Macbeth Shadow Puppet Production
Reflection
There were a couple twenty-first century skills that I didn’t use as much, such as Independent research and learning, and Critical Thinking and Problem Solving. I was so caught up in everything else I was doing that independent research never really even crossed my mind. There were times that I wished I could do it, but felt too overwhelmed with everything else I was doing to really go look for more work. Critical Thinking and Problem solving is a different thing entirely. I find it very difficult to cope with large amounts of stress because I keep building the stress up until I can’t handle it anymore. When a little glitch came up it was all I could do not to just scream and run.
As bad as I was at those 21st century skills, I was good at the others. I used initiative when I had a vision for the puppet show stage. I talked to Mattie about it, and when that didn’t work, I talked to Sonya about what artwork we could use to make the stage more elaborate. Effective communication was used when I needed to cut the script. Shakespeare is awful to cut, and we all had different ideas on what lines should go. I wasn’t as strong at Curiosity and Imagination, but only because that wasn’t my job. When we were in our directors groups, I came up with many ideas about what the set could look like and how we could make it easier. Throughout this whole project everyone had to use Collaboration. If we didn’t, this whole thing wouldn’t have been successful. We all had our separate groups, and we all work together in one group. Backstage collaboration was huge. We had to know what we were supposed to be doing, when we needed to come out to live act, and how to put the whole thing together, and achieve all this while speaking in whispers so the audience wouldn’t hear us. Everyone also needed to learn Adaptability. There were small glitches that came up, (like losing Banquo’s puppet) which needed to be dealt with quickly so the whole production wouldn’t come crashing down on our shoulders.
Despite the vast amounts of stress and the loads of things we were all doing at the same time, I feel like I deserve an A- to a B on class time usage. There were times that I had to just step back and calm down so I didn’t hurt anyone. Recording was especially difficult for me but I couldn’t take a break from it because I was Macbeth, and was needed in almost every scene. I believe if we did this project again I would use my class time more wisely and would learn time management.
For the Shakespeare puppet show, we did Macbeth. We started off by reading the play and learning how to speak and understand the unique language. I was a director, so I lead a small group in reading and understanding the play. I also had to cut the script, and got the part Macbeth. The play was very stressful for me because I was doing so much, and I am afraid I became quite unpleasant to be around during the duration of this project. For the most part though, I learned to push through the stress and immerse myself in the unlimited abyss of Shakespeare.
I have been exposed to Shakespeare before, but have never been a part of a project this huge. I have always loved Shakespeare, and I think of it as poetry, or even a song being sung that nobody really knows what it is about. I loved how this project forced us to work together, because if we hadn’t, it wouldn’t have been as successful as it was. The best moment for me during this project was when the feeling of success hit me. It was right after I did my last live scene and was watching Mattie present the last line of the play. I felt so proud and it hit me that we were actually done and that everybody loved it.
On our way to the final presentation, we had many troubles. It was very stressful being one of the people in charge when we were recording. There were people who just wouldn’t listen, or couldn’t hear Shakespeare as poetry. I felt like I was in a constant fight with those who didn’t get the mood of the scene they were doing. I felt like I was stuck in the deepest darkest hole when I found out that we needed to redo a couple of scenes by that point, I was just done and I didn’t think I could record any more. In short, I thought I was going to go insane.
I learned that perseverance is the one Habit of Heart and Mind that is going to get me somewhere. There will be hardships, there will be struggles. We need to learn to persevere through those times to reach the other habits and open our minds. I learned that in order to lead, you need to know how to follow. I say this because to be a good leader, you need to understand the others sides, or at least know how to listen.
Shakespeare has affected people for centuries. I believe this has happened because he sets a base for literature. No matter who you are, if you read or take some part in literature at all, Shakespeare is affecting you in some way. Even now, we use phrases that were plucked from Shakespeare’s plays. How Shakespeare puts words together sounds like music to me, and will always be pried apart and looked at with new eyes. We cannot stop loving him because his plays affect our emotions so drastically, that we will never forget his words.
As bad as I was at those 21st century skills, I was good at the others. I used initiative when I had a vision for the puppet show stage. I talked to Mattie about it, and when that didn’t work, I talked to Sonya about what artwork we could use to make the stage more elaborate. Effective communication was used when I needed to cut the script. Shakespeare is awful to cut, and we all had different ideas on what lines should go. I wasn’t as strong at Curiosity and Imagination, but only because that wasn’t my job. When we were in our directors groups, I came up with many ideas about what the set could look like and how we could make it easier. Throughout this whole project everyone had to use Collaboration. If we didn’t, this whole thing wouldn’t have been successful. We all had our separate groups, and we all work together in one group. Backstage collaboration was huge. We had to know what we were supposed to be doing, when we needed to come out to live act, and how to put the whole thing together, and achieve all this while speaking in whispers so the audience wouldn’t hear us. Everyone also needed to learn Adaptability. There were small glitches that came up, (like losing Banquo’s puppet) which needed to be dealt with quickly so the whole production wouldn’t come crashing down on our shoulders.
Despite the vast amounts of stress and the loads of things we were all doing at the same time, I feel like I deserve an A- to a B on class time usage. There were times that I had to just step back and calm down so I didn’t hurt anyone. Recording was especially difficult for me but I couldn’t take a break from it because I was Macbeth, and was needed in almost every scene. I believe if we did this project again I would use my class time more wisely and would learn time management.
For the Shakespeare puppet show, we did Macbeth. We started off by reading the play and learning how to speak and understand the unique language. I was a director, so I lead a small group in reading and understanding the play. I also had to cut the script, and got the part Macbeth. The play was very stressful for me because I was doing so much, and I am afraid I became quite unpleasant to be around during the duration of this project. For the most part though, I learned to push through the stress and immerse myself in the unlimited abyss of Shakespeare.
I have been exposed to Shakespeare before, but have never been a part of a project this huge. I have always loved Shakespeare, and I think of it as poetry, or even a song being sung that nobody really knows what it is about. I loved how this project forced us to work together, because if we hadn’t, it wouldn’t have been as successful as it was. The best moment for me during this project was when the feeling of success hit me. It was right after I did my last live scene and was watching Mattie present the last line of the play. I felt so proud and it hit me that we were actually done and that everybody loved it.
On our way to the final presentation, we had many troubles. It was very stressful being one of the people in charge when we were recording. There were people who just wouldn’t listen, or couldn’t hear Shakespeare as poetry. I felt like I was in a constant fight with those who didn’t get the mood of the scene they were doing. I felt like I was stuck in the deepest darkest hole when I found out that we needed to redo a couple of scenes by that point, I was just done and I didn’t think I could record any more. In short, I thought I was going to go insane.
I learned that perseverance is the one Habit of Heart and Mind that is going to get me somewhere. There will be hardships, there will be struggles. We need to learn to persevere through those times to reach the other habits and open our minds. I learned that in order to lead, you need to know how to follow. I say this because to be a good leader, you need to understand the others sides, or at least know how to listen.
Shakespeare has affected people for centuries. I believe this has happened because he sets a base for literature. No matter who you are, if you read or take some part in literature at all, Shakespeare is affecting you in some way. Even now, we use phrases that were plucked from Shakespeare’s plays. How Shakespeare puts words together sounds like music to me, and will always be pried apart and looked at with new eyes. We cannot stop loving him because his plays affect our emotions so drastically, that we will never forget his words.