BP #3 - Madame Butterfly

I though Pjotr Sapegin’s ARIA, which is an adaptation of Puccini’s opera Madame Butterfly, was a beautiful short film. I really admire the various ways in which the film was able to convey the feelings of the characters and the overall meaning of the film even though the film has no actual dialogue. Music is one aspect that really helps interpret the feelings of the characters and the overall theme of the film. The music played within a film is an essential element for the entire film. Music helps get the message across by having the ability to make an audience feel happy, sad, confidence and much more. The tempo of the music within the film changes depending on what is going on in a certain scene. For example, in the scene when Butterfly meets the sailor Pinkerton the music is slow, like in a romance film when two characters meet and begin to fall in love. Another example, is when Butterfly sees the ship that Pinkerton came on when they first met. In this scene the music gradually speeds up as if to give off a feeling of anticipation of the two lovers seeing each other again. This film’s soundtrack plays a major role in depicting how the characters feel and the overall message the film is trying to illustrate.

Multimedia XTRA - X1 - "House Plant"

The inspiration for my drawing comes from some characteristics about my hometown, Titusville. Titusville has always been this small little town with not many people. The only reason some people have even heard of Titusville is because of the Kennedy Space Center (KSC). KSC actually happens to be in Merritt Island which is about 30 minutes form Titusville but we get some representation because many people who live in Titusville work for KSC and anytime there were rocket launches Titusville would get some tourist attraction. The rocket programs stopped awhile back and many people were laid off out at KSC. Now the programs are starting back up and to get ready for the influx of workers and tourists that might come, many new neighborhoods and housing complexes have been built or are being built. Every time I go home for winter break or summer break Titusville looks less and less like I remembered it. Everywhere there used to be woods where me and my friends would explore there are now new housing developments. Our city council thinks that KSC will attract more workers and tourist which it probably will but I hate to see the place I remember go. Overall this image represents the slow but steady destruction of nature and the building of houses and housing complexes in my hometown.