Finally.. (Zara-10th)

-ZAHIRAH MUSTAFA- (10th post)

Yeah.. finally, my 10th post. it's quite hard to update at home because of the house chores :) What is the best in learning Macbeth this semester is my Weird Sisters. I love my group. Because of them, i have the courage to carry  on. Never thought the combination of these five girls will be super awesome! We complement each other so much. I'm gonna miss the moments of sleepless nights together, having dinner while doing assignments and silly jokes time. And from the bottom of my heart, i think you, Miss Dzeelfa, is a great lecturer. I feel the enthusiasm in your class. Even though i may not end up as a teacher, but i will hold tight every lesson of yours. If every lecturer has the positive mind and creative methods like you, Malaysia would have great teacher trainers. I guess. This blog is full with memories. Till then...

Witches vs. Banquet (Zara-9th)

-ZAHIRAH MUSTAFA- (9th post)

Hmm.. there's quite a number of differences between 1st and 2nd video; in the aspects of language, scene, characters, setting, level of difficulties and group members.

For language, certainly it's a big difference. In the 1st video, we need to use the lines in the classic version while in the 2nd video, we use Malay with our own dialects, by which i think the result is outstanding. In the 1st video, my group and i did the witches scene. We still need to memorize the dialogue even though we use dubbing technique because we don't want to see our mouth movement veer from the lines said. And for the witches appearance, we need to think of something that make some differences from the witches depicted in the movies, so we chose to portray the witches as beautiful but weird. For the 2nd video, my group and i were assigned to do Banquet scene. From this scene, i understand more about Banquo, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth because we need to study their characteristics deeply in order to translate the scripts into Malay, and to make it sounds and looks naturally.

In the 1st video, i play the Second Witch. it's quite okay because i was still in woman figure. However, in 2nd video, I acted as Ross, just a minor character, but in appearance, i need to dress as a man and move manly- which i never do it before! Setting aspect, for the first video we need to find a place like heath, where we just made it in Kolej Canselor area and football field. For 2nd video, we made it at 6th College where they have a hut with tables and seats, which we think suitable for banquet scene. But the weakness of this video, we didn't bring food to make it real. We were running out of time, we have to make the shooting in the morning. Otherwise, our video will be interrupted with people, voices and noise. 

About the level of difficulties, i think the preparation is quite hard for the first video,  besides at that time we just learnt about Macbeth. But for the second video, i have some confidence as i could say i now know the whole story line. The element that we need to stress is characteristic and intonation because they will help to deliver the message even though without subtitle. The last but not least about difference is group member. It's not a big deal actually. Just we lost our Cik Siti Wan Kembang (Shiau Yin) in this group. hehe.. Working with Zulaikha and Farah doesn't matter at all. Overall, i love Macbeth project!

Mekbeth's Journey (Zara-8th)

-ZAHIRAH MUSTAFA- (8th post)

Hi again. A retrospective entry on the making of second video for Macbeth project. I was so excited when we were assigned to do the second video in our own dialect, but some worries too, because i afraid if we can't do it very nice as we don't have so much time. We did the shooting quite early but the final process came a bit late because it was separated for two people- Zu did the editing and I did the subtitle part. 

This time I did the video with two different group members, Zulaikha and Farah; but Fatin Nabila, Nik, Nadiya are as always. Five of us are from east-cost and Farah is from Kedah. We decided to make it very traditional- we borrowed the Baju Melayus from the boys and used very Malay culture background music for the video. We have to make a video on the Banquet Scene where the ghost of Banquo appears.We name our new group as 'MEKBETH'  because 'MEK' portrays the ladies from east cost.

About the characters, we gave Nadiya and Nik the main roles, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth; because we want to feature them as much as possible in the video and also, they both have the same Kelantanese dialect even though Nadiya is from Besut, Terengganu. The rest of us just play the supporting roles, we didn't have to speak much. Zulaikha plays the 1st Murderer, Farah as Banquo's ghost, Fatin as Lennox and I as Ross. As we didnt have so many lines to remembered, we helped Nadiya and Nik to translate their scripts. However, they both already did a great job by just saying the lines spontaneously. 

Nadiya was very nervous at first, but she is really really outstanding in the middle of recording. Nik was excellent too by using 'exotic' Kelantanese words in her lines which i don't understand some of them. I praise Nadiya and Nik more because they plays difficult roles. The rest of us did well too. Farah as the the ghost of Banquo with Northern dialect splashed a little different in our video; and others are good as usual. Certainly.

But i feel regret and sad because i could not manage to finish the subtitle, as i experienced technical problem at last minute. However i feel a bit relief when the class enjoyed our simple video. :) Thank you Miss Dzeelfa and Rockers.

My Persona Poem (Zara-7th)

-ZAHIRAH MUSTAFA- (7th post)

First of all, thank you so much to Miss Dzeelfa for giving me an extension for the rest of blog entries. Got some problems with telco and also small kids at home. Okay, this is my persona poem. sorry for a late update about it. I make them for Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, as I feel they contradict each other.

Your Majesty,

 Impatient, Fragile, Unfixed, Cruel,

The resident of Dunsinane Hill,

Who loves his Lady, loves to seek for the witches and  his fate,

Who fears his Queen, insecurity and the shadows of his victims,

The false King of Scotland,

King Macbeth.

The Late Queen,

Smart, Powerful, Provocative, Malicious,

The dearest partner of greatness,

Who loves wealth, high status and loves to be Queen,

Who fears bad dreams, the spots and herself,

The dearest love of Macbeth,

Lady Macbeth.

I'm glad. (Zara-6th)

-ZAHIRAH MUSTAFA- (6th entry)

Hi. meet again. anyway just feel glad about the marks for the storyboard and video presentation. It is sort of last minute work, and also got changing of plan in the making, i feel quite uneasy about it. By the way thanks Ms Dzeelfa for the compliment of  best storyboard. Somehow i feel my group develops consistently during your course supervision, we starts at zero, we always blur in the beginning, but i think we perform much better in next tasks given to us. We do learn from mistakes. It is not just Macbeth, but other minor presentations also.  For instance, we try to give the best input during Rumpelstiltskin because our friends already know about it. We learn to give something fresh and interesting. Maybe we are not good as other groups, but i could see my group's development day to day. However Macbeth video project is like the ultimate challenge, because we need several meetings to plan it carefully despite time limitation and heavy workload. Two of our group members, Nik and Nadiya were very busy with college event, but they manage to give co-operation very very well. Thanks to all my group-mates! (^^,) About the post test, i feel more confident when answering it for the second time. I don't know whether my answers are correct or not, because i may not remember every details and understand every word, but at least i know the entire story, what it is all about. Thanks for making me 'heart' Macbeth, at least. :)

Video Finale 1 (Zara-5th)

-ZAHIRAH MUSTAFA- (5th entry)

Hi. yeah, finally done with the video project- the classic adaptation. A slight change has been made, we changed the last part which formerly should be the scene of the witches call three apparitions for Macbeth from Act 4 scene 1 to the scene from Act 3, scene 5 where the witches meet Hecat. We changed it last minute because there would be so many things to be done and arranged in the making of the scene. The scene where the witches meet Hecat is simpler. By the way thank you to Sammy for helping us out. I'm glad because finally we can finished the project on time. I may say it is successful for us, even though the video quality is not so good compare to the others. In the bunch bunch of assignments, we managed to do it. On behalf of my group members, as i did the editing, i want to say sorry for any imperfection in the video making. The most important is, i do learn something from this project. (^^,) Sometimes i feel enjoy to talk in old English - though i do not understand all the meanings. :) see you again.

Storyboard (Zara-4th)

-ZAHIRAH MUSTAFA- (4th post)

Storyboard had been sent. Somehow that's quite a relief! Actually I feel that the task development have benefited greatly from the storyboard. It's like an activity sheet for a lesson plan. We plan the sequence, and put them into practicality in a worksheet. It gives a clearer image of what we're gonna do. And the video-making process itself would be like teaching & learning presentation. Moreover, it's like the brainstorming stage during essay writing.

I think i gained more understanding on the text when we discussed on the storyboard. What should be sketched on the paper? we looked deep into the script, and we could find some lines which were ambiguous, that we don't know how to interpret them into drawing. Our interpretation might be correct but in the context of the story, it might be wrong. If we didn't went through the process, maybe we just passed by those meaningful lines. And the video-making process would be more difficult because we don't know how to transform the lines into real acts.

The most important is, i enjoy doing storyboard. (^^,)

Ambitious (Zara-3rd)

-ZAHIRAH MUSTAFA- (3rd post)

Hi, again. Tonight i am too enthusiastic about Macbeth, maybe because i read most of the acts and understand the story. But still, i love Hamlet more. :) 

Ms Dzeelfa has talked about ambitious in class that day, how ambitious Lady Macbeth to see her husband as a king. Today we learnt about Rumpelstiltskin, and again i think about ambitious. The parents are so ambitious to see their daughter marries a king. I could say every people are ambitious in their own way, like Ms Dzeelfa said, even our parents expect something from us. And i think, even God expects worship from us. We live in expectation of many people. And yes, sometimes expectation drives us to blindness- related to my previous entry.

This is a story about me. My parents expects me to be a lawyer, so i did my diploma in law. They are very ambitious to see me in that sophisticated suit, handling cases in a court chamber. I was too young and immature, thus  i followed blindly to their desire. Three years passed, i successfully finished law school. Fortunately i didn't do LLB so i can further my degree for what i wanted. When I was offered to be in Tesl UPM , I was lying to my parents at the first place that i was not accepted to further my studies in law school. They look very sad and disappointed, especially my mother. I feel guilty and tell the truth that i have my own wish. They even think to send me off overseas to further study in law school, but i rejected. Until my 2nd year of Tesl, my mother still ask me if there's any way to get me back in law school.. And till now, I can't share with them very much about any difficulties i have during my studies or else, my mom will answer, "that's your choice." 

Pertaining to Macbeth, yes his wife is so ambitious. She suggested the murder, influenced  her husband to do such wrongdoing and she is so determine that "[a] little water clears us of this deed". However later, she becomes wracked with guilt from the crimes she and her husband have committed. In the sleepwalk, she tries to wash off imaginary bloodstains from her hands, all the while speaking of the terrible things she knows she pressed her husband to do- she dreams high, but it kills her. 

And Macbeth, even though the witches gave him the prophecies, but it is his choice to follow his wife's plan to murder Duncan and yet more people. The witches never ask him to murder people, they just told him what will happen. But, AMBITIOUS led him to grasp the dream faster. Who knows, if Macbeth and Lady Macbeth were not so ambitious to obtain kingship, maybe one fine day, Macbeth could be the real king in a right way. Maybe Malcolm dies naturally in the act of God then Duncan appoints Macbeth as the king. Who knows.. who knows.. Whatever it is, always do things in a good faith, it pays sooner or later. 

Blindness (Zara-2nd)

-ZAHIRAH MUSTAFA- (2nd post)

Hi. here come my second entry. Tonight we had our discussion again. Scenes had been selected, storyboard were designed roughly. As we said before, we are so interested into the witches and prophecies. Thus there are two significant scenes about the three witches, Act 1 Scene 1 and Act 4 Scene 1. Why witches? Why not other characters such as Macbeth himself, Lady Macbeth, Duncan or Macduff? All my group-mates think that witches are significant, but each of us has our own reasons. 

From my point of view, i see the witches as significant characters because Macbeth was influenced by the first prophecies that he shall be the King. In other words, the three witches led Macbeth to blindness. He did wrongdoings, murders, because he believes the prophecies blindly. Even though he didn't want to believe at the first place, but he starts to believe when he became Thane of Cawdor, the desire to be a king becomes stronger. When he became King Macbeth, he visits the witches again, for the next prophecies. As he too believes that no one of woman born can harm him, he feels very secured and that leads to his death; in this case- Macduff.

Blindness; yes i found this issue in OEDIPUS too. Laius and Oedipus both believe in the Oracles' prophecies. Because of that, both did wrong acts. Laius wants to kill his own child, Oedipus married his own mother and killed his own father. This issue keeps going, even in this modern world. We might not have the witches and oracles to give such prophecies, but sometimes most of us tend to follow blindly to what other people are saying. People will always be nice in talking, "I think you should do this.....", "I think you'd better choose this..." yada yada yada... We have to ask ourselves, "What I Want?" instead of just following other's says.  

Sometimes, somehow, we need to convince people that we are not them. Their opinions might be good, but we should have faith in what best for us. People are not God, they can prophesy but the destiny is not in their hands. Even though we have taken the wrong path (not wrong acts!) to follow our dreams, sometimes it leads us to the right one, eventually. Sometimes we work hard to fulfill or please other people's desires, but in the end, we learnt that the hard work is not for us...

Do i heart Macbeth? (Zara-1st)

-ZAHIRAH MUSTAFA- (1st post)

Hi dearies. Shiau Yin has named this blog as 'I heart Macbeth'; i am wondering, do i love Macbeth? Maybe after I know the whole story i would fall in love with it. I ever heard about Macbeth, but i never read it even the synopsis. But now i did read the synopsis :) At the first place, the only thing i know about Macbeth is, it's Shakespeare's. I love his poems, but for classic transcripts, it's hard for me to read. For the first time i heard about Macbeth during my secondary, i suddenly thought about the tv series of 'Ally Mcbeal' starring by Calista Flockhart. Maybe it's because of the similarity of pronunciation. hehehe... The only serious play of Shakespeare that i read is Hamlet.  i guess it's an original version book. I was curious to know the real story after watching the movie version starring by Kenneth Branagh n Kate Winslet on tv.

Who is Shakespeare in my eyes? I already knew about Shakespeare before i enter secondary school because i read about his great masterpiece in newspapers/magazines, when there were new drama/theater/soaps had been published based on Shakespearean. And lastly, my sister gave me a book entitled 'The Sonnets-Poems of Love by William Shakespeare, published by St.Martin Press New York. It has 154 sonnets, i've read most of the poem but just read, but not really understand until i do Tesl. (^^.")

I adore Shakespeare, but i don't read much on his works. I read Measure for Measure, King Lear in drama class, but i didnt read it fully; too long. And of course Romeo & Juliet, the ultimate one which is very synonym with Shakespeare, this one i read many abridged versions of it. Poems, for sure the first one i read was Life Brief Candle because it was in kbsm Literature Component for form 1 and followed by Sonnet 18 in form 4 (1st cycle). Other plays by Shakepeare that i have heard are Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, Cleopatra, King Lear, Measure for Measure, Othello, Midsummer..., Wives windsor... Verona.... I can't remember the last three, it just came across my mind.

So, after the project is done, i hope I heart MACBETH!