Once and the future King 4/2 (Late)

I thought Merlyn in this story impacted King Arthur in a great way. Arthur was so pressed on going to battles and gaining power that he lost sight of what he should or shouldn’t be fighting for. I liked that Merlyn teaches Arthur the outcomes of having this mindset. When Arthur was thinking of not fighting wars at all, Merlyn believed “There is one fairly good reason for fighting-and that is, if the other man starts it” and his argument of self-defense is valid (pg. 232). I felt like it was important for Arthur to understand these lessons of morality and justice because he was not just fighting for fun or nothing, he was fighting for himself and his people. I feel like Arthur does not really know how to be King and in a way, so Merlyn is teaching and guiding him. When Arthur stopped by his room to ask for advice and Merlyn freaked out and told him to “Go away at once and send for me!” I thought that was funny but interesting because I felt like he wanted Arthur to show some dominance and use his power a certain way (pg. 244). I think Merlyn says these things to Arthur because he doesn’t want Arthur to take advantage of his power or lose it either.

Arthur for The People (4/16-Late)

I really enjoyed reading Knight Life because it was written so well and very entertaining. I thought it was easy to understand and loved reading Arthur’s views on controversial and political issues. I liked that Merlin was portrayed as a kid and his reactions toward people and the reporters were funny. I thought it was interesting that Arthur Penn had a specific style and I have never heard of guerrilla politics before. I like this modernized version of Arthur because it conveyed how he felt about today’s issues rather than issues that existed during medieval times. As I read the story I did not expect him to answer with such detail especially when he became personal about his past and was trying to defend or explain it. Personally, I think Arthur deserves a chance to be elected mayor, I do not see an issue with that. I have seen many people in government and power that are not direct or offer the truth. I was glad that he put himself in the people’s shoes when he said “People like to be tested, to be challenged. Every politician sounds like every other politician” (pg 188). I felt like he wanted to show that he was different and not like the others. He sounded prepared for this election and knew what to expect. I also did not expect Arthur to reveal that he was Arthur of Camelot from centuries ago. I appreciated his honesty and liked that he still stuck to his guerrilla politic style.

What Happened In Camelot?

I recently played a horror survival video game called Until Dawn. I want to create a 21st-century horror survival game and I want to pitch it to the video game developer Supermassive Game that created Until Dawn. The player will play as every single character that is Arthur's friend. The character will take different paths and will have to make different decisions in order to survive. The game can have many possible endings and there will be one best ending where every character can survive except the ones that have died in the main story. Arthur is the protagonist and the setting is on an island named Camelot. Arthur and some of his friends arrive on a helicopter on the island and stays at his father’s cabin for a week. Arthur knows that Lance (Lancelot) likes Gwen (Guinevere) but Gwen likes Arthur. Lance catches Gwen and Arthur getting intimate with each other. Lance gets upset and runs out of the cabin in the middle of the night and gets lost and scared. He gets scared because he hears a noise in the woods. He sees a black deer with red eyes that chases him and bites his leg. He limps forward to get away and he falls in a ditch and hits his head on a rock and dies. Lancelot comes back as a demon. The land is cursed to trap lady of shallot, but the curse brings demon deer to life because she left and escaped her asylum. The demon deer is hunting her. King Arthur meets a stranger that carries an Excalibur rifle and tries to help them, and he gets torn apart by a demon. Arthur takes the rifle and has to find the lady of shallot and kill her in the asylum instead of the woods in order for the island to not be cursed anymore.

Intensive therapy for the gang

So, hear me out, a huge problem that most of our class had when we were reading the original texts was the lack of character development. there was certainly love, and war, and action, and plot after plot after plot, but at the end of the day, I wasn't that invested because I didn't feel close to the characters. So, I think something that would be really different from the original texts, but still enhance them, would be some sort of intensive therapy session with each character. Basically, i would analyze them and diagnose (well, the internet would) them with different mental disorders if the evidence suggests that they may have any. of course, I would twist a couple of the original stories to fit the evaluations, but I think this would be a cool and fun way to see deeper into the hearts of the characters. I would basically be retelling their stories but through a totally new lense that would make their character's deeper and more complex to the reader. I think I would want to do it with the characters Guinevere, Arthur, Lancelot, Modred, Merlin, and maybe one other character (who should it be?). The only thing i'm not sure about is what platform it should be. I'm thinking of maybe a video blog series? Where each video is one session with the characters? or maybe their sessions are split into two videos so it can be more episodes? This is where I need more advice, so please help me and tell me what you think about this!

I, myself, would like to show the potential development of a King Arthur manga. I believe that Arthur lends itself famously to the medium since its a fairly simple story which can be expanded upon endlessly across several volumes. I essentially want to do Naruto, but with King Arthur.  In this interpretation, it would be much more action oriented, showing off a variety of different battles with a plethora of different characters. The story would follow Arthur, who in this story would be less of a reluctant hero and more like a person who aspires to be one of the greatest warriors, which would give him an end goal for the eventual end of the series (this is a common trope to keep readers engaged). The story would start out similarly to the STARZ show we watched in class in which Arthur is yanked by Merlin to becoming the next king. However, Arthur would be much more relatable, Luke Skywalker type character, who's kind of wimpy and whiny. Eventually, he'll come into his own as...less of that. I think this will be entertaining to a lot of people. I also believe that something like this would massively boost the popularity of King Arthur stories that have been lacking in the past few years.

Project X

Based off of the movie "Project X"

Arthur, and his two best friends Lancelot and Gawain decide to throw the most epic party of the year of their senior year in high school. Gawain thinks it is perfect timing since Arthur's parents are out of town. They gather all that they need and get there hands on some alcohol for the party. Lancelot goes and invites everyone and anyone without Arthur knowing. Soon enough, the party begins and before you know if, 305 Camelot Drive was filled with more than 200 people. Kay is assigned to be a security person at this party. Merlin is the neighbor who eventually crashes and tries to rat everyone out. And of course there is romance involved! Lancelot gets caught in Arthur's bedroom with Arthur's ex, Guinevere. This creates a lot of tension on top of a party that is out of hand. Eventually, the police show up super late and try to shut things down, but things get even more out of hand.

Arthur's Round Table

Well, upon sitting and thinking of what to do for this Arthur Goes to Hollywood project, Matt, Nick and I have come up with a podcast. With Nick as Arthur, Matt as Lancelot and I as Merlin we will keep the nation entertained with our personal lives. Want to know about our love lives in the 21st century? How about our opinions on politics, war, the past, and the future? Well you're in for a treat as this podcast has a little bit of everything. If you guys think of a better title let us know.

The Nature of Knights

So, for my final project I was thinking of a live-action film that follows the story of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, but it does so after King Arthur returns from the dead. It would be pitched to the Russo Brothers as they did an amazing job with directing and producing several Marvel movies.

It is the modern day and Camelot is now a city hiding in plain sight. Hiding in the sky using a combination of hyper-futuristic technology and ancient magics long forgotten, Camelot is an utopia of sorts. It now serves a purpose: to act as a safe haven to those who desperately need it. And Arthur and the Knights also have a new purpose: to be defenders of the peace and to act on the behalf of the downtrodden souls who need them most. So, when a conflict rises that has the potential to cause World War III, three teenagers go out on a limb to find Camelot and urge Arthur and the Knights of the round table to end the madness before it's irreversible.



(Title subject to change)

Temptation Camelot

Just like the hit TV show Temptation Island, cameras will be entering Camelot as 3 couples are put to the test, King Arthur & Guinevere, Lord & Lady Bertilak, and Olwen & Culhwch will all put their relationships on the line and see if they are destined for one another or belong with other people. Upon arrival into Camelot the men and women will be split into two different houses. The women will be living with 8 single men, while the men will be living with 8 single women. Some key players this season are Lancelot, Elaine, Kay, Morgan, and Gawain. Every week there will be a chance to go on a date. Whoever gets the date card can ask anyone in the house to accompany them, however, couples can block their significant other from going out on a date with one person. Additionally, couples will be wearing a token to remind them of their relationship. At the end of each week individuals will be voted out of Camelot. To ensure that one makes it to the next week they need to form a relationship with a person who is in a couple.  Couples will not be able to talk to one another through the duration of the season. At the end of the season, the couples are reunited and make the decision if they want to be together or break it off. If a couple were to remain together and resist temptation, they will receive the grand prize of an all-expenses-paid trip to the Island of Avalon and a gorgeous mantle. 

Assassins Creed: The Round Table

Since bring stuck in the house all time, I've developed a new found appreciation for video games. Particularly PS4 games in the third person perspective, and since I've been watching my family play Assassins Creed: Odyssey for months now, I would like to pitch to Ubisoft to make an Assassins Creed, based on the tale of King Arthur.
In this game you could choose at the start whether you wanted to play as Arthur, Lancelot, Morgana or Guinevere, and you character choice at the beginning would set you up for the path you take throughout the game. While there is a main story line to follow, your individual game play choices could add variants, so it doesn't play out the same way every time. In the game, you would also get to explore the world of King Arthur a little more in depth and get to see an approximation of daily life. I was also thinking if you play as Arthur or Lancelot, you get Merlin as a guide throughout the game but if you play as Guinevere or Morgana, the Lady of the Lake guides you throughout the game.

Arthur: War of the Round Tables

My idea for the final project is to turn what we know about the Arthurian legend, and make it into a mobile app that can be played by everyone in the world.  In this game, you will be introduced as the leader of your own round table, while being guided through a tutorial by King Arthur himself.  You will be in charge of your own kingdom, but you're not alone in this world.  There will be many potential enemies or allies out there, whom also lead their own round table and kingdom.  The goal of this game is to grow to be the biggest and strongest kingdom in the world, while also keeping the people in your kingdom happy.  Make allies, slaughter your enemies, grow and become the greatest leader in the entire world.  The end goal is to become the leader of the "Capital" which is known as Camelot, which will give you many extra bonuses over your competitors.  I guess you could think of this as merging the worlds of King Arthur and Game of Thrones...without the dragons. 

You can build your army of townspeople and upgrade them into better units, but the knights of your round table will be your "heroes".  These heroes come with much more strength and abilities to help you have an edge over your opponents.  Every weekend, their will be a tournament held in the capital that allows leaders from around the world to compete for game changing prizes that will put you ahead of your competition, so practice those jousting skills.

The game would be called "Arthur: War of the Round Tables"

Battle of The Bands

For my final project I wanted to try a modern take on the King Arthur story with a television series. Arthur would be in a band called Camelot with Morgan, Guinevere and Lancelot. Guinevere would be on vocals, Lancelot on drums, Morgan on bass and Arthur on guitar. Merlin would act as the bands manager and a guide to Arthur. The band is signed under Pendragon Records, which Morgan detests. She believes that they should be using their own hard to work to get where they are, not family ties. Morgan leaves the band vowing that she will create a better band and bring down Camelot and Pendragon Records at the annual Avalon Battle of the Bands. She creates her own band called The Fays. Now Camelot is looking for a new bassist.
While on the search Arthur finds out that Guinevere and Lancelot have been cheating behind his back. This causes Camelot to break up. Guinevere and Lancelot join The Fays with Morgan. Now Arthur needs to find a new band and quick. Down on his luck he meets Viviane, a singer looking for a band. With Viviane's help Arthur creates a new band, Excalibur. Arthur and Viviane recruit Lancelot's ex-girlfriend Elaine to play on bass and Arthurs friend Gawain on drums. Excalibur is determined to beat The Fays and win the Avalon Battle of the Bands.

Real Housewives of Camelot

My idea is similar to a Real Housewives show, but centered around the characters of Camelot. Normally, one of these shows is revolved around just the women of the families, while the men are more of an afterthought. However, for my project, I would want to focus on both the men and women having them both be the main subjects of the show. This would be a "reality" show but it would be scripted in the sense that the actors would be playing the roles of Guinevere, Lancelot, King Arthur, Mordred, Merlin, and Sir Gawain. Each one of the main characters would sit in for interviews like the women on Real Housewives do. In addition, there would be some random moments of surprise characters depending on what was going on in that episode.  The "vacations" that they would take would be like the quest that they would have gone on together. This would allow for the King Arthurian tales to still live on. I think that it would be pretty entertaining as trashy reality tv.  

The show is looking at the everyday lives of these individuals which allows for a lot of creativity to run wild for the producers; while still connecting it to King Arthur tales through the vacations.

I am very much open to suggestions on other aspects of this type of show! Thank you, guys!

Keeping Up With The Pendragons

I am a sucker for reality TV. So, my idea is that I do a spin off of the Kardashians franchise and make it, well....Arthurian. It would be focused around the Pendragons (Igerna, Uther, Arthur, Morgan, Mordred, Guinevere, etc.) and it would follow them in their day-to-day life as a rich family in the modern world. Special appearances would be made by friends Lancelot, Gawain, Elaine, and the family's manager Merlin. I could probably change some of these names to make it more 21st-century (as Meg Cabot did in Avalon High). I would do something with the Round Table as the dinner table. There is plenty of drama that happens in the tales we have read about King Arthur to make it perfect for reality TV. I'm having some trouble developing a little bit of this but I really want to stick with this idea because I think it's funny. I'm open to any and literally all suggestions!! (Despite what the gif below says 🙂)

Same Old Thing

I found it hard to enjoy Avalon High because of its relation to EVERY OTHER HIGH SCHOOL MOVIE. They all have the same stereotypes: nerds getting bullied by jocks, the cheerleaders as the popular girls, so on and so forth. Although this book did have a lot of cliche moments involving the social circles of high school, I did enjoy the twist of almost all of the characters representing someone from the King Arthur timeline. I loved how Will had a lot of the same characteristics and values as King Arthur, how Lance sort of represented Lancelot, how Morton was Merlin, and especially how Ellie was given qualities of both Elaine of Castolat and the Lady of Shallot but ended up being neither. All in all cool idea but all high school movies are kind of the same in the end. This book kind of had "Sky High" vibes.

maybe i went a little overboard...

This post is gonna be kinda long, sorry. I got excited and planned like the whole project...

--

"Wake up... it's time to wake up..." says a mysterious voice.

Arthur's eyes open, and there's Lancelot sitting beside the fire. Lancelot tells him to go back to sleep, that his watch is going well. Arthur tells Lancelot of the voice, and asks if he'd seen anyone. Lancelot says no, and that the only other person there is Guinevere, who has been asleep the whole time. Worried, Lancelot asks if Arthur is okay, to which Arthur insists, yes, he's just fine. Just a bit confused. After a small conversation, he goes back to sleep.

Once again, he's woken up by the mysterious voice. This time simply saying, "The sword!"

--

My idea for this project is to turn King Arthur into a video game (edit 4/30: I thought maybe I could call it Excalibur). Essentially, prior to the start of the game there's been a change in reality, thanks to Morgan Le Fay's magic. She usurped the throne from Arthur and cast a spell which made this change permanent. As a result, Arthur, his knight Lancelot, and his Queen Guinevere, woke up one day as merely traveling merchants. They've been living this way for years, at least long enough for Mordred (who has been left in Morgan's care) to have grown up, with no memory of who they were before the spell was cast.

Prior to the small scene I sketched out above, Arthur had been given visions of a war (the one that occurred before the start of the game), but he played them off as nightmares. However after the voice (who is Merlin, though he's never seen in-game...) speaks to him in the opening scene (above), Arthur begins to remember. He convinces Lancelot and Guinevere to traverse Camelot with him so they can 1) retrieve Excalibur, the legendary sword only the rightful leader can wield, and 2) take back the throne. Morgan has been guarding Excalibur since the switch, as she can't wield it herself, in hopes that Mordred will be able to. So Arthur has to go claim it before Mordred can.

The game would work be a turn-based strategy game, and is very story based (similar to Fire Emblem). As you go along, your party starts as just you (Arthur), Lancelot, and Guinevere, but as you traverse Camelot you come across more people who were previous knights of the round table, and you can recruit them to have more fighters. 

(I also did a few quick character designs, sorry Mordred isn't there... also please excuse the armor and stuff i used absolutely zero references)

Arthur in the Outback

G'day ladies and gents!
Did you know Arthur was an Aboriginal Australian?

My idea sparked (no pun intended) from the wildfires that devastated Australia this past summer (southern hemisphere summer). People across the continent contributed their time, skills, and resources to fight the fires and save people, animals, and wildlife. And guess what? Arthur was among them.

I'm pitching a documentary to BBC to follow Arthur as he becomes a director of disaster relief and organizes the members of his First Responders Round Table to send them out on various tasks throughout the country to help those in need. The focus is on his background as a member of the Aboriginal community and the traits of chivalry he passes on to the Round Table. These Round Table members exhibit key traits of Arthurian legend including kindness, determination, and humility.

The Tables have Turned(Late)

"As the primaries approached, Arthur had studied the commercials of other canidates very carefully. His decison was to try and find a different angle" (David, 188).

This quote is from a scene that stuck out to me a lot from this reading. I found it cool how we are so used to Arthur being the top guy(king) and being in charge that I liked this perspective as Arthur is no longer in that position. In the story we see him running to be the next Mayor and this quote shows he is working to be the top guy in charge, against competitors who are equal to him.