Directors Journal: The Tempest

Act 1: Scene 1

If I were to direct the first scene of act 1, I would use loud noises for storms to create an effect that the storm is dangerous. But at the same time, there will be shouting by Prospero, who is the person causing the storm. The crew of the ship will be slipping over and pushed over by the strong surges of waves that come over board. Some men will go over board. When the acting starts, by the main characters, if they are wearing hats, they will be holding their heads so that their hats won't blow away from the storm. Boatswain will be talking in a loud but obedient voice to the master. and when Alonso talks to Boatswain, when he says, "Good Boatswain, have care. Where’s the Master?" he will say it in a annoyed sort of voice. Boatswain replies with a worrying voice saying, "I pray, keep below".

Act1: Scene 2

When Miranda talks to Prospero, She needs to sound like she is empathising for the people who died and annoyed that it is another ship wrecked my Prospero. Prospero has to make it sound like he is doing everything in protection of Miranda and for her solely. Miranda needs to act rebellious like, as she doesn't like things being kept from her or taking orders from one another. Prospero needs to sound proud of what he used to be as the Duke of Milan and feel distraught about losing his title, land, power and wife. when talking about his brothers, he should speak as if he disposes them. Miranda has to sound as if she is flattering Prospero when he is telling her about what he used to be. When Prospero talks about his brother being so lucky about having the King of Naples pay homage to him he has to sound envious and look as if he has a deeper meaning in his eyes and a rage from within. When Prospero and Miranda are sent off in a terrible ship he in a way expects to get a better ship and what he got has to be an insult so he has to act it out like so. Amanda has to sound genuinely curious about why he raised the tempest. Prospero has to speak of Gonzalo with fondness and maybe whisper a quiet thank you or a small prayer for his safe keeping. When Ariel enters it could either adopt a mocking tone or a serious devoted tone. Ariel has to say how he wrecked the boat excitedly as if it was fun. Ariel has to beg Prospero for liberty and sound as if he really wants it. Prospero has to start to get angry at Ariel and think that Ariel does not appreciate what he has done for him. Ariel has to talk as if he has just had a very nice surprise and be very energetic.Prospero should speak with confidence when he talks about Caliban and the blue-eyed hag. In lines 302 - 305, when Prospero says, "Like a nymph o'th'sea... with diligence," Prospero should speak as if he is aggravated towards Ariel like he wants to get rid of him, but then goes to a calm voice when waking Miranda from her sleep. When Caliban talks about how the island is his, he should speak in a demanding but light hearted voice, as if to annoy Prospero. In line 362, Caliban needs to speak in a menacing tone, and laughing evilly afterwards, after all, Caliban is ported as an evil, monster like person, when Caliban says this, Prospero should quickly shout in annoyance. When Ferdinand enters, he should walk in condfused and looking around for the music being played, he should also sound confused and annoyed that he doesn’t know where the music is being played when he is speaking. When Ferdinand asks Miranda to be his Maid, he should sound desperate, as if lust is upon him already. But when Miranda says yes, he should sound pleased and surprised, and maybe stutter a bit. As Ferdinand talks about the Duke of Milan, Prospero should quickly butt in with annoyance and jealousy in his tone, as if he was the rightful Duke for Milan. When Prospero accuses Ferdinand of being a spy, Prospero should sound sly as if he knows for sure of what he is, or that he is playing with him, and what he could do to him, lock him up and question him. More over, Ferdinand should reply with urgency and assurance that he is no spy, as if he is worries they have caught him red handed. Prospero, now more convinced than ever, wants to trial him and lock him up, he should sound urgent and worried, as a father he would want to protect his daughter. Miranda, should sound offended that Prospero is accusing Ferdinand of being a traitor, for she has only just been asked to be Ferdinand's maid, she should sound more angry than offended, and take a gasp of air in as she is about to speak to give an affect of shock. Prospero has to sound very commanding to both Ferdinand and Ariel for they are almost like guests to his island, also due to the fact that no one can help them on the island, so Prospero can speak to them in what ever way he likes.

Challenging Authority

1. Prospero accuses Ferdinand of wanting to take the island from him.I have chosen this challenge of authority as most important as Ferdinand is a very important person, he is the Prince of Naples, with this accusation, it may start some kind of war between Prospero and Ferdinand.


2. The Boatswain orders the king and courtiers to leave the deck.I feel this should be the second most important accusation, or order, as the Boatswain is talking to the crew of Prince Ferdinand of Naples, this could cause Ferdinand to order his men to kill him.


3. Ariel and Caliban questioning Prospero's rights to keep them as servants.This isn't as important as the two above, as they are both acts of war or death, but this, in some ways, is just as important, because this could also account for death, as Caliban and Ariel question the right for Prospero to enslave them to him on this island, this is an act of rebellion.


4. Prospero recounts how he was overthrown by his brother Antonio.This accusation is the least important, its hardly an accusation, but just Prospero whining about how he was overthrown by his brother years ago.

Imprisonment

Ariel suffers imprisonment and confinement because he is ordered and lead by Prospero, however, he is allowed to be free once he's has redeemed himself as Prospero set him free from when he was trapped in a tree. We feel most sympathetic towards Ariel because he has been trapped in a tree on an island for so long until set free by Prospero to be enslaved to him until he can redeem himself so that he can bee free is awful. Being trapped in a tree is bad enough, but to be enslaved after straight away after being trapped for so long is not right, its almost dehumanising.

Calliban suffers imprisonment and confinement as he is held prisoner by Prospero

Comparative Analysis

We have been looking at 5 poems with the same theme, in this piece of work, I had to extract two of the poems from the pick of 5 I chose and analyse them with each other, here is my comparative analysis.

Reflection on short video

Nikola Tesla - The Invention of the Lightbulb

Who was in your group?

In my team to create this video was Pablo Munoz, who edited and put the video together and James Verga, who played Nikola Tesla, and I, who played Thomas Edison.

What did you want to achieve?

I wanted to achieve a short story telling the untold story behind the invention of the lightbulb.

Do you think you film was successful?

I think it was quite successful in the way that it got the message across to people that Thomas Edison stole Nikola Teslas' idea on inventing the lightbulb. I could improve on it by making it a bit more serious.

What would you do differently if you did it again?

If i could do this video again, I would do it on the same topic, but I would make it a bit more serious and also a scene on how Tesla died.

Which film from class do you like and why?

My favourite video clip in class from another group is the video based on the riots on Mark Duggan, I like this video most because the video clips were well put together and the music went well in the background and gradually went quieter with a person talking. 

Here is the link to the video

Short Story On Nikola Tesla and Thomas Edison

Here is a link to a short video on Nikola Tesla and Thomas Edison, the untold story.

What I read over Half-Term

Over Half-Term I read a vary of different styles of writing. The most enjoyable to read was the last book in the trilogy of the Hunger Games, called the Mocking Jay, written Suzanne Collins. I found this book very enjoyable and very gripping. It was hard to put down because the story made you read on until you had finished. This last book in its trilogy, The Hunger Games, is about a squad of special soldiers making their way into the Capitol, to try and assassinate the president. However, not all of it went to plan. The other types of styles of writing which I read included restaurant menus, it may not sound interesting but, the types of food were interesting because it was different to the foods back in England. The final types of styles of writing I read were manuals, ranging from instruction manuals in aeroplanes to how to use an object bought from a shop.

Reply to Article on Children Concentration by The Independent

Here is the reply I would write to The Independant to this article on concentration classes for children.

A new law to ban smoking in cars with a child passenger

Here is a link to some of the points used in my newspaper article for smoking in cars with a. Child passenger, and here is the link to the finished product of the newspaper article.

Why television should be abolished

I've just written something on, 'Why television should be abolished'...it's not serious, but I hope it's persuasive.

Is it impossible for man to act without self-interest?

It is impossible for man to act without self-interest because we are always trying to achieve something to either impress others, boast to others, or in general, try to be the best and top at everything. For example, in football, if a bad relationship occurs with a player and his manager or something like that, he will try to score to prove himself, even if his team mate is in a better position. Or even if he does pass, another player may look at this as self interest to prove himself to that team mate that he passes so in future that team mate will pass to him. Another example is in the event of the falling of the two towers when some people chose to save some people they never knew, putting those peoples lives in front of theirs. But when those peoples families were interviewed, they felt it was not heroic, but selfish. They were asked why they felt this, and they said it was selfish because they were putting those strangers in front of them, their family, their son, daughter, trying to be the hero instead of being there for the family that needed them. But if those heroes had just run and got out of the building to get to their families, would the family with the loss of those strangers have thought that what those people did to get to their families think it was selfish? What ever way you look at it, man always has self interest, whether it is to make it to your family, or sacrifice your life to save others, man always has self interest.

However, an alternative way of viewing self interest is in instinct, with instinct, it causes you to act quickly without thinking, for example, in the 9/11 bombing. The definition of compassion is often confused with that of empathy. Empathy, as defined by researchers, is the visceral or emotional experience of another person’s feelings. It is, in a sense, an automatic mirroring of another’s emotion, like tearing up at a friend’s sadness. Altruism is an action that benefits someone else. It may or may not be accompanied by empathy or compassion, for example in the case of making a donation for tax purposes. Although these terms are related to compassion, they are not identical. Compassion often does, of course, involve an empathic response and an altruistic behaviour. However, compassion is defined as the emotional response when perceiving suffering and involves an authentic desire to help. Economists have long argued the contrary, growing evidence shows that, at our core, both human beings and animals have what Dacher Keltner at the University of California, Berkeley, coins a "compassionate instinct." In other words, compassion is a natural and automatic response that has ensured our survival. This suggests that the people in the bombing of 9/11 could have in fact been influenced by compassion, empathising the those people in trapped in the two towers. But could this be to do with all events taken place in life? For example, buying a coffee for a homeless person, not because of self interest, but because of compassion and how you feel sorry for the person, so without thinking, you quickly buy them a coffee.

In conclusion I feel that it is impossible for man to act without self interest because whatever way you look at man doing something, he is doing for self interest, whether it is scoring a goal or just simply cleaning your house, room or apartment. The reasons for why cleaning your room, house or apartment is influenced by self interest is because you are trying to clean it will look nice, smell nicer, and in general look more organised, this is self interest as it is influenced by you, as you want to do it, even if you are told by someone to clean up, even though they are influencing you to do it, its still self interest as you have chosen to go by what that person has said, and why? Maybe because there is a party later or someone is coming round for a friendly visit. However, some actions like in 9/11, or saving one persons life when they are stuck in a building is influenced by compassion and empathy.

Service Learning - Where am I?

We first started off by looking at a person who you feel should be commemorated and why. Everyone looked at their relatives how they have all been successful in history, for example, someones granddad was the second person ever to sail around the whole world. I had nothing like this in my family so I started to research some inventors who's ideas had been stolen and came up with Nikola Tesla. He worked for Thomas Edison and invented the light bulb, however Edison, like many other inventions we think, was stolen. Also he created the first ever radio, but due to his house being burnt down, another inventor, called Guglielmo Marconi invented it before him, it was none as the race for the invention of the radio.

After finding a person who should be commemorated we next had to write the 5 W's how for reporting, where we had to talk about, 'Where' they came from, 'What' they made, 'How' they made it, 'When' they made it, 'Who' they are, and 'Why' they decided to invent for a living.

Our final task for who we should commemorate was to write up a conversation with our person who we should commemorate, so I wrote down an imaginary conversation with Nikola Tesla, it was about me asking him questions like where he came from, what university he came from and its where about's, then going on to what was his most successful invention was and why, how this invention worked and finally going onto how do you feel about not being as well known as you would have hoped.

We finally finished this topic and went onto service learning, our first assignment on this topic was to understand what service learning is, Service learning is a method of teaching that combines classroom instruction with meaningful community service. This form of learning emphasises critical thinking and personal reflection while encouraging a heightened sense of community, civic engagement, and personal responsibility[1].

For our Friday lesson, where we were E-mailed a task from Dr James, our English teacher, the task was to open the attached document and to complete each box on the screen, we were wanted to think hard about every option, the opportunities and challenged that come with writing, say a poem, or a short story.To think hard about what we want to write about and the conversations of the genre, then read more around the subject of the chosen person who think should be commemorated and think about what you are going to write about. However, our teacher covering us decided to give us give us a task of writing a short exciting story. Writing this was great fun and I enjoyed the lesson a lot.

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[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Service-Learning