For my Director’s Notebook on Julie Taymor, I chose to watch and analyze her production of Igor Stravinsky’s version of “Oedipus Rex”. I really enjoyed doing this project. As a naturally analytical person, I found it fun to look out for small details in the production that could potentially tie into larger themes or symbolism. My first time watching through the production, I jotted down any thoughts relating to the project that came to mind as it played, resulting in a lengthy list of observations at the end. I then looked over my list of notes and tried to organize them into the topics that we had to cover for the project. This allowed me to see which areas I had to pay more attention to on subsequent viewings of the video.
Before I started work on the presentation itself, I read what Julie Taymor had to say about her production of “Oedipus Rex” in her book “Playing With Fire” as a guide for what things I should focus on the most. The book also helped illuminate certain things about her production for me, such as the inspiration behind the specific style of masks she used and the significance of the recurring red thread.
When I began putting the presentation together in Google Slides, I started by making slides for the stuff I had the most information about, and continued from there. It was only when the presentation was almost done that I did most of the reorganizing of slides to have a natural flow between topics. I did not end up using as many images as I would have liked to (for example, I probably could have added a picture of the Sphinx Puppet), but I think that the ones I did include got across my points well enough on their own. The plot summary slide was actually the last one I added, and it was mainly there so that if either of my classmates had not read the original play, they would not be too confused during my presentation.
I did not really get the chance to properly present my project, but even when I was doing it for just Mrs. Guarino, I did notice near the end that I had picked up my habit of talking slightly too fast, making it more difficult for people to keep up with me. That is something I still have to work on in general when it comes to presenting things.
Looking at my presentation in comparison to my classmates’, I figure that mine probably could have gone into more detail at points, but I am also glad that I didn’t make mine as long as theirs. I did not even think of pulling up the video during my presentation for extra proof of my points, and I think it could have helped if I had had the time. However, in general, I am satisfied with how this project turned out.
