Sunday, February 10, 2013
60 Second Film Challenge - Spare Change
Our assignment was to create a 60-second film in our assigned groups using an object chosen randomly. My group was Maddie D, Natalie B, Olivia, and Kirin. We selected a round, translucent blue and green hemisphere and an additional object, a fake diamond ring. Originally, I wanted to do something about Olivia and Maddie being twins, because they're both gingers, but eventually we decided on a plot about a beggar woman who gives a gift to a kind student.
Our biggest challenge surfaced after our production was completed, when the sound disappeared. The sound was a vital part of our video, as the beggar woman/witch person uses a strange sound to hypnotize the students, and only the main character is immune to the powers, because of the ring. The changes in sound when she has to ring of and on is the key way of understanding our video.
I learned how to manage time effectively. Getting the script, storyboard, and shot list done early helped our group solidify our idea. Filming was done all in one day, which gave us plenty of time to edit the video.
Tuesday, February 5, 2013
Mary Tudor
If you've ever heard of "Bloody Mary" (the one who will come to kill you at night, probably if you don't forward a chain email) then what you may not realize who you're hearing about is a real person.
Mary Tudor executed about 300 Protestants during her five year long reign as Queen of England. However, when you take into account the life that she lived before assuming the throne, the context sheds light on a woman who is not, as history paint her, evil at all. Mary was the victim of her society, most easily shown through her father's neglectful abuse.
Mary Tudor was born in 1516, to Henry VIII of England and his first of six wives, Catherine of Aragon. Mary was adored by her father from a young age. However, as her mother grew older, the chances of her giving birth to the son that would become the heir to the throne lessened. Henry grew anxious about the state of the kingdom. He did not believe that any woman, even marry, was fit to rule a country.
Because of this, Henry divorced Catherine in 1533, and married Anne Boleyn the same year. Before he was able to annul the marriage, however, Henry had to gain the approval of the pope. The pope, a relative of the Spanish-Catholic family that Catherine had originated from, told Henry that it was against the rules of the church to follow through with a divorce. Determined, Henry created a new church - The Church of England - declaring himself, rather than the pope, the head of it. Under his own church's rules he annulled his marriage and converted from Catholicism to Protestantism.
Despite her father's religious change, Mary remained faithful to the church she was raised under, as did her mother. Because of this, Catherine refused to acknowledge that a divorce had occurred as it hadn't been approved by the pope. In order to break his ex-wife's will, Henry sent her from one home to another, each more dismal than the one before it. He cut down on her staff. Knowing that she would not budge except for Mary, he cut off their communication and forced Mary to work under the woman that she most loathed - her father's second wife, Anne Boleyn, who, in Mary's mind, had dethroned her mother through bewitching her father.
Henry often ignored Mary, leaving her under the care of abusive noblewomen who held grudges against the former Princess (he had stripped Mary's titles along with her mother's) and forced her to care for her half-sister, Elizabeth, only a baby. Forcing Mary, who had been raised a Princess, into being a servant for the child that would inherit everything that Mary had been meant to was torture enough, but Mary endured insults from both Anne and the other women at court. During this time, she turned to religion for hope. She put all of her faith in god to help her stay strong, and to make her the rightful Queen one day.
Mary's prayers were realized when Elizabeth in turn was declared a bastard, after her mother was executed for adultery. Her father's third wife, Jane Seymour, gave birth to one son before dying, Edward VI of England. When Henry died, his will cited his successor as Edward, and, after him, his oldest illegitimate daughter, Mary.
Edward, always sickly boy, died at the age of 15, leaving the throne open for Mary to claim it. However, in
Edward's will, he had changed the succession to include his cousin, Lady Jane Grey. It is highly suspected that the will was altered by Edward's regent, John Dudley, who married his son to Jane directly before Edward's death.
Mary was forced to flee as the Protestant Jane and her husband, Guildford Dudley, took the throne. They ruled for nine days, after which Mary returned with an army to place herself on the throne, executing Jane and her husband.
At this time in her life, Mary had been subjected to humiliation on multiple occasions. She's had her throne and titles both stripped from her. She'd been forced into becoming a servant. She'd watched her mother die of suspected poisoning, without even being able to see her. She'd been denied love from her father, support from her mother, and everything she'd wanted in life. The only constant throughout her struggles had been her faith in Catholicism. She imposed it heavily upon her subjects, executing those who refused her.
Is it hard to see why, with such a life, she would? Particularly considering that every monarch before and after her did the same, but weren't villianized for it. Particularly in her later years, Mary was painted as emotional and mad - because she was a woman.
Mary Tudor executed about 300 Protestants during her five year long reign as Queen of England. However, when you take into account the life that she lived before assuming the throne, the context sheds light on a woman who is not, as history paint her, evil at all. Mary was the victim of her society, most easily shown through her father's neglectful abuse.
Mary Tudor was born in 1516, to Henry VIII of England and his first of six wives, Catherine of Aragon. Mary was adored by her father from a young age. However, as her mother grew older, the chances of her giving birth to the son that would become the heir to the throne lessened. Henry grew anxious about the state of the kingdom. He did not believe that any woman, even marry, was fit to rule a country.
Because of this, Henry divorced Catherine in 1533, and married Anne Boleyn the same year. Before he was able to annul the marriage, however, Henry had to gain the approval of the pope. The pope, a relative of the Spanish-Catholic family that Catherine had originated from, told Henry that it was against the rules of the church to follow through with a divorce. Determined, Henry created a new church - The Church of England - declaring himself, rather than the pope, the head of it. Under his own church's rules he annulled his marriage and converted from Catholicism to Protestantism.
Despite her father's religious change, Mary remained faithful to the church she was raised under, as did her mother. Because of this, Catherine refused to acknowledge that a divorce had occurred as it hadn't been approved by the pope. In order to break his ex-wife's will, Henry sent her from one home to another, each more dismal than the one before it. He cut down on her staff. Knowing that she would not budge except for Mary, he cut off their communication and forced Mary to work under the woman that she most loathed - her father's second wife, Anne Boleyn, who, in Mary's mind, had dethroned her mother through bewitching her father.
Henry often ignored Mary, leaving her under the care of abusive noblewomen who held grudges against the former Princess (he had stripped Mary's titles along with her mother's) and forced her to care for her half-sister, Elizabeth, only a baby. Forcing Mary, who had been raised a Princess, into being a servant for the child that would inherit everything that Mary had been meant to was torture enough, but Mary endured insults from both Anne and the other women at court. During this time, she turned to religion for hope. She put all of her faith in god to help her stay strong, and to make her the rightful Queen one day.
Mary's prayers were realized when Elizabeth in turn was declared a bastard, after her mother was executed for adultery. Her father's third wife, Jane Seymour, gave birth to one son before dying, Edward VI of England. When Henry died, his will cited his successor as Edward, and, after him, his oldest illegitimate daughter, Mary.
Edward, always sickly boy, died at the age of 15, leaving the throne open for Mary to claim it. However, in
Edward's will, he had changed the succession to include his cousin, Lady Jane Grey. It is highly suspected that the will was altered by Edward's regent, John Dudley, who married his son to Jane directly before Edward's death.
Mary was forced to flee as the Protestant Jane and her husband, Guildford Dudley, took the throne. They ruled for nine days, after which Mary returned with an army to place herself on the throne, executing Jane and her husband.
At this time in her life, Mary had been subjected to humiliation on multiple occasions. She's had her throne and titles both stripped from her. She'd been forced into becoming a servant. She'd watched her mother die of suspected poisoning, without even being able to see her. She'd been denied love from her father, support from her mother, and everything she'd wanted in life. The only constant throughout her struggles had been her faith in Catholicism. She imposed it heavily upon her subjects, executing those who refused her.
Is it hard to see why, with such a life, she would? Particularly considering that every monarch before and after her did the same, but weren't villianized for it. Particularly in her later years, Mary was painted as emotional and mad - because she was a woman.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)