Hey guys, welcome back to another reflective blog post. 2022 in PLP has been dedicated to creating our own mini film based off of Shakespeare’s “Macbeth”, set in the 1950s during the Cold War. Our driving question for the project was “How might we craft a compelling vision of “Macbeth” set in the 1950’s?” This project sounded interesting but still challenging from the beginning, and now that we are at the end of the project, I have a lot to reflect on, so lets get into it.

We started the production of this film by applying for roles in the film itself. Not acting roles, but roles that were focused around creating the film, like director or producer. I think that if I were to pick one thing out from this project that I would want to re-do, it would be what role I applied for. I applied for the role of assistant director or script coordinator. I ended up getting the role of script coordinator, but I really wish I tried for one of the main roles like producer or director. One of those prominent roles would have been a challenge of course, but it would’ve also allowed me to step out of my comfort zone and try something new, while also showcasing my skills to the class. 

The competency I chose to focus on for this project was the Collaboration competency, at a profile of 4. The role I was given, script coordinator, allowed me to collaborate to a certain degree, but choosing one of those main roles would have been a much better idea. 

Something that I did do to step out of my comfort zone was actually try out for an acting role. I was given the role of Banquo, Macbeth’s best friend who he ends up murdering, so I was excited to try something new that I normally don’t enjoy. I’ve always hated acting, but this time I actually really enjoyed taking on the role of Banquo. I almost wish I tried for the role even more and taken it much more seriously because I had so much fun doing it. Now I do not think I’m a good actor; I will probably be cringing when we see the final film, but it was really fun to try something that I normally would not want to try. The role of acting also allowed me to work on my Collaboration competency even more by interacting with the other actors and working together with them to try to create the scene our director wanted. 

I’d say the work that I did my best on this project was the “Act Quest”. I’m not exactly sure why it’s called an “Act Quest”, essentially our task was to choose one of three quotes from “Macbeth” and write about how this quote can be connected to the plot, the characters, and the theme of the play. The quote that I chose was:

“…then prophet-like
They hailed him father to a line kings.
Upon my head they placed a fruitless crown
And put a barren sceptre in my gripe
Thence to be wrenched with an unlineal hand,
No son of mine succeeding.”

My first attempt at my act quest was far off. Something that I had trouble with was letting the character development bleed into my explanation of the theme that can be applied to the play, and also using examples that were not part of the play itself to explain the theme of this quote. After all, if it is the theme of “Macbeth”, I should be able to explain why using the play itself. So I went back, revised my approach to how this quote represented the theme of “Macbeth”, and attempted my Act Quest once again. If you guys want to read it I’ve posted it on my blog.

This was a good project for me overall. I really enjoyed acting in a prominent role. Like I’ve said, it was a good chance to step out of my comfort zone and work with others to create our directors image. If I were to do this project again, I’d ask for a bigger role in production. If I had that role I would have so many opportunities to work on collaborating with others. It was a really good project and I can’t wait to see how the movie turns out. If you want to see it as well, come back later to this post. Ill probably have it posted soon!