You have until Monday 3.10.08 night @ 11:59 to complete this assignment.
It is worth 50 points and will be graded with the open response rubric.
Objective: Choose any one of the following six videos of passages from Hamlet and critique the performance of the video. Your critique of the video must be based on your knowledge and understanding of the passage, so you must provide textual evidence from Hamlet as well as provide descriptions of the video.
I can't watch the video and read your post at the same time, so you need to make me see what you see with your words. It will also help you to take notes on the video while you watch it. Pay attention to what you captures your attention. Notice what you notice!
Pay attention to:
- delivery of the lines
- imagery the setting / scenery
- the portrayal of the actor or actress
- lighting & camera effects
- sound effects or music
Post in the comment stream of the video you choose below. It should be 2-3 pages before you post. Edit and put spaces between paragraphs before you post!
5 comments:
Act 1 Scene 5 Prince Hamlet meets his father’s ghost
In this scene of Hamlet the light that is shining on Hamlet makes him look blue and cold. His father King Hamlet has earthly tones and matches the walls behind him. He looks extremely exhausted as he tells the tale of how he was killed. He speaks clearly so what he says sinks in. When Prince Hamlet hears this he is in shock, looks sick, and started crying. After his father disappears he starts to go crazy because of what he has found out. He goes into a rage and starts thrashing his sword everywhere. He looks down through the ceiling and sees his uncle-stepfather smiling. Claudius his happy because he has become king, and has a wife. Also because he has killed King Hamlet and he thinks no one knows. He is what you would call “living the life”. This puts Hamlet in misery. This is one of the things that leads him to have no trust in the people around him. In a way Prince Hamlet is hopeless because anything he does will affect him in a negative way. Killing Claudius will lead him to the same punishment that his father goes through. Not doing anything will eat him up inside. Confronting his uncle will get him killed. His father forbids him to tell his mother anything. This is a prison as he describes Denmark. He has nowhere to turn and he is alone. While he was running up the castle was it almost resembled a prison; dark, cold, and the stone walls stick up at the top like a fence. He looked frightened while running away. The difference between Hamlet’s “mind prison” and an actual prison is he has a freedom to make choices and defend himself. But these things just add to his prison. The best thing for him to do is to escape, physically get up and leave. He can’t even let his mind escape because it is clouded and a part of the prison.
Being alone can be related to darkness. When you are alone there is a lot of space (outer space) and emptiness. At night people usually are at home and outside is isolated. Hamlet’s life is full of darkness. It is not just loneliness but also evilness. His uncle has killed his father. His father walks the night. His father is just a ghost, not really there, like a dream. He takes up no space. When it is dark you can not see very well. This applies to the people around Hamlet. The see a few hints of things and they think that they have Hamlet all figured out. The can’t truly see anything unless they get into his mind. King Hamlet is the one who has really gotten into his mind. He has set him off to get revenge on Claudius. It is like when you have a dream and somehow it has the power to scare you even though it is not real. This scene of Hamlet meeting his father’s ghost shows his motivation for doing things in the rest of the play and how things affect him.
ACT 1 SCENE 2 SOLILOQUY
HAMLET SPEAKING
In Hamlet Act 1 scene 2 soliloquy (1996),Hamlet recites a soliloguy in a fluctuating tone. His emotions matches the way he speaks as he speaks about his feelings towards his situation. He walks and speaks quietly when he speaks about his mother but then his emotions change as he says “ within in a month” . This line means that he thinks that she moved on to quick. He then screams and says beast which symbolizes his uncle. His voice then sounds like he cannot breathe when he says “ my fathers brother”. Hamlet shows his anger towards the situation and seems like he tries to control it but he just explodes at a point. In the video, Hamlet is also using his body gestures and facial expressions to exaggerate his emotion. He mostly uses hand gestures like squeezing to a fist when he is angry and two hands feeling his head when he was upset. The tone seems to be slow at the beginning and speeds up and then at the ends slows down again and quiets. My attentions are also pulled toward the background. The coloring of the scene is eye catching. The scenery is more of a bright colored background with bright chairs and bright wall colors. As Hamlet is reciting his soliloquy there is a change in the background. As he changes emotions the color of the background changes. From the beginning with more of a warm background then I noticed the snow and as his emotions go towards anger and sadness, the background leads to the stairs which is more of a light bluish purple color which shows his emotions as sad or anger. In the beginning of his soliloguy as he says “ two flesh” as in his mother and uncle, he bends down and holds the two chairs. The two chairs are a pink colored with snow. The two chairs symbolizes his mother and uncle next to each other. The setting is also significant because hamlet is alone . Being alone and reciting his soliloguy shows how he feels. Hamlet feels lonely and mad at the fact that his mother and uncle are together so soon after his father died. The portrayal of the character was well played but I think that the man was to old. I also think that he did not look as crazy as Hamlet was described as. The soliloguy was great because of the emotions that were shown which goes well with the body language and hand gestures and facial expressions. There were not sounds effects or music. Just lonely Hamlet by himself speaking to an audience that seems to be there. The lighting of the camera was well done too because the scenery went well with it. The lights were birght and dimmish and the background changed as Hamlets emotions changed while he walks through the place and climbs down from the two chairs. Overall I benefited from watching this video a million times because I did not picture it to be like that. The video showed me much more emotions in the lines.
The scene begins with Hamlet pressed against the wall which is blueish gray to resemble the emotions flowing through him. There he is, isolated in his room. He begins to speak in a in this quietly and confused voice. As he speaks he begins to pace, his words and actions portray aggravation as he speaks of what he just saw."O , what a Rogue and Peasant slave am I!" he goes on about how this player was so emotional in his acting. He goes on, "Tears in his eyes, ditaction in his aspect, A broken voice" The tone in his voice becomes angry as he becomes confused as to why the player is so emotional to Hecuba. He walks in front of a wall of books swaying his body left and right as he frustratingly asks himself these questions. Now he begins to speak saying that if the actor had the passion had the motive that he does, the player would drown the stage in his own tears. While he's saying this the scene turns, Hamlet stands in front of a castle replica, with pictures of places on the walls and the globe of earth to the left. This room is a room of an intelligent man whose been places, and here Hamlet is overwhelmed with emotions of hatred, sadness, and confusing. He continues to ask himself question like, " Am i a coward?" and "Am i a villan?" He continues to ramble on to the point where he becomes outraged and yells his words while hitting the candle stick toward the floor in a violent manner. His pacing has taking to more of the room and he looks crazed as he's shooting to himself, "I AM PIGEON LIVERED AND LACK GALL" calling himself a coward because he can't do the things he feels he should. He walks in a fast past toward the other side of the room, there are two windows that the sun shines through. He chooses the left window, pounds as he screams and frustration. Then collapses, he speaks now in a voice of understanding, calm and collected. As he continues he thinks of this in genus plan to catch his fathers murderer. The look on his face straight, serious. The plan, have the actors play out the scene of his fathers death in front of his uncle and watch the expression his uncle shows. He says, "If he but blench, I know my course." if the uncle looks guilty, Hamlet will have his vengense. Now in a quieting voice, his face grown stiff as the camera closing in towards his face, and his eyes starring but starring into nothing, its quiet. He talks about the devil and how he could assume a pleasing shape like Hamlets father and that the devil is taken advantage of him in this weak state of mind. But he continues to speak of the plan, "The play's the thing Wherein I'll catch the conscience of the king." Scene ends. This scene shows the twisted side of Hamlet, when Hamlet begins to seem crazy. He has just seen his fathers ghost and the ghost told Hamlet the person who wears the crown kill me, which is Hamlets uncle. This scene leaves us in awe at the in because it ends act II and leaves us wondering if it could be the uncle.
Post a Comment