On Thursday, Sept. 16, I tuned into the Turner Classic Movies channel and watched the 1948 version of Hamlet starring Laurence Olivier. When watching TCM, I sometimes catch the commentary by host Robert Osborne before or after a film. This time, Osborne said that Olivier brought Shakespearean work "to the public" with the Hamlet (1948).
Hamlet was also the first Shakespearean play I read, leading to my interest in Shakepeare's other famous works. Those include not only the plays, but the sonnets as well.
My thoughts about the 1948 film version of Hamlet are on how haunting it felt. Of course, there is the ghost theme in Hamlet. However, that's not why I felt the film to be haunting. It was the acting by Olivier as Hamlet, watching the moments in which there was a great deal of emotion. The character Ophelia, played by Jean Simmons, was equally haunting as she began to seem out-of-sorts. The voice-over heard during the drowning scene added to that other-worldly feel in that part of the film.
I would definitely recommend this film version of William Shakespeare's Hamlet to anyone who hasn't seen it. In my opinion, it makes a great addition to any list of films from the Old Hollywood era.
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Thursday, September 2, 2010
Theatre & Stage Crew
Yesterday, my college held an involvement fair on campus to help students find clubs and organizations of interest to them. In following with my film / entertainment interests, I decided to sign up with the theatre & stage crew.
This will be something totally different for me, being involved to any degree with plays. Yet it coincides with my communications major through the various equipment used. Lighting, for example, which I learned about in video production during my Spring 2010 semester. Of course, there is the area of working with props or set / stage design. That is something I really like...the little details you see in a scene...studio set or theatre stage. I think that they can really make a story real for the viewer, or even allow an interesting shot. I'm remembering some film scenes in which a character's face is framed in a different way, or maybe viewers get to see the character and a reflection of him or her at the same time.
Back on campus, I'm also looking forward to any meetings of the film society on campus this semester. I didn't see any tables set up for that particular student group at the involvement fair. However, I hope to meet many other students with an interest in the film industry and who just really love many different films.
This will be something totally different for me, being involved to any degree with plays. Yet it coincides with my communications major through the various equipment used. Lighting, for example, which I learned about in video production during my Spring 2010 semester. Of course, there is the area of working with props or set / stage design. That is something I really like...the little details you see in a scene...studio set or theatre stage. I think that they can really make a story real for the viewer, or even allow an interesting shot. I'm remembering some film scenes in which a character's face is framed in a different way, or maybe viewers get to see the character and a reflection of him or her at the same time.
Back on campus, I'm also looking forward to any meetings of the film society on campus this semester. I didn't see any tables set up for that particular student group at the involvement fair. However, I hope to meet many other students with an interest in the film industry and who just really love many different films.
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