For our group project, we made a trailer of a fictional film parody of The Hunger Games that uses some elements of the Gothic that we've learned about this quarter.
If you haven't seen or read The Hunger Games, here are two trailers from the real film:
Teaser Trailer
Theatrical Trailer <-- This one is longer and explains the story more.
The real trailers inspired some of what we did in our project.
Important things to note:
- In our version, the oppressive Capitol which used the Games to teach the Districts a lesson is represented by The Catholic Church, which decided to put on the Games as punishment for people who have done something immoral or otherwise defied the Church.
- The film is narrated by the Ancyent Mariner, played by Chuck, who must wander the earth and tell people about his ordeal in the Games.
- Other characters include Agnes (played by Tricia) and her baby, Dr. Frankenstein and his Creation, Julia / Christabel (who were made to look similar because in Gothic Literature, most of the female characters were pretty much identical), Ambrosio (the creeper), Julia's lover, and Manfred (who is dressed and black and, as a result of his constant desire to die, is pretty apathetic about being in the Games). The Madman was also chosen as a tribute but doesn't appear in the trailer because he does his own thing and manages to stay away from pretty much everyone.
We hope you enjoy our video.
- Leah, Kate, Tricia, and Chuck
I really enjoyed watching this. Having seen The Hunger Games and read all of these Gothic stories, I think the connections that you were able to make worked really well. I love that you have the ancient mariner survive to tell his tale and serve as a warning to others. This is partially about learning from the past (the mariner and the tributes are being punished for past (distant or not) transgression), but it is also about the power that God or other people can have over you.
ReplyDeleteAnother thing that I find interesting is your portrayal of the Catholic Church forcing these people to kill each other. This itself should be considered immoral, which shows the corruption of the Church that is often represented in Gothic literature.
Great job!
I want to begin by saying that simply as a video, I really enjoyed your work. I thought it was shot well, scripted creatively, and effectively edited. On a deeper level, I want to venture so far as to say that this is an exceptional encapsulation of our English 590.04H class. First, you chose a modern medium (a YouTube video) to present your project. Next, you chose a very current piece of popular culture (*The Hunger Games*) to spin off of. Then, you used a complete and representative sample of characters from the gothic pieces that we read as the outlets for conveying your point. Finally, you employed an extremely central theme of gothic lit (oppression by the Catholic Church) in a then-accurate, but now-provocative manner. I thought that was very gutsy. I appreciate your melding of material from gothic times of hundreds of years ago with that of our world today. What I'm trying to say is that I think all of the elements of your video wrapped up our class, its material and its time in the world, very succinctly, entertainingly, and effectively. Great job.
ReplyDeleteI think this group did a fantastic job of representing many of the Gothic themes and works we've studied in class in a modern, culturally relevant manner. I was pleasantly surprised at how well you were able to employ specific characters, like Julia, Agnes, and the Ancient Mariner, so creatively. I thought it was especially clever to have the Ancient Mariner win the Games, so he could tell his story to others. Using the Catholic Church in place of the Capitol was a great idea. Having read the book and seen the film, there is a striking similarity between how the Catholic Church is portrayed in, for example, "The Monk" and the Capitol. Both are characterized as tyrannical entities that often resort to violence to maintain power. The citizens of the Capitol, like many of the Clergy, are ignorant and hypocritical as well. Overall I think this group did an excellent job conceptually. The video was great too!
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