Starscream was a scientist, then a Decepticon warrior, an Air Commander, A Second in command of the mightiest army that had ever existed. And now, that the dust has settled and the war ended (yeah right) he has become an actor. Yes, he finally realised that he could get much more attention by acting in great plays. Plays such as the taming of the shrew, Romeo and Juliet and Hamlet.
Hamlet appealed much to Starscream, he felt there was so much that could be his own life in it. Starscream did, however, object to having to die. But, the directors reassured him it was not real, Starscream agreed.
In short this is a simple scene that my husband, Caspar, actually set up. I looked at it and had to do the shoot. So this idea is his.
Just a "brief" comment concerning this play and Starscream. I can draw several small parallels to Hamlet and Starscream. Not everything will fit him though. Hamlet had two friends named Guildenstern and Rosencrantz.
Guildenstern reminds me a lot of Skywarp. He is a bit dim, humorous, but on occasion he can have a moment of pure genius that gets over looked. Rozencrantz is a bit like Thundercracker as he seems to be a bit more quiet, broody and more grounded in reality. And, Hamlet could easily be Starscream flying off his nut.
They were supposed to sort something out with them and then he betrayed them by having them executed in his place. This sort of reminds me of the "betrayal" that Starscream did in the movie where he pitched his wingmates, Skywarp and Thundercracker off Astrotrain and left them to die in space. I prefer to disregard the movie because too many good characters were laid to waste.
A lot of my knowledge of Hamlet is based from the movie/play Guildenstern and Rozencrantz are dead. It is a sort of spin off, almost like a fan fiction, regarding the two minor and insignificant characters of Hamlet and how they are drawn into the middle of something that they cannot get out of.
They meet a band of wandering tragedian actors; frequently. One of the interesting quotes from Guildenstern and Rozencrantz, that I suppose can relate to Starscream in his never ending quest for leadership and his almost unavoidable death is this:
"Events must play themselves out to aesthetic, moral and logical conclusion... we aim at the point where everyone who is marked for death dies... Between 'just desserts' and 'tragic irony' we are given quite a large scope for our particular talent. Generally speaking, things have gone about as far as they can possibly go when things have gotten about as bad as they can reasonably get... The bad end unhappily, the good unluckily. That is what tragedy means." - Leader Player.
Starscream, in his own right, is a very tragic charcter. He usually dies with his goals within his sight or grasp. It is sad, perhaps cliche, but it is, unfortunately, Starscream.
So, I did not mean this to become a mini essay but I felt it was necessary for me to say...
"Alas poor 'Warp, I knew him well."
Photograph with some Photoshop involved.
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