5 CHEAP CLEVER COUPLES’ HALLOWEEN COSTUMES IN A PINCH!

It’s that time of year again. You know, when your kids are clamoring for their annual dose of let’s-play-dress-up-and-solicit-the-neighbors-for-candy. Mom and Dad often spend time, energy and moola shopping to find the right cape and mask for their little superhero or even feeding fabric through the sewing machine to craft the perfect princess ball gown, leaving little opportunity to plan getups they like for themselves. While some parents could care less about sporting a wig and clown makeup, you and your sweetheart actually want to join the ranks of grown-up trick-or-treating enthusiasts. You think to yourself, “We’ve got a few minutes, some paint and spandex. What can we possibly do with that?” Behold 5 motifs:

http://blog.youcanmakethis.com/1126/5-cheap-clever-couples-halloween-costumes-in-a-pinch.html

The Last Post

• We'll just go through a basic rundown of the learning expectations.
• 1. Gain Shakespeare Literacy
  
  
  Demonstrate mastery over fundamental information about Shakespeare’s works, life, and legacy

  a. Breadth (knowledge of a range of Shakespeare’s works)

  b. Depth (more thorough knowledge of a single work)

  c. Performance (stage and screen)

  d. Legacy (history, scholarship, popular culture)

  
  

  Did pretty well here - read a bunch of plays, watched a bunch of film productions, went to a couple live plays. I learned a lot about Shakespeare, and specifically about the plays we read.
• 2. Analyze Shakespeare Critically
  
  
  Interpret Shakespeare’s works critically in their written form, in performance (stage or screen) and in digitally mediated transformations. This includes 
  a. Textual analysis (theme, language, formal devices)
  b. Contextual analysis (historical, contemporary, cultural)
  c. Application of literary theories 
  d. Analysis of digital mediations
  
  
  I did a lot of this, especially in trying to analyze some of Shakespeare's most important speeches (in Julius Caesar and Henry V especially). I broke down most of them to the point that I could make a desperate attempt at trying to recreate them. I also analyzed other plays in the most general sense.
• 3. Engage Shakespeare Creatively
  
  
  
  
  a. Performance (memorization, recitation, scene on stage or video)

  b. Individual creative work (literary imitation, art, music)

  c. Collaborative creative project

  
  

  The soliloquy I wrote for William the Conqueror (literary imitation) was one of the most difficult things to write... ever. Not only does iambic pentameter kick my but, but Shakespeare was a genius. Trying to write something that could be passed off as him is like trying to compose a piece of music that could be passed off as Beethoven or Mozart (impossible). It was really fun to try, though.
• 4. Share Shakespeare Meaningfully
  
  
  
  
  This includes engaging in the following:

  a. Formal Writing. Develop and communicate your ideas about Shakespeare clearly in formal and researched writing and through a format and medium that puts your ideas into public circulation.

  b. Informal Writing. This mainly means through regular online writing

  c. Connecting. Share one’s learning and creative work with others both in and outside of class.

  
  

  I first tried connecting with other people by using a wiki, to let the diversity of thought analyze a Shakespearean theme (existentialism) in a group setting. The wiki didn't take off too well, so later I spammed my Facebook and Twitter followings to look at what I wrote and comment on it. Later I took the piece of faux Shakespeare I wrote around to others and had them analyze it, video taping their analysis for our final project.
• 5. Gain Digital Literacy
  
  
  Students use their study of Shakespeare as a way of understanding and developing fluency in 21st century learning skills and computer-mediated modes of communication. Those skills are grouped under the following categories.

  a. Consume - Effective and independent selecting, searching, researching, 

  b. Create - Producing content that demonstrates learning and which can be shared for others to profit from.

  c. Connect - Engage with other learners within and outside of the class to develop thinking and share more formal work.

  
  

  I don't know if digital literacy was something I was particularly lacking in, but I used the following:

  
  

  Google Docs, Prezi, YouTube, WikiSpaces, Facebook, Twitter, Blogger, iMovie and Capture.ly as a part of this class. That's a pretty broad range of digital tools.

Expert Analysis

Video Interviews

Here is some video for our project. It's uncut and rough, but it can be edited later if we decide to go through with it.

Experiment #3 - Crowdsourcing Faux Shakespeare

I have long been fascinated with the idea of crowdsourcing. See the video below for a brief explanation.


Crowdsourcing is effective partially because when people have diversity of thought, they can look at something with fresh eyes and a different perspective. That's the reason we peer review, that's the reason we have group workshopping in our writing classes, and that's the reason private companies have been able to put people on the moon, fix our toothpaste and stop our orange juice from going brown at less than 1/10th the cost of what it previously would have been (see the X Prize foundation for more on that). 
I tried a couple ways of experimenting with connecting people through an open call previously, first by asking people to add their thoughts to a wiki I set up. I think this failed largely because it was too much work, and wikis are too difficult to edit (especially for one who is unfamiliar with wikis). A few people contributed, but most people weren't sure of what they should contribute or how.
Since that was too much work I asked people to comment on/critique a later soliloquoy of the faux Shakespearian character William the Conqueror. A lot of people read the post, and a few people commented, but they were cut off from participation -- they could only say, "I like this" or "I don't like this."
I'm an entrepreneur, and in my spare time I and some other BYU students have been working on a project called GrassWire, which we hope will help crowdsource journalism, lowering the barriers to entry for would-be journalists yet keeping high quality due to crowdsourced editing/fact checking. Our theory is that if one person takes ownership for and provides the original content for a news article, others will edit and/or fact check as they read, and from their suggestions the original author can improve their article. It takes crowdsourcing to a new level, and basically creates a virtual, mass-oriented workshopping for each article.
So what if we combined the concepts of collaboration/crowdsourcing and social validation and turned them into group creation?
In other words, what if I wrote something for our faux Shakespeare play, and instead of just posting it on the blog I put it in a Google Doc (a format familiar to all), and asked the same social network that got over 100 views to the last soliloquy in 24 hours? I would be able to revert back to originals if I didn't like changes, and the diversity of thinking and creativity would make the sections that may be hard for any individual better; for some it will just click. 
I'll write something, and see how much better everyone working together can make it.
E Pluribus Unum.

Traditional VO/SOT/VO

I'll be honest, I'm a bit confused as to what we're supposed to do with the movie, but here's a crack at it.

Most everyone else that's doing it has applied something from their major or their hobby, be it Chloe dancing or Kent fighting, etc.

So I'm a Communications major (with an emphasis in Advertising, like Kent), and as a prerequisite media writing class we had a unit on broadcast journalism and how to write a package or VO/SOT/VO (Voice-over, sound on tape, voice-over).

An excellent example of that is this (warning: explicit language at about the 20 second mark).


So I decided that (along with other blogging) I'll write a VO/SOT/VO for a potential Shakespeare report (although I'm not in the group telling the story of how it came about, it should help a bit). We could easily prepare it as if it were a real newscast, even with something as simple as iMovie.

Social Validation

So I posted on Facebook (about 800 friends) and tweeted to my Twitter followers (200+) to critique my blog post. This is what happened to my stats.

I had 110 page views in the last 24 hours. I've had 419 all-time.

Not as many people commented as I would have hoped (but I can't blame them, I wouldn't have either), but it's started some discussions among friends (unfortunately not on social media, so I can't show you those). I'll keep you updated.