My capstone is a 13 minute video about the class of 2022’s high school experiences. This includes interviews of students and videos students took throughout high school. The project is meant to give incoming high schoolers an idea of what their high school experience may be like and to allow current seniors to reflect. Although my final product is not what I had previously thought it would be, and there were a lot of scheduling issues and filming mistakes that I would change if I could, I am proud of what I created.

My project was to build a community through a super smash bros tournament. I did this by making a tournament and getting a bunch of different people to come, then recording the whole thing and making it into a documentary style video. When I started this project, I along with many SLA kids had very unrealistic expectations for my capstone. I wanted to do the biggest and grandest things for this project but I quickly realized that I couldn’t do all the things I had planned for this project. So as push came to shove there was a lot of stuff that I wanted to do that I wasn’t able to do. Things like starting a social media campaign or livestreaming the event. Even with the things I took out I still had the workload of 2 capstones. I had to start off by making all the rules for the game and finding out all the logistics that were going into this tournament. Number of players, Number of Switches, Camera equipment, and stage lighting were all things I had to do. I then made sure that the event was going to run smoothly by getting people to go and assist me. I think the coolest thing I had to do was figuring out how to work the mics in the auditorium. After the actual event happened I still had to go through the hours of footage I got and piece together a documentary.

Annotated Bibliography: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ONhay95DaCCDXsGl_-UjgVn44K6jSFeLj70bWEO6uiQ/edit?usp=sharing

Video: https://youtu.be/QigJFIm-12s

My capstone project is a 15-minute documentary about some insight into Nigerian culture and traditions. It doesn’t cover every single aspect, but I tried to include as much as I could within the time frame. The process of this documentary started with planning what the running theme would be, who I should interview, and then the materials needed and where I would go. I also had to keep in mind of the scheduling. Then after filming each interview (which did not happen all at once) I had to begin editing which took weeks to finish. This was not easy, but I was eager to get it done since I’m very passionate about Nigerian culture and video/film production. This video focuses on Nigerian clothing, perspectives, food, and music.

Annotative Bibliography: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1YHfAtxqm3XZ8Dq—VKyXXI2eFihvGo9NEHBan_987Vo/edit?usp=sharing

As a kid, I was fortunate enough to grow up with theatre. Because of this, I wanted to do a project that could help spread a former passion of mine. I decided to make a documentary on the theatre program at Overbrook Educational Center (OEC). OEC is an elementary/ middle school located in West Philadelphia. With their recently developed theatre program, I wanted to explore its effects on the youth that participated. Since March, I’ve been going to their rehearsals 2-3 times a week, documenting their production of High School Musical. The more I attended rehearsals, the more I fell in love with the stories I could tell about their experiences. I learned very quickly how theatre improved the characteristics of many of the participants. Some people grew more confident and others found a voice they didn’t know they had. With all of that in mind, I realized that making a documentary solely for this senior project wasn’t enough. Even after I am finished with my senior year, I will continue to produce the project as a full-length documentary. Every member of the cast deserves to have their voices heard about something they care about.

The video I prepared as my capstone is a reflection of my time thus far with them. It recaps what I learned and what I’m excited about in the future. It features interviews with a few of the cast members and ample observational footage. I hope you enjoy!

Annotated Bibliography

Some Extra Pictures!

Documentary Film Treatment

For my capstone project I decided to make a documentary/interview series about how mental health and tattoos are connected; as well as why people get tattoos. I interviewed several people, unfortunately less that I anticipated, but ultimately I learned a lot through this process. Throughout this process I learned a lot more about how to communicate and collaborate with people during the making of a film. The final product is a collection of 8 interviews talking about their experience with tattoos and the meaning behind them, finally talking about the connection with mental health and tattoos. I spent half of my time planning interviews, scheduling, and recording the interviews and the other half was spent editing. For the final product I had to come to terms with the fact that this is not going to be perfect. Although that’s what’s great about capstones, you can keep working on it; capstones are more about the process than the final product, as long as you have something to show for it.

Below is the link to the final documentary and my bibliography.

My capstone is centered on ensuring that the Student Action Board at Science Leadership Academy @ Center City, a part of the Philadelphia school district, is beneficial to the SLA community. Student Action Board is a student-made and led club whose purpose is to bridge the gap between students and staff. I was able to achieve this goal through various projects. One was creating a template to improve the organization of the advisory memo. Another was helping a Digvid group make a flyer to recruit background actors for their film. The last one I’d like to share is how I worked to get menstrual buckets in various bathrooms around the school. The process was difficult, there were multiple hurdles to jump through inside and out of school. By clicking on my artifact link you’ll find my Capstone Folder. This holds my portfolio of resources that helped in getting student needs met. I collaborated with Ms. Ryans to get the buckets, as well as another student, Paula Vekker. I collaborated with S.A.B participants to come up with ideas and pursue them. I also learned that I have a few more projects I am bringing to fruition, so my process will continue. One will be an end-of-the-year fundraiser, another will be an E-book for the next S.A.B leaders, and my last one will be a pitch to the staff to help them make decisions about the 2022-2023 senior year.

Artifact

Annotated Bibliography

Products: