Branagh

Branagh: Crowd is present but King speaks privatley and more importantly confidentially with his wife and husband. When Hamlet is speaking to Gurtruide in the far you can see the gaurds facing forward and not intruding on Hamlet’s priacy, showing respect for the King. King is colse and trying to comfort Hamlet. He is speaking directly to him. The crowd not being in the frame with the kind during private conversation empasises the respect. the kind asks the crowd to clap for Hamlet when he says that they should be his father. They do and clap out of respect for both. The crowd also clears out with KIng + G but two people go up to Hamlet at the end to acknowledge him. 

Olivier

Olivier: Crowd is memorized by the Queen, not even their conversation is private. Everybody is staring at them. Very focused. The King is not even in the frame. They are off to the side of the crowd. The King is in the middl of the crowd. He rises to speak to them, not Hamlet. It is like he is trying to humiliate Hamlet. His power is shown when they all focus on him. He also has a pompous attitude amplified by the sheepish attitude of the crowd. When he says the line “and think of us as of a father” is the first time that the King looks in Hamlet’s direction. The crowd applauds for Claudius’ approval, not in supporting Hamlet. Everyone clears out after him and does not even acknowledge that Hamlet is there. They are there solely for the King. 

Thesis + Topic Sentences

Thesis: Olivier and Branagh explores the effects of a public social setting which emphasizes King Claudius' power while Zeffirelli explore the effects of a private social setting and how it deducts from it.

Topic Sentence 1: The court praises  the King with respect and admiration amplifying his power.  

Topic Sentence 2: Without a present crowd, King Claudius' power is not portrayed. 

HAMLET ESSAY

Private V. Public and how it affects the King's power.

Mel Gibson - without a crowd the King does not have power. He has nobody to impress and nobody sucks up to him.

**- makes clap for King.

**- makes clap for Hamlet.

Olivier

Olivier 

Old fashioned + Public

Gertruide connects with Hamlet [Edipus] - kisses him on the lips, stands above him showing  her power, constantly making eye contact with him even when she moves to be leveled with Claudius  until she gets dragged away by Claudius

Claudius talks to the court and does not make eye intact with Hamlet until he sais "us as a father", he talks in a loud voice and attacks Hamlet about college, it is clear that he is evil

Hamlet doesn't make eye contact with anyone, soliloquy is thoughts which is harder to gage his underlying emotions 

Gertruide

Gertruide comes off as a pathetic character. Shortly after her husband dies she is so unphased by it that she marries her brother in law and feels no sympathy for her son. She should be mourning with him not telling him to stop. She does whatever her husband says and is silenced as a women.

iPads in English

When you look into a senior English class and see them all on iPads you may be in awe. You're overwhelmed by the sleek looks and forward 21st century thinking. But Im inside that classroom struggling to keep up with the class because it takes twice as long to highlight and annotate on the iPad. I liked it when I could jot down ideas as they came to me now I'm scrolling and clicking on things I didn't even know existed. I hate that my annotations don't always show in Kno. Although I'm giving reading in Kno a try...I've yet to be impressed. 

I understand that its "the future" but I'm content with  paperback books. 

I enjoyed making videos of the proposal scene. It was fun, interactive and allowed me to farmiliarize a scene in a different way. 

Ophelia

Ophelia is a sad character to me. She is sheepish and is being strictly advised by her brother and invaded by her dad. Although I feel in this time period this behavior was permitted and acceptable it is still sad that she does not necessarily have a say. It is also like she is a little girl hearing that fairytales don't happen. Obviously many girls learn that but it's not like somebody has to tell them. The men in her life flat out say that Hamlet will marry for his best interest and not for love.  

Important - Act 1

Like all Shakespeare I think knowing the characters and keeping the story clear is important. It is also very important to look up words that may be unfarmilliar to you.

Character's language is very important like the way that Clauidus speaks to Hamlet about his fathers death. When I read Macbeth, understanding the meaning and purpose of the syntax and diction helped me understand the plot. I believe it'll be the same for Hanlet.