It’s been a while… but I’m back! We kicked off this year with a unit focusing on classical literature by a handful of well known writers. To get a head start on Classic literature, we actually had to read a book over the summer. We had the choice between books like Pride and Prejudice or the Great Gatsby. Whichever book we picked, the one thing we had to do is keep precise and helpful notes on the book. That way when we got to school we could dissect our books with the class. I chose the Great Gatsby as my book, and I really enjoyed the book. I love the way the author painted a picture with his words, you could really see the book come alive inside your head. The book also toyed with a lot of interesting themes such as the American Dream, money and marriage. 

When we got to school we didn’t waste anytime, the very first class we were introduced the idea of ‘What Makes a Classic’. We were then given the task to convince her that our book was a Classic through a paragraph. Although it was just writing, this paragraph was abnormally difficult for me to write. I felt like I hadn’t really thought about anything all summer so writing my ideas down on paper seemed impossible. In the end, it actually really helped me work through my ideas and focus on fine tuning my skills.

After a few classes we were introduced to the driving question…

How can we create animated shorts that use “The Taming of the Shrew” to explain the social, cultural, intellectual, and emotional settings that shaped people’s lives and actions in the past?

 We also were shown our Milestone’s document, this included all our projects, assignments, due dates and expectations. I found this so helpful! I would know weeks in advance when assignments are due, so I could very easily work around my schedule. It also set us up for success because we knew exactly what the teachers wanted to see and the expectations.

Not soon after we were introduced to our project. It would consist of creating an animation of a scene from Taming Of The Shrew, a classic Shakespeare play. The twist was to set the scene in a different time period. Depending on the period it was set in, the play’s language and gender roles would change sightly.

Since this unit would involve a group project, we started off the class with a very fitting video…

After getting comfortable with the idea of studying classics, we went to Bard on the Beach and watched a performance of Taming of the Shrew!

 I actually really enjoyed the performance. It was interesting to see the directors choices in setting the play in the “Wild West” rather than in the classic play format. I feel like it really helped me get some ideas going for my own animation. The play ended up liberating Kate in the end, that’s actually what we got our inspiration from. Through the play I got a deeper understanding of the gender roles in that time and the language/culture surrounding it. For example, all the things that Kate did that made her a “Shrew” seemed to be the norm today. It seemed as though the culture surrounding women in society has made a 180° turn.

 After a few weeks of focusing on Taming of the Shrew, we switched it up and started learning about gender roles in our specific time periods. I probably should have mentioned this earlier, but our time period is one of my favourite decades, the 60s! We had to create some sort of media piece individually, that showed our understanding of our decade. Here’s mine!

This video really helped me further my understanding of the everyday life of a woman in the 60s. What I found most interesting was the advertisement directed towards women during that time. They were constantly pushing the idea of a perfect woman and family. Magazines like Cosmopolitan would teach housewives how to act, dress and cook. They even went as far as pushing the drug I mentioned in the video, “mothers little helper”. That drug was basically used for soldiers in WWII who had major PTSD issues. Regardless, people were still pushing this strong drug to essentially numb women of all emotions and opinions.

After lots of research and brainstorming it was time to start our storyboard for our animation. We had to include dialogue, angles, sound effects and music. When it was done, our storyboard was basically used as an instruction manual on how to put together our video. 

Next step was actually putting together the animation. None of our group members were necessarily talented at animating so we decided to use an app we were more comfortable with, Explain Everything. 

Our draft one had the right ideas but was for sure a little rough around the edges. Our audio needed to be clearer, our characters needed to be improved, we needed more music and sounds effects. The one part I really liked was at the beginning were our group set up the scene with a broadcast from the moon landing. This made sure the audience knew exactly what time period we were using. Here’s our final draft!

Overall this unit was super fun. It incorporated lots of aspects such as classic literature, women’s roles, animation, writing and history. I have deepened My understand of gender roles in society and the factors that affect it. I have also sharpened my editing and audio skills, something I needed to improve. Last but not least, my appreciation for classic literature like the Great Gatsby has definitely improved. Let’s just say, this unit was a success!