Macbeth 2.0

In this project, we had to first read the play Macbeth, by William Shakespeare. After reading the play, we had to summarize it in a three minute video. But there was one catch. It had to be a modern version. In my group (click on their names for links to their DPs) were Brenna, Juan Ramon and Camille. Our original idea was to make a trailer for Survivor, but then we decided that we did not have the resources to accomplish that. So, we decided to make a parody of Jerry Springer, dubbed “Larry Dinger”.

    For inspiration, we watched many clips of the Jerry Springer show (which I probably will get in trouble if I post them here). Then, we all wrote the script together. It was simple and short. Like the Jerry Springer show, we wanted our acting to also be very bad. Some obstacles we had to overcome were to get some props and costumes, because we had very little material to work with. To overcome this, we made our own costumes and just went with it.

    Something I learned about Macbeth is that it is easily relatable to modern times. Macbeth is all about greed and power. Did someone say “Wall Street”? To be a successful story-teller, you must relate to your audience. If you don’t make the audience understand, the story will not make any sense. Basically, you can’t show “Paranormal Activity” to toddlers, they won’t understand. I don’t feel I learned much about myself in this project. I know I work well in groups, and I tend to work well under pressure and time crunch.

    A sample from our script:

MAC
Upon my head they placed a fruitless crown, and put a barren scepter in my gripe, thence to be wrench’d with an un-lineal hand, no son of mine succeeding.
BETH
Hey, you were the one always listening to those filthy hags!

This relates to Macbeth by showing how Macbeth thinks that Lady Macbeth forced him into his corruption. However, she disagrees. Macbeth is referring to the Witches when he says “they”.
    The final concept of our video is a parody of The Jerry Springer Show, called “The Larry Dinger Show” where Lady Macbeth and Macbeth duke it out. This relates to the original play, with the killing, greed and power, but we put in a twist: Lady Macbeth cheated on Macbeth with Banquo, and had a daughter!

    All in all, our video was very successful. It was done on schedule, and we used many different ways to prove our point, by the use of humor, and changing moods. This movie was a success! Thanks to my partners, Juan Ramon, Brenna and Camille.