Final Blogging

And so another semester comes to a close. I've really enjoyed everything that we were able to put together over the course of the semester. So, to wrap things up, I've prepared one final blog post.

Engaging Shakespeare

I thought the event was very successful. I wasn't able to stay the entire time, but between rehearsals and everything, I was able to see all of the projects. I was really impressed both by how much time my classmates were willing to devote, and how much talent they were willing to share. I think the whole came thing together really well, especially given the amount of time the class had to put it together. 

I feel like an audio-recording is not necessarily the most presentational final project, but I was glad that the audience was into it enough to ask questions about it. I think that, as far as presentations go, the play, the music video, and the art groups were a lot more engaging than we were able to be, simply because of the nature of our project. I'm not maligning our project (I actually think the final product turned out really well, so shout out to Amy and her willingness to be our sound-editor), but I think that it would have worked better under different circumstances.

How have I gained Shakespeare literacy?

I think making the audio recording of Hamlet helped me to really understand the play in a way I hadn't before. We really had to decide what the essential themes and ideas were, and how to effectively convey them in a very short period of time. I also reached a deeper understanding of the characters. Well, no. With Hamlet, that might not be quite accurate. It's more accurate to say that I am now able to look at the characters through multiple different lenses. I don't think a single one of them has a concrete motivation, and in doing multiple close readings of the script, I was able to consider who these people really were. I know that they're fictional, but that doesn't mean that they're one-dimensional. Even characters like Claudius, who seem really one-note and token, have the capacity to be extremely complex.

Because of my acting background, I was very eager to get into the character's heads. Initially, it was just Polonius, because he is the character I voiced. But as I read the script over and over and over, I found myself trying to understand all of the characters we worked with, even the ones with fewer lines and apparently more direct motivation. I found that I could imagine scenarios in which Claudius is the hero and the Ghost is the villain. I could imagine scenarios in which Hamlet was the villain. I could imagine scenarios in which Gertrude was a tragically sympathetic character. I don't think any of these ideas are wrong, because so little in the text is explicit.

The most important thing that I learned was that these characters didn't live in a vacuum. They had whole lives before the play started, and just because they weren't laid out doesn't mean they aren't important. Trying to figure out these character's lives and who they really are has proved endlessly fascinating, and it makes me appreciate Shakespeare's genius so much more than I did. 

How have I analyzed Shakespeare critically?

Although we haven't read a ton of new material since the midterm, I tried to be on the lookout for opportunities to analyze Shakespeare in interesting ways. I think my favorite post was about eye-gouging as an appropriate punishment for treason. In that post, I tracked down a book about treason laws and punishments during Shakespeare's time, and I found that eye-gouging was actually fairly tame, compared to what could have happened. I also did a textual analysis of Edmund's Bastard speech from King Lear.

How have I engaged Shakespeare creatively?

I put a lot of focus on engaging Shakespeare creatively since the midterm. I wrote two posts on costuming, the first about The Taming of the Shrew and The Winter's Tale, and the second about Hamlet. These were the blog posts I had the most fun coming up with, because they tied into something that's interesting for me. I like to look at the ways that costumes are used in movies and TV shows and onstage. Very rarely does someone say "Yeah, just wear that, whatever." Clothes are used to make statements about characters, and it was fun to explore how I would do that. 

How have I shared Shakespeare meaningfully?

I focused a lot on global sharing, because I fundamentally don't really get it. I haven't received much feedback (except from my husband, but I wouldn't call that global), but it was an interesting experiment. I wrote an online review for King Lear, as well as a review for Hamlet. I think that the Engaging Shakespeare event was also a very good way to share Shakespeare. An audio recording isn't necessarily the most presentational project in the world, but we've also put our audio recording on YouTube. At least theoretically, people from all over the world could listen to it. It currently has three whole views, so that's exciting.

Overall, I tried to be very cognizant of reaching the learning outcomes. Blogging twice a week for six weeks doesn't leave a lot of space to get really in-depth, but I think that in the time I had, I was able to do a lot. I was able to learn a lot. I have to say a big thank you to both of my groups (blogging and final), because this never would have worked without them.

Friday Blogging Part II

Once again, I forgot I was supposed to blog today. And, once again, I don't feel like I have a whole lot to discuss.

The final project recording of Hamlet is going well. We currently have at least one take of each scene recorded, so even if something goes horribly, horribly wrong, we'll at least have something to present. We're meeting on Saturday (4-6 in the recording booth) to fine-tune and add sound effects and the like. I actually think this could be a relatively decent final project. I'm especially happy with how each character has a distinct voice. I think that's really important for the clarity of the piece.

I also feel like I'm understanding the play in a deeper way. Over the past few weeks, I've read our cut script probably six or seven times. When I played Ophelia, I focused largely on my own lines. I made sure I understood my lines and the scenes I was in, but I didn't care as much about the greater narrative. I knew the plot, of course, but I didn't take the time to read and try to understand the other roles (partially because we only had like six weeks to throw the production together). I had to be cute and heartbroken and crazy and dead. Now, I feel like I'm getting that kind of familiarity with the entirety of the play.

Referencing my previous post, I've not received any responses or comments on my Lear review on Goodreads (except for from my husband, who apparently liked it). I'm continuing to reach out, but I'm discovering that most people on the internet don't want to talk to a complete stranger, even if it is about a shared interest.

Recording

So, yesterday was the audio group's first day working in the recording studio. I personally thought that it was really, really, really fun. But like, really fun. We ran into some technical difficulties, but the nice (if somewhat crotchety) bearded man working in the HLRC was very helpful in getting them squared away. I have little to no idea how these kinds of things actually work, so I'm glad that there are some people in the group who know what they're doing.

I'm reading the part of Polonius (there are way more male parts than female parts, and our group is like sixty-five percent female). At first, I was like "Meh. That's kind of a whatever part. Whatever." I was SO WRONG. Polonius is so much fun. He's kind of senile and isn't necessarily completely on top of things, and his assumptions are always totally off base. He thinks of himself as the wise old man, but he's really kind of a buffoon in a lot of ways. It's fun to play up.

At first, I was a little bit nervous about taking on this project. I've had many experiences where I've worked with people who were like "We're going to do this, and it's going to be awesome!" and then it was complete crap. I don't think that this will be complete crap.

Friday Blogging

Right, so blogging. I'll be honest: I don't feel like I have much to say.

For the final project, I'm in the Audio group. We're doing a cut-down audio version of Hamlet, which could be interesting. One of the things I was considering was the possibility of creating background noises and music ourselves. That might be too hefty of an undertaking, I'm not completely sure. It's just that creative commons music is invariably awful and generic, because it's created to work with any number of unrelated audio/visual projects. Usually, though, with classical music, the performance is what's copyrighted. Yo-Yo Ma wants you to buy his CDs, so he's not going to let people use his music for free, but anyone can perform Mozart if they want to. I don't know if it's in any way feasible, but I think that some a capella vocals in the background could lend a nice ambience.

To wrap up, I'm going to share a painfully embarrassing example of my own stunning voice-over work. I was like sixteen, and word got around that I had studied voice-over in conservatory, so I got this tremendous opportunity.