Project Review Paper Right away when the project was announced, both Steven and I knew that

we wanted to do a video. I was initially leery about doing it with a partner because of the time requirements, but Steven planned to work with James. When everyone found out though that I was going to get the drama class to help make the video, people started asking me to be their partner (shocker). So Steven decided to ditch James and make the video using the topic that the two of them had decided on. Now, I know this seems bad, because one would think that I was just okay with being used, but the truth is that I am completely useless when it comes to a computer, so thats why I have Steve. So essentially, were using one another. We decided to do a video on the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand. This was very simple, and yet very difficult at the same time. Since we watched a video on the assassination when we were studying WWI, we had to make sure that our video was not simply a copy. Our video you will find is a little more humorous, but still a higher quality. We wanted to make it as entertaining as possible, and with the resources we had, this was easy to accomplish. The actual process of making the video was not as difficult as I would have thought, but it is far more time consuming than I imagined. The first weekend that the project was announced, Steven and I made sure to acquire all of the notes that we would need to make the script/storyline. This was the easy part. That next day, we compiled our notes, and I took the stuff home to create the script because we filmed the next day. Filming it was a lot of fun. The weather cooperated very well with us since it was supposed to rain all week. It was also our last full day in drama with the seniors, so it was cool that we got to get them involved in one last project. If Mrs. Mazany hadnt let me use the class, and Mr. McRae hadn t let us go outside and use other parts of the school, I can honestly say that I dont think that the video would have been nearly as successful. Unfortunately though, this wasnt the only filming that we had to do. It took Steven and I a while before we could figure out a cheesy way to convey the message of the rapid declarations of war. Initially, we planned to do it with the drama class, but due to lack of time, we were forced to bribe and recruit our friends to tape it with us after school. After everything was taped, I left the majority of it up to Steve, and it turned out far better than either of us would have ever been able to do alone. The hardest parts about this project were not half as horrible as I initially thought. Our first struggle was getting a room full of kids to cooperate within an hour time slot. Dont get me wrong, it all worked out, but it isnt exactly easy to get a class to stay focused at the end of the year. I know understand why teachers get so frustrated at the end of the year. The next issue was coming up with that last scene. Steven and I had a lot of ideas that would have been hilarious, but they were a little difficult to carry out. The scene that we settled on was something that I thought of while I was laying in bed one night. Granted, its extremely corny and simplistic, but it conveys the message that we were going for in a matter of a minute and its stupidly funny. Finally, our last major setback was definitely when Steven had nearly the entire rough copy of the video in Corel, ready to be edited, before the program decided to completely shut itself down. It was a solid hour of tedious work completely lost, which was just awesome. My personal favorite part of this video, was getting to create a storyline and direct it. I love drama so much, so being able to make something completely on my own was a lot of fun.

Like I said before, it was also a really cool opportunity to get the seniors involved in one last, completely ridiculous project. I think that everyone, especially Katrina, enjoyed the costumes and fake moustaches a little too much. Filming with all of our friends was also a really good time. Almost none of them even knew anything about the topic so it was a mini learning experience for them. None of them had the ability to memorize a sentence either, so the terrible acting is something to really enjoy. It was also a one take clip, so I personally was not able to keep myself from laughing. I had no idea what they were going to do while we were filming, but I knew that they would do something that was going to throw me off, and I was right. First of all, Kevin threw his hand up too quick, so to convey how impatient he was, he threw up the other hand and nearly jumped out of his seat, which made me laugh. Then Alec Mendoza had a line that was supposed to be directed to Germany, but he said it to Kevin, so James just cheered to make it seem like he meant to do it. And Sydney decided to talk in a British accent the whole time, which made me die laughing. In the end though, we had a blast, and Im pretty sure that we kept Mrs. Ray pretty entertained for the twenty minutes that she let us use her room. I really hope that this video is as successful as we had hoped, because I can honestly say that we put a LOT of time into it. Its weird though, because as much as the idea of a final project seems like it would suck , it was like Steven and I werent really bothered by it. I mean, I can only speak for myself, but I actually enjoyed this project a lot, and I know that for the most part, Steve likes techy stuff, so it was kind of a win-win situation. There was really no awful part about it. I hope that when people watch it, theyre entertained, but I also hope that they really listen to what were saying as we narrate it. It was a huge challenge for us to find information that may not have been already known, and to convey it in a way that was different from the other video. I just hope that people dont mistake entertainment and professionalism. I mean, I know that costumes werent spot on for everyone, and the props and scenery werent accurate necessarily, but we really didnt have a lot to work with. I would definitely say that considering our resources and circumstances, we pulled together a pretty awesome video that Im extremely proud of. I hope that everyone else ends up feeling the same way once we present it.

Websites: www.historyonthenet.com www.history1900about.com www.history.com www.netlib.byu.edu www.mapsofworld.com youtube video: www.youtube.com/watch?v=-E6e8BW01E Cast list: Gavrilo Princip: Steven Decker Nedjelko Cabrinovic: Nick Miller Trifko Grabez: Ben Moorman Danilo Ilic: Ryan Andrews Vaso Cubrilovic: Zack Ross Cvijetko Popovic: TJ Cheslik Muhamed Mehmedbasic: Chris Demand Archduke Ferdinand: Ty Taylor Sophie Ferdinand: Randi DeShone Mayor: Katrina Anderson Driver: Marge Oviedo Count: Nick Booth Colonel Dimitrijvic: Brittany Goulette Extras: 2012-2013 Drama Class (special thanks to Mrs. Mazany) Teacher: Kiersten Mead Austria: Zach Mendoza Germany: James Dwenger Russia: Chris Dierich France: Randi DeShone Britain: Sydney Fallis Japan: Kevin Dwyer Turkey: Alec Mendoza USA: Steven Decker Final Statement that needs to be said at the end of the last scene: And so, WWI began. All of the countries involved, rapidly declared war after war within a span of approximately ten days. However, it wasnt until 1917 that the US got involved, but we all know how the rest goes.