Boston Flipbook

A Clockwork Orange, I'm Singin' in the Rain

This scene in Clockwork Orange is one that is sure to stay in a viewers mind forever. The character Alex DeLarge and his group of friends enter the home of a couple and assault them. After they are done with the assaulting they proceed to rape the wife in front of the husband and have both of their mouths taped shut. In the midst of this chaos Alex begins to sing "I'm singin' in the rain", a song that usually reflects a happy situation. I believe that Stanley Kubrick threw this into the movie to show that these drugged out punks were sick in the head and ultraviolence is what made them happiest. This movie was set in London in the future, it was very surprising to me that this song was chosen but this director is one of my favorites.

Stop Motion

I think the concept of stop motion animation is very unique and interesting. I remember as a kid watching Rudolph where Arthur Rankin Jr. used this type of animation and it seemed revolutionary. The Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer television special first ran in 1964 so I think its cool that people are still utilizing this animation technique. Stop motion animation is created by taking multiple photographs (frames) of a static object and these frames are played in a continuous sequence.

The two Vimeo videos that I chose to watch were Bumble Bee Boy and Iron Man Vs. Bruce Lee. I thought that both videos did an incredible job with this animation style, the Bumble Bee Boy animation seems like it must have taken a lot of photographs to complete as it is a small toy with many small parts that were moving. I believe that stop motion animation will continue to be used in the future especially in children's television shows. One example of stop motion animation in a show that I watch is in Robot Chicken on Adult Swim.

A Trip to the Moon

This video was very shocking to me, it was very ahead of its time....at that time. The way that the backdrops were transitioned and things were dissolved into the scene was impressive to me. While the physics and concept of the moon was very different at this time period it was cool to see a film with extraterrestrial life on the moon. These moon creatures reminded me of the aliens in the movie Signs how they were defeated so easily, in this case they were struck by an umbrella and went up in a poof of smoke. The characters that were brave enough to travel to the moon in the large bullet structure got a lot more than they bargained for, experiencing bizarre weather conditions and running into another form of life that did not want them to be there. It wouldn't be until 1969 when the first man walked on the moon, 67 years after this film was released; this is what opened up my eyes the most.

Jono Vaughan Presentation

The presentation Examining the Self: Gender Identity, Social Engagement, and Art Production that Professor Vaughan presented was very eye opening to me. I had never really explored what goes in to the life of a transgender individual. Being transgender requires a person to encounter many obstacles and lack of security. These individuals experience a great deal of hate from the general population for being the people they want to be. Jono showed us (the audience) samples of artwork representing masculinity through historical references in her charcoal works. Her artwork contained numerous lithographs with Minotaurs included in them. One quote that I really admired from Jono's presentation was "Sometimes its the simplest things that drive the most successful work". I believe this quote is true in art, it is all about how you build on these ideas. I thought Jono's Project 42 is an extremely cool idea and I hope that she gets more funding to continue with it. It is a project in which a transgender individual who was killed is danced for and appreciated by a volunteering individual who wears an abstracted garment specially designed to represent that person. I was relieved to hear from Jono that the world is changing and that the transgender community is starting to become more supported and understood. The internet is a great avenue for these individuals to connect and share experiences together.

Wicked, Behind the Scenes

This behind the scenes video of what goes in to a broadway play from the director's standpoint really intrigued me. Joe Mantello seems to be a phenomenal director in the fact that he is open to anyone's suggestions for how the play should modified. He stated that he attended each rehearsal and stood in as the audience and observed how things were shaping up. Joe said that he erased what he had learned the previous rehearsal so that he went into each rehearsal with a fresh set of eyes. Prior to Wicked calling in Joe Mantello as a director the play lacked the direction it has now taken. The Wicked Witch of the West is often looked at as a horrible villain but this play shows a different side of the her that people would not expect and the audience responded very well.

Madama Butterfly

Pjotr Pegin's Madama Butterfly is an animated opera that did a great job at hitting a number of emotions. The story is about a woman who seems to be on an isolated island who meets a skipper and has sexual relations with him; she ends up getting pregnant. After this encounter he leaves her behind and she waits for his return. In this time she has a baby who remains connected to her through an umbilical cord. One day the skipper does return but he has a wife and kids along with him, he breaks the umbilical cord and takes their child along with him. The child was the last thing Madama Butterfly had connecting her to the man she was in love with; she once again was left with a broken heart and significant disappointment. I really enjoyed the music in this opera, I thought it went very well with the animation.

The Birth and Life of Opera

The documentary “The Birth and Life of Opera” shows the different ways that opera was influential over history. Opera was originated in Italy over 400 years ago. A group of writers and poets in Italy called the Camerta created a new type of entertainment that offered a story as well as music.

A great deal of the music we have explored in this class is unrecognizable for me but throughout this documentary I began to recall a few of the songs. Mozart’s La Marriage De Figaro was an easy story to comprehend and I recognized the music. It was a story about a count who tried to get vengeance on a servant named Figaro by taking the virginity of the household maid who Figaro happened to be marrying soon. Figaro had tried to ruin plans between the count as his wife prior. At the end of the story the servant bests the powerful count. This opera was extremely popular and revolutionized opera during this time.

I thought it was interesting how opera was used during times of war in history as propaganda.


I realize now after watching this documentary how the success of opera over the years made it possible for modern day broadway to still exist.

Deus Ex Machina

Deus Ex Machina is a phrase used to describe an event where an unsolvable issue is resolved by an unexpected new character, object, ability, etc. This plot device is used frequently in modern books and movies as well as near the beginning of time. 

One example of Deus Ex Machina in pop-culture is in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets when Harry is outmatched by a basilisk and a magical phoenix brings him the sword of Godric Gryffindor to kill it. Another example is in Lord of the Rings when Gwaihir and other eagles save Gandalf from any situation where he is in danger. One really  interesting piece of pop culture that I found that showed Deus Ex Machina was the Claw Machine in Toy Story 3. The alien toys worshiped the claw as a god and treated it as a decider as to their salvation. Deus Ex Machina adds a great deal of thrill to literature and film which is why it has been around for so long in history.