Review of Jennifer Prusse's Blog, "Screenwriting Shakespeare"

"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.  

Names in Shakespeare

Today I'll be taking a detour from my usual theme, Shakespeare as a product, to pursue Shakespeare in a more creative direction.  The purpose of this post will be to explore another side of Shakespeare and complete one of the requirements for my Learning Outcomes.

Alice Anne

Since my wife and I just had our first child, names have been on my mind a lot recently.  In fact, the name we chose, Alice Anne (first and middle names, respectively), happens to have a close connection to Shakespeare.  I don't think that Alice has too much to do with Shakespeare, aside from a character in Henry IV, but Anne certainly meant a lot to him.  Many people recall that Anne was also the first name of Shakespeare's wife.  I can't say that we intentionally chose the same name for our daughter, but I'm pleased with the coincidence and the opportunity to blog about it.  The name Anne appeared in one of Shakespeare's plays, Merry Wives of Windsor.  Although I have not read the play, I understand that Anne was a beautiful young mistress that is sought after by several suitors throughout the play.  It makes sense that based on his personal interests, Shakespeare would depict Anne as the desirable, sought-after woman.  I can't say yet whether my Alice Anne will have the same effect on men.

For fun, I found a list of all of the names that appeared in Shakespeare's plays.  I don't have any grand intentions of researching the names and understanding the significance or symbolism of them, but I thought it would be fun to scan through and see the variety that Shakespeare incorporated.  I created a Word Cloud from the names, which you can view by clicking on the miniature below:

Connecting Shakespeare and Viral Marketing

As I continue my research of Shakespeare as a product, I want to address the question, "What business strategies did Shakespeare use to achieve success?" In this post, I'm going to analyze the modern phenomenon of viral marketing in comparison with some of the marketing strategies that made Shakespeare a success in the 18th century.  First, I'll offer some insights that I found in my research of viral marketing. Then I'll analyze a Shakespeare video game, which was an attempt at using viral marketing to promote Shakespeare Country.  Finally, I'll explore some of the marketing strategies that increased Shakespeare's popularity in the 18th century.

Viral Marketing
Some of the most powerful recent marketing and advertising campaigns in recent history have made use of viral marketing. This type of marketing relies information being spread person to person through social networks. A person watches a funny video at work, emails it to a few friends and posts it on Facebook, and each of these friends pass it on in a self-replicating process. A few of my favorite viral successes include the Old Spice commercials, "Where the Hell is Matt" sponsored by Stride Gum, and a recent spoof of viral videos (but successful viral video of its own right), Jennifer Aniston goes viral. Since viral marketing takes advantage of the social networking power of the internet, just one video made on a low budget can be passed on exponentially and reach millions of people. Connecting with others on the internet is effortless, mindless, and addictive--viral marketing thrives for just that reason.

Innovating in Business

In an earlier post, I posed the question, "What business strategies did Shakespeare use to achieve success?" I'd like to begin answering this question today, in the context of my blog's broader theme, which is defining Shakespeare as an entrepreneur.  I'll begin by telling a story.

About two years ago, I lived behind a traditional burger and fries restaurant called Chadder's.  The restaurant was brand new; it had taken the place of a previously vacant building. Chadder's seemed to be decently priced with good food reasonable traffic from college students who lived in the apartment complexes nearby. I assumed it would be successful based on the location.  I personally only ate at Chadder's once, but I enjoyed the food and would have willingly returned to the restaurant, until I moved to another part of town and forgot about it. Close to a year after Chadder's opened, I drove by the restaurant and saw that it had closed. I couldn't believe that the restaurant failed so quickly, although I imagine that the prices were too high for the average quality of food, especially with several other fast food franchises nearby. 

The Shakespeare Product: Purpose and Intentions

Today I wanted to take some time and re-evaluate the intentions of my blog, as well as set the course for its development.  I'll start by identifying where I've come from and the hypothesis that I've established.  Then I will identify questions that I'm looking to answer and objectives that I'm looking to fulfill.

Background
I began this blog with no real semblance of theme other than that I wanted to have fun learning about Shakespeare.  My natural inclinations have led me to pursue business-oriented themes and tie them back to Shakespeare. While following this business theme, my ideas and posts have still been somewhat scattered. I did the following:

• Read professional criticism on Leadership in Henry the V
• Analyzed elements of behavior change in Taming of the Shrew
• Performed a close reading to critique Othello as a leader
• Searched for the bottom line of A Winter's Tale
• Used two (Aesthetic Taste, Andrew Carnegie) different approaches to pursue the economic elements of Shakespeare

After two months, I've narrowed my research down to Shakespeare as a product.  I will continue the blog with a very specific interest in identifying how Shakespearean theater acts as a marketable, revenue-generating product.

Can Theater Sustain Itself?

In analyzing Shakespeare as a product, I've spent some time researching the costs and revenue of theatrical productions, from both current and past productions.  Since that research is ongoing and incomplete, I will address it later in a more substantial post.  However, I wanted to share an interesting idea on a similar note, that relates theater to the industrialist entrepreneur Andrew Carnegie.  In a New York Times article from 1904, writer John Corbin addresses the issue of whether or not the theater would be worthy of an endowment from a wealthy businessman such as Carnegie. He then gives Carnegie's take: "The only way to endow a theatre is to buy a ticket at the box office."  Corbin also quotes Daniel Frohman, who said, "An endowed theatre is only a fad.  It is for a class, and not the masses.  A play that does not appeal to the masses would not be a success."

Screenwriting, Sonnets, Blogs

Today Dr. Burton explained that when it comes to blogs, sometimes quantity is more valuable than quantity, simply because not every post is great, and the more you write the greater chance you have that some posts will be great.  Such is the case with Dr. Burton's sonnets (according to his evaluation, not mine).  This post is an attempt to follow his advice, and, by way of my self-directed learning, offer additional insight to his advice.  I've been reading a book called Story: Substance, Structure, Style, and the Principles of Screenwriting, by well-known screenwriting instructor Robert Mckee, whose students have included Peter Jackson, John Gleese, and 26 Academy award winners.

Here is what Mckee had to say about creative inspiration: "Creativity is five to one, perhaps ten or twenty to one.  The craft demands the invention of far more material than you can possibly use."

Mckee echoes the same idea, that we can't sit around and wait for inspiration and creativity to hit; we have to wade through the mediocre to get to the good stuff, which is exactly the case when blogging about Shakespeare.

Looking Back on Hal

I wanted to take a quick look at this week in review to make some notes about the play I read, Henry the Fifth.  In case you're short on time, here's a brief list of what I'll include in this post:

• My overall impression of the play
• A critical look at one of the scenes in comparison to the Ewe lamb parable in 2nd book of Samuel in the Bible
• A list of activities that I completed during my study of the play this week.

My Overall Impression
With that as a roadmap, I'll begin with my overall impression of the play: I really enjoyed it.  It seemed to me that this would be an action/adventure type play from the time period.  King Henry is the hero, he's honest, brave, intelligent, respects his people--the ideal leader.  His army is stuck in a tight spot, outnumbered 5 to 1, and he gives a classic pre-game pep talk to boost morale and lead them to victory.  (Sorry for the spoiler.)  And, like any good action/adventure film, there was some good comedy as well.  For my first reading of one of Shakespeare's histories, this was definitely a success.

Flash Scene Shakespeare

Class, this is the post where I detail some of my ideas regarding the Flash Scene Shakespeare.  First, I'll give Chris due credit because his idea originally led to the flash mob Shakespeare idea.  For those of you who haven't seen any flash mob events, check out Improv Everywhere's YouTube channel.  Basically we all get together and do some type of Shakespeare performance in a public area, to the surprise of the complete strangers walking by.  (The photo included here is of a famous annual no-pants flash mob--ours will be more conservative.)  At any rate, to this we'll need to brainstorm ideas for a performance that the the whole class can take part in.  Ideally, we would choose something that wouldn't single out anyone person, so that we can all be in this together (i.e. everyone gets to feel like an idiot).  We'll need to select a place and time, and everyone needs to come and be prepared.  So on with the brainstorming!  Please comment below.  I'll start with my ideas:

• We need to choose a public place--I'm thinking on campus or maybe at the University mall, or Walmart on a Saturday.  Something like that.
• Performance ideas: We all memorize the same monologue an simultaneously perform it

A Plea for Podcasts

While I am experienced in the art of downloading free podcasts from iTunes, I have to admit that I only ever search for sports-related entertainment.  (If you're interested, my personal favorite is ESPN's Bill Simmons, who does weekly shows about the NFL and NBA--he also writes a killer column.)  Podcasts are ideal for someone like me, because I find myself walking between 20 and 30 minutes every day from my car to campus and back.  So, Shakespeare enthusiasts, where do I go for the best of Shakespeare podcasts?  I'm not looking for theatrical performances of his actually plays--I'd prefer some color commentary/analysis, maybe some humor, something to shed light on my learning.  I've done some searching on iTunes already but I'd rather not fill up my queue with hundreds of pitiful podcasts so I am eagerly open to suggestions.

Donde esta la bibiloteca, Pedro?

Just got back from the library, where I spent an hour browsing through the Shakespeare shelves--nonfiction, young adult nonfiction, books on tape, DVDs, juvenile fiction--you name it.  I was willing to try anything that might promote my personal Shakespeare literacy campaign.  Truthfully, I wanted a Shakespeare "craft" book more than anything.  I was really hoping for ideas like how to make quills, how to make a Hamlet costume out of paper grocery bags, suggestions for using fake blood in at-home theatrical performances--that sort of thing.  The closest I came was a Children's book that the library catalog listed as "on order."  Maybe I'll suck it up and buy the book online myself.  In any case, I came home with two DVDs (The Taming of the Shrew and Macbeth, which I hope to watch over the 3-day weekend), a Modern Scholar lecture series of Shakespeare's comedies on CD, and four great books.

I'm mostly excited about the books, so I'll give you a quick rundown of their titles and what I expect from them.

Hamlet, not Ham Melt

Of all the Shakespeare plays, Hamlet, Prince of Denmark seems a logical choice to kick-off my "Shakespeare Literacy" campaign.  All of Shakespeare's works are famous, but I think Hamlet  is the most inescapable.  By my own observation, only Romeo and Juliet is more rampant in American culture.  I suppose the "romance with a bitter family rival" plot reaches a wider audience than "murder your family member and then commit incest."  If anything, I'm jaded by Romeo and Juliet because it's become so commonplace.  So if I'm going to start off with a bang, and I don't want to read Romeo and Juliet because pop culture has watered it down to almost romantic comedy status, Hamlet it is.

I managed to find a great, short, animated version of Hamlet on Youtube.  While the animation doesn't quite hold up to the standards of the bleached-blonde Kenneth Branagh production of Hamlet, it's a quick-hitter for all the famous quotes.  

You can watch the video on your own (the second and third parts are separate videos), but I'll give you a quick taste of my personal favorite quotes.  

And the top three are: