"The Shakespeare Product" originated as part of a Shakespeare course at Brigham Young University. As part of this course, I will be reviewing a fellow classmate's Shakespeare blog, "Screenwriting Shakespeare." The thesis of Jennifer's blog is that although we can imitate Shakespeare's writing qualities in film or on stage, the medium of film requires a different writing process to account for its unique strengths.
The Posts
First, I'd like to say that Jennifer has a great topic and her educational emphasis in cinema makes her highly qualified to research and write on the topic. She has offered a variety of perspectives connecting screenwriting to Shakespeare, usually with at least three posts per week. Her posts offer great insights into movie-making and screenwriting with a Shakespeare bent, as can be seen in her post on the effect of an audience. One of the most unique and engaging elements of Jennifer's blog is that she has offered some of her own creative film writing in addition to her research on Shakespeare. The creative writing, in combination with the research, creates an enjoyable dynamic in that we can see how she is using her research to improve her own skill. A great example is the learning curve she's encountered as she attempts to find the perfect title for her script.
One of my only critiques of Jennifer's style of posting is that she sometimes doesn't offer the context of her posts and often the layout isn't as friendly for a skim-happy reader like me. I would suggest that at the beginning of each post she help orient the reader by identifying her thesis/theme, and if necessary explain that the blog originates from a university course. I'd also like to see more images, and headers or sections to break up different parts of a post. She has already utilized this method in some posts, but I think she could strengthen this technique will bold headings, breaks, images, etc., that will allow the reader to jump around and not be overwhelmed by one long post of text.
The Research
The Research
Since very early on in the semester Jennifer has maintained the theme of screenwriting in Shakespeare. As I mentioned above, she's been able to offer her own creative work in addition to the research that she's undertaking. Her theme is very clear and think her use of various angles on the screenwriting topic is beneficial to her readers that are less knowledgeable about screenwriting. I believe that her thesis and research topics have strong cohesion, but I wonder if maybe she could make her thesis more specific and aggressive. She really emphasizes that the writing of films is different than the writing of plays, which is a great point, but it's an argument that's almost too easy for me to accept. I think she could strengthen this thesis by claiming that films are in some way better or worse than plays, based on elements that go into the writing. However, I believe she has a very controlled, consistent theme and has used great sources to provide concrete research examples.
Personal & Social
I admire that Jennifer has a strong following of comments on all her posts, as can be seen at the bottom of most. She seems to have great feedback and response from peers, and has shown an interest in working with others outside of class to see participate in "Shakespeare" activities. She has a unique voice and her personality comes through in all of her posts, especially when she's relating some of the more fun, casual activities that are part of her learning. I think Jennifer deserves particular credit for venturing to post her own creative work. Not only does this allow Jennifer to make her blog very unique, but it also allows us to connect with her on a more personal level.
Design
I thought the design of "Screenwriting Shakespeare" was accessible and easy to navigate. However, I wonder if there might be ways to accentuate the blog's unique theme. For me, the background styling gives more of a "classroom" feel, and I'd like to feel like I'm on a movie set, at a premier, or looking at director's notes. I felt the same about the side content. I like the personal information and the blog archive, but I think there is a lot of untapped potential. For example, Jennifer could include a list of recent movies that she's interested in, or a twitter feed from IMDB.com, or some other cinema-related element that might contribute to her theme.
