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The Opera by You -team is looking for your ideas and comments. Join and show your support for Opera by You. Developing Story idea, modern life now & A Critique of Modern SocietyThis task is closed
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DescriptionAt this point I suggest that we could try and combine Seppo Hiltunen's Story idea, modern life now and Peter Young's A critique for modern society. Seppo has created a synopsis about a man who faces his modern way of living and it's fragility when he is forced to take a longer route home from a business trip due to the erupting volcano. Peter has listed some themes about the modern way of life that could easily be combined with Seppo's ideas. I'd like Peter, Seppo and the people who have supported these ideas to develop these ideas towards a more detailed synopsis. Brainstorming and creativity is still allowed! :) However, here are some questions for further developing: - What is the businessman like?
Have fun developing! This task is closed. ShotsStory idea, modern life now by Seppo HiltunenNowadays life is full of plots for a proper opera. One idea could be the story of technology and it's sensivity and vulneraility. For example this scenario: - A business man is in South Africa selling equipment for the mining industry. He has a long waited vacation coming and he starts a journey home back to Finland, Tampere. - When he is flying to Europe the vulcano in Island erupts and the aeroplane has to change the route and have a landing in Istanbul. - Man has his wife waiting at home and their daughter is going to be married and the businessman has presents with him to give to the bride and groom - if he gets in time. The european sky stays closed fr the aeroplanes because of the vulcanic ash. - Man sees the picture of european life in a new way as he has to try to figure out how to manage to travel trough the continent. Different countries, different stories of people are connecting to his story when he stays in railwaystations and bus-stations and in full trains. - He sees brave people who stuggle their way through Europe heading home. But he sees also depressed and poor people trying to make ends meet in different ways, legal or illegal. - Time fies and weeks go by, his cellphone refuses to work properly and he misses the wedding of his dauhgter. - Man dreams of going home and he learns to see the mechanics of the economic systems in global world and what is the meaning of his work, exploiting southafrican goldmines with the company he is working in. And he sees the basic human needs, the plain Maslow hierarchy and how it guides what people do to get by... Hi writers!The original idea of Seppo Hiltunen is almost a complete synopsis. Would someone like to finish the story by dividing it into acts? Iida CommentsHi everyone, Seppo had already done the job by himself! So no need for volunteering. Towards the SynopsisHey You all, Especially Seppo, Peter, Lawrence and Richard :-)
 A suggestion for the plot...The man not able to get home sounds good. The modern twists are nice. Perhaps you could link it back to Greek mythology for greater depth. How about a modern Ulysses? It wouldn't necessarily have to be the entire story, but I'm sure there are a few of his adventures that could translate very well into modern times. CommentsThere are many variations of Ulysses story in todays literature and films, one of the latest being the film "O brother where art thou" http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0190590/ One in the literature is that of James Joyce's Ulysses, telling a story of a day in Leopld Blooms life, having flasbacks of his past and what is in a mans mind during a one day walk in Dublin... There could be sirens in Wienna and Circe turning men to pigs in Berlin, perhaps there could be a Cyclop in Helsinki... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siren
and those make the journey recognisable.
Hmm...thank you for ideas.  what if...The reason why the business man had to cut his trip early, and was suddenly desperate to return home, was after hearing word of the death of his grandfather. So there could be some reflection to that, thinking of his grandfather's life while trying to return home, comparing his own life to that of his grandfather's.
CommentsGood ideas Seppo and Richard. I think it's basically a good idea reflecting the modern life by showing the past life. My question is: if the grandfather isn't dying, what would be the motif for the businessman to remember him? I was not expecting him to cut trip early, the idea was that the normal routine homecoming after a successful busines trip turns into a struggle. The wedding of man's daughter is happening soon after the man gets home. But I like the idea of connecting the homecoming to the flashbacks of grandfathers life. Travelling by ships or trains is more common and the world is not so "small" like in the era of vulnerable aeroplanes, with turbine engines. Thumb up. Perhaps the arias that the man sings when coming home contain those flasbacks in lyrics, it is of too much trouble to try to get decorations on stage and acts to show the life of his grandfather. New tasksHello writers!
A critique of Modern Society by Peter YoungA snapshot and critique of modernity: Capitalism... Liberalism... Modernism... Egoism... Creativity... Conflict... An appraisal of the factors that shape our collective society and help to make us all what we are today. CommentsLizette Stenqvist: Check out the 'Anonymous' idea. It's pretty much what you just suggested ;) |
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Comments
Very interesting story coming. I wonder could we put a little unexpected love and caring for this traveller ( to make him think more about what is worthy in life...)
or in wife`s life...something that appears to her ...only a faint feeling---a very strong passion. A lover who enjoys of freedom and love- maybe trying to get some advantage of this man`s wife (who knows whether she is bored, lonely,jealous,bitter or happy?) f.ex.money.
Seppo Hiltunen:
I think Zombie walk could be in between, for example if there is a scene of Berlin, there could be combined Love Parade and Zombie walk, that the main character of this story must go over somehow...the castle in Finland is quiet and nice.
Ending scene could happen in sauna, where all the ash and dust and dirt is washed away from the poor traveller. Heaven on earth, sauna...
Marcel H.:
Well, actually, dearest Tatu, I think it should end with the Zombie Apocalypse.
Tatu Siltanen:
Truck drivers' choir, a Valituskuoro of air travellers, the Finnish identity...
Seppo, you have very resonant ideas.
Marcel's ending is also entirely appropriate.
Seppo Hiltunen:
One more scenario came into my mind that could make the homecoming quite touching. Someone stoles the passport of this man during the final last trip from europe to Finland. The man has to prove he is finnish and convince the officers on the border that he is who he claims he is. And it is not an easy task. There are no fingerprints of him, because he has not committed any crime, there are no biological recognition systems considering his ID, no dna -traces in archives of police.
So he is singing who he is, what kind of relatives he has in Finland, why he wants to go to Finland. And the customs officials study him carefully, (singing in a choir doubts about his identitiy) and the man sings his answers - and at last bursts to sing an aria where he sums up his latest adventure and what kind of european he is -or more: what kind of globetrotter he now is when he must be humble to see how precious the human life is and how vulnerable our way of life, even thoug we live in "information society", we need the communities and small communities and face to face help more than ever. And by giving it to others you guarantine your part in this system.
Marcel H.:
Well, there's one idea you should think about (just stroke me a second ago): What, if the story ends in a castle in finland? :P
Seppo Hiltunen:
I had also in my mind cities. Different environments to one goal: get a ticket or find a way to get a transportation. Every city has some theme music, could be a specific variation of the main theme.
Some choir scenes that I see in my mind are:
Truck drivers choir
Trainstation choir of passengers
Airport choir
singing about movements and finding luggage and gossip of the state of the europe without fast aeroplane transportations anymore.
Ofcourse wedding choir could be also, but it is not a big one.
And it is like that that he must be in differend roles in diffrent cities. The closer he gets to home the simpler the roles are. Main character has to learn something about life through his journey.
Worries and sorrow when wife loses contact to his travelling husband may also cause something to the relation between man and wife. At least the man the wife is expecting home is no more the same person mentally.
Tatu Siltanen:
I don't think it is necessary to force this story into an exact version of Ulysses. But the cities appeal to me. Perhaps each act could be set in another city. This story could become a superstructure, so that some writer could write one part that was set in one city, and another would write the story of another city. The main actor could take different roles in different cities (A banker in the first city, then a travel agent in the next, a dish washer in Barcelona, a beggar in London, or whatever the writer wants.) If there's resources, we could add more cities or cleanly remove them as needed.
Marcel H.:
I like very much the Ulysses part of your story. Why not having this great tale retold in a modern adaption, but maybe less pessimistic than joyce did?
I think the first part of your story could be fitted a little better according to the myth... and the opera could be about the banker struggling during his way home by paassing some cities of Europe, and each of those cities could be a modern interpretation of an island.
I like that.
Tatu Siltanen:
This is a very good addition to the original idea.
What about the ending?
Seppo Hiltunen
Man goes through europe, by train and by busses.
He sees the southern countries, struggles for geting a ticket to next transportation in every stop. And he has to sell all his property he is carrying to get closer to home.
As time goes by he descends from a wealthy businessman to a beggar, trying to get some money and support to earn the next ticket closer to home.
He is begging and borrowing money, washing dishes to fancy restaurans and diving into trash bins of markets places to get some food.
He is hitch hiking and his cell phone gets stolen, he is an Ulysses of modern time. But how will the modern Ulysses arrive home, when all the hope has gone and nothing but the humanity of the man himself is almost the only thing he is wearing, with his wrecked dignity.