Graham. "Redirecting." Redirecting. N.p., 20 Aug. 2012. Web. <http://www.google.com/url?q=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.usatoday.com%2Fstory%2Ftech%2Fcolumnist%2Ftalkingtech%2F2014%2F08%2F20%2Fhow-to-make-a-smartphone-time-capsule-video%2F14262385%2F&sa=D&sntz=1&usg=AFQjCNEyJBvWvRd02Xh0JtzESQGdRuoM5w>.

This was a documentary that was built about a digital time capsule. The reason why this source would be useful for this capstone is because the plan is to create a documentary of the past years at SLA. Recommendations were made, thoughts pointed out, and different ideas that would be helpful when creating the actual documentary was a large part of this source. Something that is relatable was that the digital time capsule was made for a woman who is about to start her journey in college. It was made to be looked back on a few years in the future to see what was accomplished and to be recognized.

7. Jill Neimark. "How Faith – and Fear – Created the World's First Time Capsule - The Crux." The Crux. N.p., 08 Aug. 2014. Web. <http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/crux/2014/08/08/worlds-first-time-capsule/#.VMqUdV7F8Yc>.

This article holds facts about the first ever time capsule. This is relevant because it is important to understand where things originated from and how much they advanced throughout the years went by. The article explain in great detail what was in the time capsule itself and what each item importance to the word today. The article was extremely helpful information that concludes on how things can change so much and the thought that should be put behind each and every item that is being place in the time capsule to be looked on in a few years in the future.

8. "Budget Cooking: Feed 4 for $10." Cooking Light. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Jan. 2015. <http://www.cookinglight.com/food/everyday-menus/healthy-budget-recipes/chicken-rice-mushrooms-budget-cooking-recipe>.

Marshal Brian created a time capsule of his life. Each an every day was documented because each day was another chance to experience and look back on. The purpose for his time capsule was for his children to look back on and see how beautiful life was when they were too young to remember and notice it. This website holds different meaningful clips of his life that helps generate thoughts that could be including in the documentary of my life at SLA. There is no limit to what has to be placed in the time capsule. This video helps gather ideas to propose to the students that are going to contribute to the capstone time capsule of 2015.

9. "WELCOME ABOARD." TimeCapsuleToMars. (TC2M), n.d. Web. <http://www.timecapsuletomars.com/>.

An extremely interesting project that was came acrossed dealt with sending a time capsule to the planet mars. The creators of this project was student based and meant to be an exploring project. When you think of sending a time capsule to mars you think about that being an adventure itself but there is more meaning to this project. The creators wanted to show the people in the future who travel to mar see how much the earth changes in the future and what different things that could be looked back on. The mission is to raise money and make this happen. Though this project doesn't really contribute that much to my project it does show a good message. It shows there the sky's the limit to anything, literally.

10. Zurowski. "My Time Capsule Project." N.p., n.d. Web. <http%3A%2F%2Fczurowski.weebly.com%2Fproject-1--time-capsule.html%5C>.

This was a website that was created for a project done for an assignment for school. This source was a different way of creating a fully digital way of view the capstone time capsule for the 2015 class. This website was very useful in the way of how to lay things out for a final product and what I should and should not include to make the project to make it as successful as it could be. The project had a high tech way of turning something that you bury for memory to the changing way of technology. Throughout the website there were different tips that were suggested that turned the creators time capsule as successful as it was.