METAMORPHOSIS: Transformation in King Lear

One of the greatest aspects of King Lear, to me, is the gradual change we see in Lear himself throughout the course of the play. I have been doing a lot of thinking about Lear's character, probably because I can relate to him in some ways, especially right now in my life. While I was thinking about that, I was reflecting again on my post about Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium. I am a huge movie score fan, and the score to this film in particular. The song that plays during the scene I posted and just after, to me, perfectly describes King Lear. Here it is:

As I Imagined It: Part 2

So, I continued on with the character design for more of the characters. This first one is Duke Frederick, the father of Celia and usurper of his brother's (Duke Senior) throne. He is a pretty evil guy for most of the play, with a violent temperament and an angry disposition. He banishes his own brother and niece (Rosalind) from the kingdom. Later, however, after he launches an army to find his brother, he meets a religious man in the forest and immediately changes his ways. For the design, though, I wanted to depict him as a villain... they are more fun to draw. :)

Duke Senior, Frederick's brother and Rosalind's father, is quite the opposite. His rightful throne is usurped by his brother, and yet he does not put up much of a fight. He is exiled to the forest, with a few loyal men, and yet he is content. He makes the most of everything life gives him. I really liked that about his character, so I wanted him to have the appearance of a happy, contended man. One of those really optimistic people you wish you could be like.

Jaques is one of Duke Senior's loyal companions who goes with him to the forest. He is a very submissive and introverted person, who doesn't seem to ever fully participate in anything. His more of the type to watch than to join in. In the end, when Duke Senior and the others return to court, he stays behind to live a life of contemplation and joins a monastery. I wanted his character to appear very serious like he is.

Touchstone is a clown/jester who accompanies Celia and Rosalind on their journey. He's a bit of a weird character... most of what he says is pretty full of innuendo. And he doesn't seem to have quite the quick wit that Rosalind has. However, I wanted to portray him more as just a comic relief... something endearingly whimsical. Even though that's not exactly how Shakespeare has written him, I think that is how I would portray him in an animated film. Just the quirky, funny, clumsy sidekick.




So, there's the rest! Unless I decide to go add a few others later. There ya go!

As I Imagined It

So, I decided that  I thought it would be really interesting to design how I think the characters in As You Like It would look if they were animated. So, naturally, I started with Rosalind. I wanted her to have a spunky, sortof tough feel while still being beautiful and genuine. After several designs, this is the one so far that I liked best:

I wanted the big eyes to give the sweet, cartoony feel, but the rest of her to give the "heroine" personality that she is so known for in the play. She is independent, adventurous, strong-willed, clever and kind. I wanted to wrap all of her personality as best as I could. She needed to have the feel that she could be brave and tough, (especially considering she dresses and acts like a boy for the majority of the play) but also be beautiful and good-hearted. I feel like this design came closest to what I had in mind, making her feel feminine and yet like a heroin. 

Next, I designed Orlando, Rosalind's lover. He is the youngest son of Sir Rowland de Bois, and has lived his life without the education or training he should have. Still, he is attractive and sees everything positively, including himself despite all he has missed out on. He is kind and heroic, as he later saves his brother (who is the reason he received no education) from a lioness, proving him to be good-natured. He doesn't seem quite the match for Rosalind's wit or intelligence, but he definitely is a good match for her. So I wanted to make him look the sensitive, caring, but strong guy that he is: Rosalind's opposite.

Next, I wanted to create Celia, Rosalind's cousin and loyal best friend. She is defined by her sweetness and loyalty. She follows Rosalind into exile and is completely devoted to her. When she eventually meets Oliver, she becomes utterly devoted to him as well. Her personality is one of love and sincerity, and almost overbearingly so. She has deeply rooted emotions which drive her. I wanted to convey this sweet, intuitive girl who relies so heavily on what she feels, and this is what I came up with.

Oliver is next. He is the lover of Celia, and Orlando's elder brother. He is something of a villain, it would seem at first. He denies his brother the education and luxuries of a nobleman. He even admits that he hates Orlando for no real reason. He goes to great lengths to put give his brother grief and ensure his downfall. Later, however, he gets lost in the forest and is miserable after being employed to find his missing brother. While there, he is attacked by a lion, and is saved by Orlando. This act changes Oliver's entire outlook, and he becomes a loving and better person. He falls for Celia as well, which is saying something about his change too because at the time he believes her only to be a shepherdess.









Alright, so I'm going to finish a few more designs of main characters and post them in another post, but I wanted to get these up!

Life is an Occasion

I went home this weekend, and my family watched Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium. I had just finished reading King Lear and it was fresh in my mind. During the scene when Mr. Magorium is speaking to Mahoney, declaring that he is going to "depart", and pass away, he refers to King Lear. Here is the scene:

As You Like It: Rosalind

The character of Rosalind in Shakespeare's As you Like It is definitely a character which is unlike most which I have studied throughout my experience with Shakespeare. She basically dominates the play, with the way Shakespeare has written her to such an extent. She is so complex and rich in her personality. She is well-rounded and identifiable to most everyone. 

Telling a Story: Final Project Ideas

So, for the final project I had a few ideas about how it would be really cool to do a "film pitch" of sorts. There is so much that could be invested in this, that would make it really awesome and fun for a group project. Of course, we'd probably have to stray a bit from the traditional sense of film pitching since that consists of many different types of pitches which take place as a writer and others present their ideas to producers. Still, we can use the essentials - presenting our ideas as if we want to convince someone to consider our film for production.

AT LAST!!!

I finally put up the background that I wanted! I have finally created the blog I envisioned since the semester started, and I must say, I am pretty pleased with the way it turned out. Thanks to the help of my brother and his extensive knowledge of web design and HTML formatting, I know have a customized, amazing-looking blog which makes me super excited. I felt like maybe I would post a bit about this background and the process behind it, and why I chose to make my blog look this way.