Monday, April 25, 2011

Romeo and Juliet values


The Romeo and Juliet project taught many skills and ideas that will be useful later on in life.  The idea of interactive learning has proven that learning new things can be fun. Choosing an alternative to reading helped students grasp the concepts of Romeo and Juliet in an original way. This new learning method also helped students remember the concepts they learned in a more lasting way. Another skill that the students learned from the Romeo and Juliet project was communication skills. By being on their own, the students had to communicate with other students to decide dates and times to film. The skill of communication is important because later on in life the students will need to be able to communicate with their supervisor and or fellow co-workers. Another ability learned from the Romeo and Juliet project was the importance of memories. The memories from the project could help the students learn from their mistakes. One last skill that the Romeo and Juliet project taught is responsibility. Responsibility is the most important skill because every job or task a student takes will require responsibility. It is up to the student to be responsible and fulfill that job. Hands on experience, communication skills, memories, and responsibility are some values that were learned through the Romeo and Juliet project. The Romeo and Juliet project showed that there is value  and important lesson learned from classroom projects.
The Romeo and Juliet project gave students a hand’s on experience. Instead of students reading the novel in class, the new approach to learning helped students understand the concepts and ideas of Romeo and Juliet. Learning interactively has also shown to increase the memory length; while learning from a lecture or a book can cause a student to forget the concept easily. Learning hands on also gave the students a chance to have fun. Traditionally, school is thought to be a place where everything that happens is structured and rote. The Romeo and Juliet project showed that learning can be educational and an enjoyable experience. Although the Romeo and Juliet project gave the students a hand’s on experience, it also gave the students the important skill of communication.
Communication is one valuable skill that was taught through the Romeo and Juliet project. It was important for all of the cast members and crew to communicate with each other during the project. The students had to work on their lines, schedule productions and deal with mishaps with filming.  If the cast had not communicated with each other, the entire production could of be ruined. The Romeo and Juliet project showed that when communication is not present, everything becomes much more complicated than before. For example, when certain actors decide not to show up to film a scene, parts from the original script are cut because of the actor’s absence.  This changes the director’s plan and creates more work for everyone. Communication is a very important skill that students will use throughout their life. Although communication is a valuable skill, the idea of memories is also significant.
Memories are what help people to learn from their mistakes. Without memories, people have no sense in knowing what’s right from wrong. The Romeo and Juliet project helped the students learn that putting on a production takes a lot of work. Later in life, if a student were to work for someone in the movie industry, the student would remember what mistakes they made in previous productions. This concept would also work for people who are not involved in the movie industry. For example, the writers of the production learned how to improve their writing from the experience of writing Romeo and Juliet. With practice comes perfect. Memories are an important part of life, and they also help to improve a person. Even though memories played a part in the production, communication was the most important part in Romeo and Juliet.
One of the many lessons that the Romeo and Juliet project taught is responsibility. Responsibility is a life lesson, and sooner or later everyone will need to understand the importance of it. Each student was given a responsibility that they needed to fulfill in order to put on the Romeo and Juliet production. For example, actors were given the responsibility to show up when the directors need them. Without every actor there, the production would be delayed and potentially ruined. Responsibility is important as an adult. If a person chooses to not go to work, they are jeopardizing their own job. The Romeo and Juliet project showed this to an extent. If a student chooses not to do their job in the production, they receive a bad grade and everyone was effected. The Romeo and Juliet project showed that choosing to not be responsible can result in consequences. Overall, the Romeo and Juliet project taught that responsibility is something that students will be faced with all throughout their lives.
From this project the students learned many skills and concepts that will help them later  in life. One of the ideas the students were given is the opportunity to learn interactively. This new way to learn helped the students enjoy and learn the story of Romeo and Juliet. Another skill that the students were taught was communication. The Romeo and Juliet project gave the students an opportunity to communicate with other students. Communication skills are necessary for every person to have. A third idea that the students were given is memories.  Memories give students a chance to learn from their mistakes. Memories are important because without them, there wouldn’t be a way to get better at anything. One last skill that the Romeo and Juliet project gave was responsibility. The students learned that responsibility is what makes a production. If everyone completes their responsibility, most of the time things go how planned. Responsibility is also important when taking a job. Overall, The Romeo and Juliet project was a good experience that showed there is value in classroom projects.






Thursday, April 14, 2011

LAST BLOG POST!

The Romeo and Juliet project taught many lessons. I learned that everyone has their own responsibility, and if that person doesn’t fulfill their responsibility, everything can go wrong. For example, if an actor doesn’t show up to film a scene, the whole scene can be ruined. Unfortunately, we learned that lesson the hard way. I also learned that memorizing lines is actually easier than it seems. When I tried out for a role in the movie I was very worried about being able to memorize my lines. To my surprise, I knew almost all of my lines! Lastly, I learned that the project helped me learn the real tale of Romeo and Juliet. Being able to act out the different scenes really helped me understand what was going on and why Romeo and Juliet is considered the best love story. Overall, I learned many things from the Romeo and Juliet project.

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Saturday Filming

On Saturday, I filmed Scene 1 of Act 3. There were some absences, so we were only able to film parts of the scene. I am not sure when we will end up filming the rest of the scene. Scene one is the major fight scene. Mercutio and Tybalt fight, and both result in death. Benvolia is not a huge part of the scene, but she does have some lines. This was my last scene, the rest of the play focuses mainly on Romeo and Juliet. I've had so much fun acting in the movie, it has taught me many things about acting that I didn't know before. For example, I learned that to film just one scene it usually takes around two hours. I also learned that memorizing lines is actually alot easier for me than I thought. At first I was really stressed out about knowing my lines, I was nervous that people would make fun of me if I messed up. Truth is, all of the actors were very understanding about it. To my suprise, I only forgot my lines a couple of times. Overall, I am very glad that I was an actor in Romeo and Juliet!

Friday, April 1, 2011

Last Day of Filming Tommarow

Tommarow is my last day of filming Romeo and Juliet. Although I am excited to get back to my normal schedule, I will definatley miss acting with students that I dont regularly get to see. We will be filming Act 3, Scene 1. I have very few lines. The scene is when Mercutio and Tybalt fight to the death. In the end, both characters die.
The overall expirience I've had has been amazing. I never knew that I could be an actor, let alone I had never had tried to be one. Acting in the play has also been a great way for me to become more comfortable in public speaking. Public speaking is something that I will have to do my entire life, acting in Romeo and Juliet has made me actually like being the center of attention.

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

The end of Act 1

Yesterday we filmed Act 1 scenes 4 and 5. Scene 4 took place in Cleminson Hall. In this scene, Benvolia and Mercutio were trying to convince Romeo to go into the dance. Although it took some begging, they eventually get Romeo to go in and dance. End of scene. In Scene 5, Romeo and Juliet meet. This is the most romantic scene in the play. I only had one line in this scene because its one of the only scenes that the two are together. Filming yesterday was a ton of fun!

Thursday, March 24, 2011

Benvolias Going To Film Tommarow!

Today I am working really hard to memorize my lines for act 1 scenes 1,2 and 3. Tommarow I will be filming at my directors house at 5:30 pm. I have around 30 lines that I will be saying throughout these scenes. I am feeling stressed, nervous, and excited! As I've recieved more lines for the play, the more I realize that I am very grateful to have recieved Benvolia. She will be a really fun person to play because of her personality. It has also become clear that Benvolia is laid back, funny, reckless, and a great friend. In scene 1, the Capulets and Montagues are about to have another civil brawl. Benvolia tries to break up the fight, but he does not phase either. An officer shows up and expells the kids from school. Benvolia then explains to the officer that he wasnt apart of the brawl. Later on in the scene Benvolia talks to Lady Montague, who explains to Benvolia that Romeo is depressed. Eventually Benvolia finds Romeo and finds out Romeo is in love with a girl named Rosaline. In scene 2, Bevoila decides that it is now her duty to find Romeo a new girl. Benvolia and Romeo sneak into a school dance at Capulet High (there schools rival). These are the two scenes I will be making an appearance in, and I am so excited!

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Memorizing Lines

Today I am in the midst of memorizing my lines for act 3 scene 1. I am beggining to recieve more lines for my part, which I need to start rehearsing. I am also working on developing my characters personality. In my view, I see Bevolia as a tough girl. She likes to fight and hang around boys rather than girls. I am very thankful for the writers choosing to change the lines to modern day. I know that I will have an easier time memorizing this way. I cant wait to start acting! :)

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Benvolias New Lines!

Yay! I just recieved my first set of lines for Act 3 Scene 1! I cant wait to start acting my lines out. Benvolias lines are written really well and I'd like to thank the writers for doing such a wonderful job! Reading the lines through, I can tell that Benvolias personality is a tough girl. I can relate to her because when I was younger I was always the tomboy. I played baseball, and all of my friends were boys. I think that Benvolia being tough will be easy to act out. I cant wait to get more lines from the writers! If everyone puts in effort, I know the play will be a success!

Friday, March 11, 2011

Romeo And Juliet Project Goals

Being an actor in the play, i am very excited to get to work on memorizing my lines. The play will be a good expirience for me because it will help me to become more confident infront of crowds. Although  I am nervous, I know that I can do anything when I put my mind to it. My role in the play is Benvolia. Originally, my character was a man, but due to a shortage on male actors, we switched Benvolio to Benvolia. Benvolia is one of Romeos best friends. Over the next 6 weeks I hope to put on the best performance I can. Each week I will be writing 2 blog posts. I also will be memorizing my lines, which will be a challenge also. I cant wait to get started on this project!