Film Essay due Dec. 4

ESSAY DUE: Sun. Dec. 4
Keep a detailed film viewing journal to record all the visual details which will be your evidence (instead of quotes) in your Hamlet Film essay.

factors	Mel Gibson	Kenneth Branaugh
Acting (on screen)
Language (pace, meter, etc.)
Setting
Camera Angle, Lights, Composition, etc.

Compare a very few visual aspects of two or three films. Or you can make notes in the margin of the book or the script. Q: How do the different film versions of Act I scene 2 differ in emphasis and meaning?
Q: What visual elements (camera angle, lighting, composition in the frame)--in addition to the acting--influence the different interpretations of Shakespeare's script? Outline an essay!

Prompt: Make your own prompt by focusing on one small portion of Act I scene 2 (one character? one line? one event?), make a claim about two or three film versions (and how the decisions--both acting and filmic--interpret the play differently), supply evidence from the films (visual details that you describe in sentences--no need to quote, no need to cite except for the director's last name), analyze those visual details at length, and structure your essay so it makes an interesting point. Proofread carefully ('s, fragments, MLA header, works cited, etc.) before you upload to turnitin.com before midnight Sun. Dec. 4.

I miss you, Daddy!

Brainstorming ideas for Hamlet in Film Essay

·         Find an (film) angle that interests you

·         Mother son relationship in two films

·         King Claudius: the nicer he gets the more monstrous

·         Close up shots of King, Queen, Hamlet: what they reveal that the stage play cannot

·         Lighting as a tool for interpreting the play and subtly emphasizing themes

·         focus on one line: and analyze three versions of it, both delivery, acting, but also camera angle, close up, sound, lighting, filmic aspects that add to what you're claiming.

• Hamlet: I shall in all my best obey you, Madam.
• Claudius: For the let the world take note, you are the most immediate to our throne
• Focus on one character: queen, king, son, crowd
• Focus on two characters: mom/son, father/son, queen/king.
• Focus on camera work.
• Make sure you have a strong claim.

choose from each:
--one, two, or three film versions
--one, two, or three characters (or the crowd)
--5-10 lines (a mini-scene)
--isolation, alienation, disconnection, manipulation
--add analysis of film: lighting, camera angle, close up, music/sound, etc.
--what is your main focus?  What do you want to say about your focus?
--write a theis
--add works cited page

(on You Tube)

Laurence Olivier, 1948 (soliloquy only)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-q0qmjEWEPU&feature=related&wwparam=1239994897

Mel Gibson, 1990 (soliloquy only)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DTHwCmPz9j4&feature=related

Kenneth Branagh, 1996 (soliloquy only)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OCBVmiVkzTM

Nicol Williamson, 1968

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ray0pb5YLGU&feature=related (Start at 4:00)

Nicol Williamson ... Hamlet
Judy Parfitt ... Gertrude
Anthony Hopkins ... Claudius
Michael Pennington ... Laertes
Gordon Jackson ... Horatio
John Trenaman ... Barnardo
Directed by Tony Richardson

Kevin Kline, 1990 for tv (most of scene 2)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LD-NoTSEYO0&feature=related

Peter Francis James ... Horatio
Dana Ivey ... Gertrude
Brian Murray ... Claudius
Kevin Kline ... Hamlet
from a 1990 TV broadcast

Olivier, Gibson, and Branagh together (superimposed)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4NcICKeXT4&feature=related

Olivier, Hamlet, and Freud

He LOVES his mother.

Read "Olivier, Hamlet, and Freud" by Peter Donaldson (Cinema Journal, 26, No. 4, Summer 1987)
Extract important information from the article (as you will be expected to do next year in college).
Follow Donaldson's arguments about Freud, Ernest Jones, and Laurence Olivier's own autobiography and life that may have made him connect with the Oedipal view of interpreting Hamlet. See how Olivier departed radically from previous stage interpretations and explained his self-destructiveness and reluctance to hurt Claudius (before his delay had no clear motive). And see Olivier as a child actor brilliantly playing his own dead mother. It's food for thought! And we need to practice college-type readings followed by discussion and writing.

South Pacific!

Congratulations Seniors on a Great Show!
Savannah, Mark, Emely, Michael, Anthony, Brandon, Michael, Alan, Kevin, Adrian, Leon, Daniel!
And great support from Jesse, Jonathan, Alexander, Jordan, Olivia, Mr. Wittmer, and Ms. Vaquilar.

Does Hamlet have Mother issues?

Which photo shows Hamlet's mother issues?

Add caption

Does Hamlet have issues with his mother?

mother issues

Or does he just love her?

Mother issues

What do you think?

Mother issues

Mon	Tue	Wed  (8 blogs)	Thu	Fri
This Week: Read Act IV, act a scene, blog about sounds in poetry and Hamlet for Wed., blog for Thursday, Thurs. short quiz on sounds in Hamlet and poems, for Mon read Act V and blog about how King manipulates Laertes
Nov 7 NO blog Finish reading Hamlet Act IV Poem sounds	8 Audio, acting, analyze	9 5th Wed blog sounds in poetry	10 blog due on how Hamlet attacks Mom + quiz on sounds	11 no School Mon: Read Act V   Blog  King & Laertes

Note sounds in Hamlet in your scenes and on p.765 ("bloody, bawdy villain").

Hamlet Essay due Sun Nov 6

Week’s overview: Read Act III, blog about symbols for Wed., blog your conclusion for Thursday, Thurs. short quiz on symbols in Hamlet, Yeats, finish your essay, proofread it, and upload it to Turnitin by midnight, Sunday, Nov. 6.
Oct 31 blog due: 1st body paragraph Finish reading Hamlet Act 3	Nov 1 Work on Hamlet essay every day! Yeats, audio, act, analyze	2  bring laptops 4th Wed blog symbols theme in Hamlet read p.84+98+1272	3 bring laptops blog due: your conclusion + quiz: symbols, Hamlet essay	4 no School Essay due Sunday 11/6 Read Act 4 Mon, no blog

Monday's Blog: Body Paragraph

for Monday's blog write a new paragraph, a body paragraph, and include the following:
1. Catchy two-part title
2. Your introductory paragraph and working thesis (revised, if you like)
3. New body paragraph with short quotes carefully analyzed to show how they support your thesis that different characters are given different speech patterns that reveals their different personalities
4. A quick outline of the remaining paragraphs
5. MLA citation for plays:  "To be or not to be" (3.1.56-57).   means: act 3, scene 1, lines 56-57
You should be almost half done by then!  Time to do college apps!

Direct and Perform a Scene

You are the Director!
Pick one of these short scenes, pair up or form a small group, and prepare the scene to be acted in class.
Be sure to explain your acting and performance choices.

3 people act short scene in Act I: p.727 line 40 to p. 728 line 62:   King, Laertes, Polonius

2 people act short scene in Act I p.736 line 88 to p.737 line 115: Ophelia, Polonius

2 people act short scene in Act I p.741 line 1 to p.742 line 32: Ghost, Hamlet

3 people act short scene in Act I p.744 line 111 to p.745 line 155: Horatio, Marcellus, Hamlet

2 people act short scene in Act II: p.746 line 1 to p.747 line 27: Polonius, Reynaldo

4 people act short scene in Act II: p.750 line 1 to p. 751 line 39: King, Queen, Rosencrantz, Guildenstern

3 people act short scene in Act II: p.751 line 40 to p.752 line 57: King, Queen, Polonius

3 people act short scene in Act II: p.754 line 150 to p.755 line 168: King, Queen, Polonius