So this project didn’t go very well. That’s the reality of it, and that’s what we as a class have to live with. I am going to attempt to dissect how we actually failed so completely yet still learned some valuable things.

But even though this project was a complete fireball it’s still has redeeming qualities at its core. In this blog post I’m going to be drilling out those qualities to try to make something salvageable. Now don’t give me wrong, this is not going to be some mile long blog post dissecting every little piece. If you want something like that go over to Marley’s and Luc’s blog because they can write a lot.

So first things first, something that I want to get off my plate. This project is not as crazy an idea as everyone thought. Just look at our own local Bard on the Beach. They’ve been doing what we tried to do for years, successfully I might add. I’ve done about five Shakespeare plays at Bard and they’ve all been set throughout history. But those plays actually get done. I think one of the differences is that they still kept the language. A big problem that people had with our project was that some of the lines didn’t make sense or were awkward to say. I feel if we had kept the old English in the movie, even though it might’ve been harder for the audience to understand, it would have still gotten the message across better.

Another problem we had as a group was with the dependability of people. Life interfered and our project seemed to be at the bottom of the list. A schedule that everybody follows no matter what is needed and if for some reason someone cannot show up everything didn’t fall into chaos. But we worked around it and ultimately managed to move forward with the project by recasting certain parts. The third and final difference between Bard and school was sets.

 

 

The prop department did a very good job of making the sets for the movie but, we bit off a bit more than we could chew. I feel it could’ve been more productive if we could use an old building or an old looking setting instead of spending an hour and a half making a tent. This is why I pitched the Raven. It’s an oldish building that looks like it would’ve been around at the time. It also had the props that we needed already inside. This was more similar to Bard where they had the stage set up for another play and yet we were able to use the set to our advantage in our play.

 

With all the things that went wrong with this movie people tend to forget the things we did well. We actually did a pretty good job with props, costumes, and makeup. The ghosts looked amazing with all the blood and burns. Also, I can’t forget about what we had in the tents; medical supplies, a stretcher, a sleeping bag, ammo crates, guns, knives, helmets, and an axe. Ya, it was pretty good indeed.

For all the faults this movie had it still was a valuable experience. We learned that we work better in small groups and we now know more about our individual strengths and weaknesses. Also, I can’t dismiss the fact that some of the scenes we got look awesome. And hey, it’s better than a puppet pal. (This link is how bad it could have been.)