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Midsummer Night's Dream Shakespeare

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Scene Log Matrix May 10th, 2010





Questions for Film March 30th 2010



Creative Essay Final Draft March 24th 2010



Ideas for Creative Essay March 22nd 2010



Letter to Kor Apirana - Persuasive Essay Final March 16th 2010



Stuff for Chapters 4 to 6 March 1st 2010









Questions from West Side Story Movie:

Opening:

a) What happens in the opening moment? After showing the high angle of a bird's eyeview of New York City, the camera zooms into a park where you see Riff and his gang of jets snapping their fingers to a music that is playing in the background. You get the feeling that they own the place. You see them slowly exiting the playground and start dancing down the street. They do what the want because they are the leaders of the West Side.

b) What mood does this set? I felt happy for the Jets, because it looked like even though they only had a small sode of town, they acted like they owned the whole world. Of course, though this is great, it is almost obvious that something similair to a rivalry force will try to bring them down.

c) How does the camera, with shot selection and editing, suggest this mood? Give details of three or four different shots. The camera zooms around the whole West Side to give you a false impression of all that Jets own. Their are times when it is not zooming around, and at those times it is focused on the gang dancing.

d) What place do sound and dialogue have in this scene? Whenever the Jets jump up in the air, the music goes to an unusual high, only to come back down when they hit the floor. Most of the dialogue is essentially some mocking phrases between characters of the Jets and characters of the Shraks.

Important Scene:

a) Choose an important scene. What happens? I think that the most important scene is the meeting of Maria and Toni at the dance. The moment they see each other, everything else gets blurred out to show that they are only focused about each other. You see again the effects of rivalry when Bernardo breaks them up and is furious that his younger sister is dancing with one of them. He quickly tells Maria to go home, and that takes the hate between the Sharks and the Jets on step higher.

b) Why is it important? First love is something that does not always last long, but for the time you are with the person, you are incredibly in love with him. There is almost nothing that will stop Toni and Maria from being tgether. Nothing except death, and that might always happen.

c)What mood does this present? It almost feels like a kind of fuzzy day on a summer's afternoon. So many things you can hear and see, but only one thing that you can concentrate on. The camera does a blur out effect on all the other dancers, so that everyone can only be focused on them. When you see they are so in love, you can actually feel calm.

d) How does the camera, with shot selection and editing, suggest this mood? Give details of three or four different shots. The camera zooms in on Maria showing a close-up when she is tightly hugging Toni. It blurs out the other dancers when they are dancing to make them feel more important than all the others, almost to show that there love is stronger than everyone else's love.

e) What place do sound and dialogue have in this scene? Toni and Maria sing each other a few songs of romance to show their passion for each other, and also because it is a musical movie. The music sounds anxious when Maria and Toni meet, because Toni keeps on being to loud, and when that happens, the music also gets loud.

f) What effect did the scene have on you? I do not want to seem pecksih, but I really thought the scene was really cheesy. On the contrary, the music was very nice along with the songs. As I found one part better than the other, the music almost did up for the cheesy scenes, making it possibly romantic.

Character:

Choose an important character.

a) What aspects of this character do the director pick out? Mention use of CAMERA in achieving this. I chose Riff for my important character. He has a strong sense of leadership, and you can see that the Jets follow him blindly. He has a classic 1970-80 clothing style, which usually are strong yellow. He is very tough in his opinion of the Sharks, and is willing to do anything to take control of the West Side. How he values his friends is second to none.

b) Describe three scenes this character is in, and say what aspects of his/her character are shown in each. At the dance, he forces himself to play the game proposed by the teacher, in order to get together with the sharks. This shows that he can think before he acts, which is not a characteristic all of his team has. When Baby John is discouraged by the idea of using weapons at the rumble, Riff encourages him by saying that no matter what they will pull, they would through that back at them. Guns mans guns, knives means knives, and in the end the exchange is life for life. At the rumble, he fights back Bernardo when he is attacking Toni, even though it ruins his honor, he sticks up for his friend. Riff is the ideal guy in the story in my opinion.

Themes/ Ideas:

What are three main ideas this film dealt with? Forbidden Love between Toni and Maria Racism involving the Porto Ricans and the American white people Prejudice

What did the film make you think about them?

More Shots:

Describe three shots that you found especially effective. Say what affect was achieved. The shot that effected me the most was when Chino shot Toni, and he fell on Maria, making it look like a hug, but you knew everything was over. A shot that also effected me was when Riff died. He put his hands up in the air and gave his knife to Toni, showing him that he wanted him to kill Bernardo. When Maria and Toni meet at Maria's house, the hug and everything gets blurry. It made you know that their love as real.

Ending:

It was so sad and I think that it was done on purpose so that as little was said at possible. Too sad for words. I was also very said that so many people had had their lives ruined.

When they pick up Toni together, showing that they have stepped over the problem of racism. When Maria screams at the policeman, and he does not respond, showing that he understands the desperateness in the situation.

Second Character:

Action was very different from Riff, always thinking with hisfists, and always wanting to rush to a harsh physical conclusion. He always fidgeted and always had a habit of saying phrases like "let's fight".

Unit 1: The Outsiders



Unit 2: Animal Farm



Unit 3: The Boy in the Striped Pajamas




 * January 14th**

The Analytical Paragraph




 * December 15th**

The Narrative Essay about Pavel




 * November 17th**

The Paragraph of the Napoleon vs. Snowball Outline



Here it is, finished as promised!


 * November 17th**

The Outline of the Napoleon vs. Snowball Paragraph



Got it on, and my paragraph will be here soon too! Don't worry... I mean today!


 * November 10th**

The Fable of the Grumpy Pig and the Hungry Hound



I finally finished it, took me so long...


 * November 10th**

Outsiders Reflection Questions Chapter 9 - 12



Sorry, I forgot to put it on a long time ago... it is here now though


 * November 10th**

Vocab Builders 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8



Sorry that it is so much... well at least it is here!


 * November 5th**

Animal Farm Chapters 1-4 Reflection Questions



The four grades are at the bottom of the reflection questions... please do not look unless you are Ms. Nickell.