Madame Butterfly into a Video Game

Video Game Opera

     If I were to turn the opera Madame Butterfly into a video game, I wouldn't want to make it too different from the original. I would create the game to have various amounts of paths to choose from and go down. For example, when the child is born, there can be a choice for if the child is a boy or a girl. I would also like to make the characters more interactive friendly, where the players can design what they want the characters to look like, and perhaps be able to put in their own name as the character. Partway through the story, there can be a time where Pinkerton can choose to check up on Butterfly or continue on his way. If choosing to check up on her, he can find out about the child sooner and maybe make the decision to return back to her earlier. There can also be a choice whether or not Butterfly wants to give up her child, or maybe run away with her child. This can also change the plot of the story where, if she decides to run away, she can start a new life with her child and perhaps find someone else to love. 

Madame Butterfly Opera Animation

Madame Butterfly Animation

In class, we watched an opera called Madame Butterfly and shortly after, watched an animation based on the opera. Compared to the performance, the animation was more graphic and intimate. I noticed in the opera the child was a boy but in the animation, the child was a girl. However, in the animation, she was still connected to the child until Pinkerton ripped out the umbilical cord. To depict her committing suicide, the animation shows her taking apart her body like bolts and ripping apart her skin. The beginning of the scene shows Butterfly and Pinkerton having an affair where she ends up pregnant. This shocked me at first when I saw it because it focused more on the sex between the two individuals while in the opera it never shows anything about an affair or a child until later on. However, I do believe it was a beautiful animation showing Madame Butterfly in this different, shocking way.

Daily Post 2/24

Daily Post

     In today's class, we branched off of opera and looked into musicals and Broadway. We talked a little bit about Jazz music and also looked at cabaret performances. When learning about Vaudeville, I knew a little about Black Face already, and it was interesting to learn more about it. I really liked the opera, Madame Butterfly we watched that I will talk about in another post. I love musicals and always have. It was amazing to see that the top five musicals were: the Phantom of the Opera, the Lion King, Wicked, Beauty and the Beast, and Mamma Mia. It was really cool to learn that the Phantom of the Opera is the most successful musical and is the longest shown musical for over 9,000 times. Lastly, we talked about the period DaDa. I had never heard of it before but it was extremely interesting to learn that this was the time that changed everything in art from the sounds of music to the type of art, especially performance art.

Howard Goodall Big Bang 3 Opera

Opera

     Today in class we watched a video of Howard Goodall discuss the history of Opera. What stood out to me was when he talked about the comparison of musicals to operas. It was interesting to learn that operas tell a story, that doesn't have to be tragic, all in song. In opera, there is only the projected voice of the singer. There are no microphones, or dialogue during the performance. He showed an example of a situation where the dialogue was sung in an opera and explained how the stylistic unity of it makes it more plausible and less melodramatic. I also did not know the different periods of opera. There is Baroque (1600-1750), Classical (1750-1825), and Romantic (1825-1910). I am most familiar with the Classical period, however, it was interesting to hear about each period and see how each period had a slightly different sound filled with composers that created their own style. Over the years, through the periods, composers wanted to perfect their craft which developed over time, which created each period. It was really interesting to see how opera has changed throughout history and how it has developed into today as well.

Daily Post 2/17

Daily Post

     Today in class we learned about Opera. I never knew much about Opera. I have never gone to see one nor do I have an interest in listening to it. I always thought it was very dramatic and tragic performances with loud singing. However, I thought it was really interesting learning how only little boys used to be in choirs because of their higher voices. Also what shocked me was how opera can be comedic and it can be sung in any language, not just Italian. It was amazing to see a video of an Opera but sung in English. I have never seen that before.

Daily Post 2/10

Daily Post

     Today's class was really interesting. We learned about cathedrals and Gaudi's architecture. There were some cathedrals we looked at in Spain and it reminded me of my trip I took to Spain a few years ago. I visited different cathedrals than the ones that were shown but the structures were still very unique and beautiful to see. We also looked at the Camino de Santiago which is a famous walk through Northern Spain. I knew about this walk because I learned about it in high school and also watched a movie on it as well. However, it was still really interesting to learn more about it again and bring back those memories I had when traveling to Spain.

Daily Post 2/3

Daily Post 2/3

     Today's class opened my eyes to where the arts originated from. I knew of the Greece Amphitheater but I had no idea about the precision behind it. The arts way back when was mostly connected to religion which I knew a little about but was interesting to see the first video of Native Americans. The arts were originally just apart of their culture as a way of appreciating their higher power and show their faith and loyalty to them.