Love Labour's Lost & An Adventure

(So, I realized this saved as a draft rather than posting online but it was written last week. Oops.)


So, I had an interesting experience tonight. I wanted to post a little bit about Love Labour's Lost, but before I do that, I also want to mention why I missed class this week. I had a very strange experience that almost is surreal. I went to leave my apartment to head up to campus, and upon exiting, I reached the staircase that leads from my second floor apartment. And guess what I found? The bottom half of the staircase had been removed! I couldn't help but laugh a little in pure awe and confusion. Apparently the staircase had no longer been up to standards, and so the complex had sent people to remove/ replace the stairs. But they didn't bother to tell anyone, and, it just happened to be perfect timing for when I should be leaving. So, I was trapped by the five+ feet drop where the stairs had previously been, and the massive tools and sharp objects/ chunks of cement that were around the workers' feet. It almost felt like a joke, and I didn't even really know how to use that as an excuse for missing class. But there you go. Haha

Potential Characters for "Star-Crossed"

Puck: A underlying fairy, who is a good apprentice/servant. Before the play, he sees and falls for (Reiza), who is human and royalty. He is smitten with her and plagued by unrequited love. He accepts the offer from Oberon to become an apprentice. He is fascinated with magic, and is eager to learn. As a result of being tricked by Oberon, he loses his memory of the girl he loves and becomes Oberon's personal servant.

Oberon: Another Plot Point

So, after class I started doing some research on the character of Oberon and how he is referenced in other things, I found something interesting that I thought would go well with our plot so far. There was an opera written in the 1820's, entitled "Oberon", which was actually also based on a German poem with the same title. Anyway, this 3-act opera is essentially Oberon has been fighting with Titania, and he has promised not to be reconciled with her until he finds two human lovers who have remained faithful despite all other troubles and temptations. Through a series of events, he hears about a knight and a princess who are going to be wed. (Actually after the knight kills the guy the princess is betrothed to, but that is off-topic.) Oberon decides that he is going to use them as a way to fix his problems with his wife, since he now regrets what he has agreed to. So, he agrees to help this couple and sends the knight with a horn that will summon him if he should need his help. A bunch of other things happen, and if you want to read the full article it's here (yes, it's on wikipedia... I know) :

Puck/Oberon

**PLEASE REFER TO PREVIOUS POST**

I noticed on Andrew's blog there was some reference to the fact that people wanted to stick with the mischievous version we know him as. In my story idea, I think I steered away from that a bit, but I do like the idea. I see him more as a Flynn Rider sort of character, however. Not really someone who is openly evil, but who likes to experience new things and is willing to take risks. Maybe we could have him learned that a bit from Oberon, who is definitely willing to use his magic to get his way. Perhaps Oberon convinces Puck that whatever the valuable object is that he wants is rightfully Oberon's, and that is why Puck agrees to it. He doesn't realize that he is stealing from the Emperor/King, and that Oberon is actually the fairy king merely trying to take what he wants without having to put himself in harm's way.

Storytime! *Final Project Story Idea*

Alright, so I've been doing a lot of reading of the ideas that others have posted for a story for the final project. I must say, I really enjoyed them. I liked where they were going with them. They definitely got my juices flowing, and I got some ideas of my own. Granted, I took bits and pieces of what others have written about and sortof compiled them into what I thought would be a fun interpretation and how it all fits together. So here it goes!

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!