In the Spring terms of 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2019 at Washington and Lee University, students created 7-minute films of the plays of Shakespeare.  Two were created in 2014: The Taming of the Shrew and Macbeth.  Three films were created in 2015: The Comedy of Errors, Measure for Measure, and The Tempest.  Two more were created in 2016: Coriolanus and Romeo and Juliet. In Spring 2019, three films were created:  Julius Caesar, Much Ado About Nothing, and The Winter’s Tale.  The Spring term course, itself called Seven-Minute Shakespeare, is led by Professor Hank Dobin of the W&L Medieval and Renaissance Studies Program and Film Studies Program.  New films will be added annually as the Spring course is taught again.

The rules were simple: the films could be no longer than seven minutes (not counting title and credits) and must use only Shakespeare’s own words (although some rearrangement and compression were permissible).  In 2014, the students used Sony Camcorders to film and iMovie to edit.  In 2015, we moved up to iPads as our cameras and Final Cut Pro as our editing software.  In 2019, we were able to use state-of-the-art digital cameras with full light and sound kits.

Please click on the FILMS tab in the menu above to view the individual films and learn more about them and the student film-makers.