At my high school, seniors were given the opportunity to work on a year-long passion project called Capstone. As my passion project I decided to write an original screenplay. As a complete beginner in this field, in order to achieve my goal I had to learn how to develop a story and format a screenplay by researching on my own all within 9 months. I researched how to create storylines, format a script, and any other questions that formed along the way. Some of the tools that helped me most were the document I created to fill with notes about what I learned and the book Screenwriting For Dummies by Laura Schellhardt.
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Through this researching and writing process I faced many challenges. From writer's block to having to learn to explain complicated basketball maneuvers, I discovered issues I wasn't even expecting to face. Unfortunately about 3 months into my project I even found out I had started out completely wrong and had to put everything I knew aside to learn something new.
 
Thankfully I was able to work through my setbacks and keep a good pace while working on my project. In the end everything was finished, revised, and turned in on time. I put a lot of effort into this project and had fun while doing it. Writing a script was something new for me and was something I wasn't fully sure I would enjoy, but I was excited to find out if I would. After this experience I learned things I wasn't even expecting to learn. I learned to trust the process, which is something I've struggled with a lot in the past, especially in my art. I learned to trust my mind along with time because the ideas are there, but they don't always come right away and that's okay. Last of all I learned I do like screenwriting and that it's fun to turn small ideas into big ones with lots of connections. In the end I was left with a script I love, would want to watch myself on the big screen, and a script I am proud to call my first.
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My movie: Caught Off Guard is about Alexandra, a teenage girl who dreams of being a great basketball player, but isn't actually good at it. Her stubborn personality causes her to reject any help offered to her because she wants to get better by herself. So when Anthony (who's basically a teenage Steph Curry) offers his uninvited advice, she doesn't take it lightly. Alex already dislikes him from their first interaction, but when she finds out she's being forced to practice with Anthony for the rest of the summer, she's outraged. As the two spend more involuntary time together a friendship blossoms. However, having to spend the next 2 months with Anthony wasn't the only thing that caught Alexandra off guard. This once hateful relationship morphs into a dramatic summer romance.