Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Macbeth cinematic/thematic essay assignment

1A.) “But wherefore could not I pronounce “amen”? I had most need of blessing, and “amen” stuck in my throat.” -Macbeth (2.2.39-41)

1B.) This quote would be under the topic of superstition affects human behavior. Macbeth’s superstition is his belief in god. Macbeth knows that he has done something wrong, but he can’t find a way to make him mind release him of the guilt. He can not even bring himself to saying an amen and he was so upset about what he had already done by killing Duncan, he can’t even finish the job himself, his wife Lady Macbeth has to go kill the guards so they are framed. Macbeth has realized that he has done wrong but he just can not seem to find a way around it.

1C.) In this scene of the movie, it features Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. This scene takes place in a random room in the castle with a sink in the middle and daggers in the sink. Macbeth is calm but towards the end of his quote he becomes very edgy. This scene consists of a shot-reverse-shot between Lady Macbeth and Macbeth but there is also two shot where they are both included in the screen at once.Macbeth is wearing suspenders and Lady Macbeth is wearing a blue dress, the camera angle is at eye level and the camera moves as a pan. The lighting is low key and it is mostly silent other than the dialogue with Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. The lighting is low key in this scene which gives it a serious effect.

1D.) At first reading this quote i didn’t really understand what the real meaning of it was. i had to read it several times and use the English translation to get a better understanding of it. However, after watching the movie and seeing this scene i really understood it better because of the fact that it not only gave me the dialogue, but it also gave me the scene with the visual so it was easier for me to understand. Watching the movie in this scene it really shows you how quickly Macbeth's emotions change and how he can go from being calm to edgy very quickly.

2A.) “Infirm the purpose! Give me the daggers. The sleeping and the dead are but as pictures. ‘Tis the eye of childhood that fears a painted devil. If he do bleed, I’ll gild the faces of the grooms withal, for it must seem their guilt.”-Lady Macbeth (2.2.64-69)

2B.) This quote would be under the topic of power corrupts. Lady Macbeth is only worried about how she can have as much power and possible and she will do whatever it takes to do so. She is going back to kill the guards and put the daggers in there hands for them to be framed. She cant and doesn't want to risk them getting framed because then that would completely cut out the chance of Macbeth becoming and being king. Lady Macbeth is a great person but when her husband tells her the news of how they can become more powerful and they can rule she turns into this almost “monster” so that she can get whatever she wants.

2C.) This quote is said very promptly after the quote above, so also takes place in a random extra room, with a sink containing the bloody daggers. Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are the only characters featured in this scene. Macbeth is still wearing his suspenders and Lady Macbeth is still in her dress.Lady Macbeth’s mood in this scene is very irritated because of the fact tat Macbeth didn’t kill to frame he guards as he should have and now she has to go back and do it herself. This scene contains a low key lighting with hissing sounds and dialogue between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. The camera is at eye level through out this scene with the camera moving in a panorama movement and it contains a two shot type of shot.  

2D.) After reading the play and then watching this scene in the play it made me feel so much more into the scene. With the way that the dialogue is and how it was acted makes it seem more intense of a scene and really shows Lady Macbeth’ fury with how she raises her voice about going to have to kill the guards herself. I liked this quote after just reading, but after seeing it in the play too, the quote really appealed to me and definitely was one of my favorite quotes in the entire book.

3A.) “O, yet do i repent me of my fury, that I did kill them.” -Macbeth ( 2.2.116-117)

3B.) This resembles how power can be corrupt because Macbeth is saying how he has killed the guards. He is telling Macduff this because he does not want to get caught in the middle for killing Duncan and not being able to become king. I think this is his way of trying to feel guilty but keeping it a secret to everyone else for killing Duncan by being able to say that he killed the guards. I think this helps relieve some guilt of his but not all. Macbeth is feeling the guilt come upon him and he is trying to do his best at staying calm and not letting anyone know that it was truly him who did it.

3C.) This quote features Macbeth, Lady Macbeth, Macduff, Lady Macduff, Banquo, and others, in the kitchen of the castle. This scene is filled with disbelief after the discovery of Duncan’ death. This scene is flooded with high key lighting and the only sounds in it are all of the people talking. There are shot-reverse-shots in this scene going between people, but the camera is at eye level with a panorama movement, with several two shots and shots.

3D.) After watching this scene in the film it really occurred to me that before this quote was said by Macbeth everyone was all peppy and trying to figure out what was going on by communicating with each other, but once this quote was said the room got dead silent and nobody said anything.

4A.) “The Castle of Macduff, I will surprise, seize  upon fife, give to the edge o’ th’ sword. His wife, his babes, and all unfortunate souls that trace his line.” -Macbeth (4.1.165-168)

4B.) This quote said by Macbeth really shows how corrupt he has become. Macbeth originally was not the kind of person who would go as far as killing someones wife and children to become king. This all new “power” idea that has taken up his head ha corrupted Macbeth terribly. He is no longer realizing the world around him, but only himself instead. Macbeth over time has become a very conceded character and is starting to only care about his power that his wife and he have and nobody else.

4C.) The only character featured in this scene is Macbeth, where he is standing near the entrance of the elevator. He is standing there, with the camera on eye level, but also consists of close ups of Macbeth’s face, with back lighting on Macbeth. The only sound to be heard here is the dialogue of Macbeth.

4D.) After viewing this part of the movie, this dialogue really stood out to me in the fact that it changed how i feel about Macbeth as a person. I really didn’t think that he was nearly this corrupt, until this was said and it really changes my impression on him and has made me realize that he has gotten to the point of attacking and doing what he has to do to stay on top of the power pole.

3 comments:

  1. 2. We had the same characters for most of your quotes but, the one I want to talk about is Macbeth. The similarities that we had when analyzing each quote spoken from his was that he seemed good in the beginning but all of a sudden he turned evil. We both realized that he is a true person to fit in the category "power corrupts" because he is very power hungry and will do anything to become king. We also realized that when we saw the movie we saw the true sides of Macbeth and how much he wanted to be king and all the trouble he would face just to become king. I think our observations were same because we both think that he was not that bad in the beginning but then started to become very power hungry and only do things that would help him become king.
    3. I would have to agree with Janelle, my favorite quote is the one from Lady Macbeth and when she is talking about taking the daggers to be able to frame the guards. I liked this quote for the same reasons as Janelle because it made everything come together. You could really see in the movie the intensified actions that started happening after this was done. Such as Macbeth, killing the guards. In my opinion i think this is where the turning point was in the book and in the movie where we really got to see what was happening to Lady Macbeth and Macbeth and how much power had corrupted them as a whole.
    4. I think the quote from Lady Macbeth was portrayed the best in the movie because the lighting and sounds really made the scene come to life. The actors really got intense and showed us how corrupt they had become. It was a very interesting part of the movie because each character started to come out of their shell and start killing people because that wanted Macbeth to be king. I think that this quote really helped viewers understand just how corrupt someone can get when power can be in their hands.

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  2. 1)We did have the same quote “O, yet do i repent me of my fury, that I did kill them.” -Macbeth. We did have some similarities when it came to describing how the quote showed Macbeth's character and how he was corrupt for power. She says that Macbeth is feeling guilty whereas I just believe that Macbeth is a bad person and if he was really feeling that guilty he would admit to what he had done. He is only in search for power.
    3)I like this quote because I think it shows very well just how evil power can make a person. Before the witches, Macbeth did not think of himself becoming king, but because the prophecy was told, he became power hungry. He was looking out for noting but himself and his wife to rule.
    4)I think that the quote “O, yet do i repent me of my fury, that I did kill them.” Was portrayed very well because it showed how scared and confused all the people where right after they found out that king Duncan was murdered. In the play you can not really see someones face when something is said and I think that is why it was easier to understand in the movie.

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  3. 1. “But wherefore could not I pronounce “amen”? I had most need of blessing, and “amen” stuck in my throat.” -Macbeth (2.2.39-41)
    Both Janelle and i shared this quote. But Janelle's view on the quote is somewhat different from mine. First i would just like to say that Macbeth killed Duncan but never killed the guards until the next morning, he was merely supposed to wipe king Duncan's blood on them which he couldn't so lady Macbeth had to do it for him. I would next like to say that some of what Janelle says i agree with. Macbeth is a holy man, but he cannot bring himself to say “amen” because he knows that he should not be prying to god after his sinful acts, he feels as though god is no longer allowing him to say it after his treacherous deeds and the thought of losing god is killing Macbeth inside.
    3.
    “O, yet do i repent me of my fury, that I did kill them.”
    This quote was my favorite out of Janelle's quotes because it was acted out so raw in the film, the acting showed how truely Macbeth didn't care and how it seemed like the others in the room were starting to think that Macbeth killed king Duncan because he had killed the guards. His train of thought was so off track that lady Macbeth began to faint to distract them from his idiotic ideals.
    4. I think the above quote was the one that was best portrayed in the movie out of all of Janelle's quotes. The lighting in this scene in the film showed how Macbeth regretted what he had done but there was noway to get out of it so he just went further into it and the scene seemed to keep getting darker as his lies grew. I think this translated well onto the screen because you could really feel how Macbeth was digging himself deeper but at the same time was trying to refuse that fact that he was one one who killed King Duncan.

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