Madama Butterfly
Madama Butterfly is a beautiful musical piece that's set to a very powerful animation. It tells of a native woman having relations with a sailor and becoming pregnant. While she waits for his return, she gives birth to their child and patiently stays faithful through countless nights. Once he returns, she's devastated to learn that he's married to another woman, and has stolen the children of many women in her situation, including her own. She ends the story by ripping herself apart from the inside out, piece by piece, until there's no longer anything left. It's poetically sad, but portrays the feelings of betrayal and loss well in such a short period of time.
Besides the obvious symbolism - such as the umbilical cord being ripped out of the mother and the quite literal full breakdown at the end - there are also some hidden meanings as well. Both the sailor man and the barbie woman are plastic dolls, while the main woman is made of mold-able clay. This helps portray that she is more natural, while the white characters are materialistic and fake. Butterflies also represent a cycle of new life, and one appears both at the very beginning and at the very end, showing both her journey and the fact that this cycle will most likely continue with the man taking advantage of more women just like her. The only metaphor I had trouble figuring out was the fish she initially gives birth to that transforms into her child. I figure that was just a stand in for not showing a graphic birth in the animation, but the short also shows a very detailed visual of the two characters creating the child, so I'm stuck there.
Outside the message itself, stop motion animation is a medium that takes an intense amount of effort and time, and one I respect deeply. Watching the smaller movements of the woman's hair and fingers shows the amount of love that was put into the project. Especially the scene at the end, where she's ripping herself in half, showed a remarkable amount of talent. All her movements are fluid and quick, and I bet the creators must've had to re-shoot that over and over to get the destruction of the model right. The softness of the pressed clay also pairs well with the music, which is also delicate in nature. Overall, the entire project is very well put together, and conveys both the story and the medium itself very artistically.
Besides the obvious symbolism - such as the umbilical cord being ripped out of the mother and the quite literal full breakdown at the end - there are also some hidden meanings as well. Both the sailor man and the barbie woman are plastic dolls, while the main woman is made of mold-able clay. This helps portray that she is more natural, while the white characters are materialistic and fake. Butterflies also represent a cycle of new life, and one appears both at the very beginning and at the very end, showing both her journey and the fact that this cycle will most likely continue with the man taking advantage of more women just like her. The only metaphor I had trouble figuring out was the fish she initially gives birth to that transforms into her child. I figure that was just a stand in for not showing a graphic birth in the animation, but the short also shows a very detailed visual of the two characters creating the child, so I'm stuck there.
Outside the message itself, stop motion animation is a medium that takes an intense amount of effort and time, and one I respect deeply. Watching the smaller movements of the woman's hair and fingers shows the amount of love that was put into the project. Especially the scene at the end, where she's ripping herself in half, showed a remarkable amount of talent. All her movements are fluid and quick, and I bet the creators must've had to re-shoot that over and over to get the destruction of the model right. The softness of the pressed clay also pairs well with the music, which is also delicate in nature. Overall, the entire project is very well put together, and conveys both the story and the medium itself very artistically.
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