Abstract

As a curtain of trees opens and dawn breaks over the glistening waters of Lake Ontario, a fish and a bird spot each other through the surface and fall madly in love. They dance and sing together from their respective atmospheres, yet each time the bird soars past the water's edge and onto the beach, the fish cannot follow. Night after night, by the light of the moon, the fish trains herself to leap out of the water, hoping to breach high enough to join her beau above. Late one afternoon, the fish approaches the shore, where the bird stands with his flock. She launches herself from the water, and as she sparkles in the sun, the two creatures see each other plainly for the first time. She's flying, she's falling–and she's flying again as the bird hoists her up, up, up by the tail. The fish resumes their song alone as she tastes the clouds for the first time. The bird drops her from a great height and she lands, broken, in his nest. The fish gasps her final notes, drying out while the sun sets on the lake. The bird lands over her, silhouetted by the setting sun, and feasts on her remains. A Fish & A Bird spawned from the heart-wrenching feelings of an ill-fitting relationship, which can be viscerally gutting, indulgently overdramatic, and a little ridiculous. The film that emerged juggles all three, drawing audiences in with the absurd humor of realistic creatures performing a full-throated opera, letting them believe in the star-crossed love, and ripping it away in a genre-fitting conclusion. The film strives to both poke fun at and harness the strengths of opera and animation while telling a sweeping tale of an unlikely pairing.

Publication Date

12-19-2025

Document Type

Thesis

Student Type

Graduate

Degree Name

Film and Animation (MFA)

Department, Program, or Center

Film and Animation, School of

College

College of Art and Design

Advisor

Mark Reisch

Advisor/Committee Member

Meghdad Asadilari

Advisor/Committee Member

Andrew Sonntag

Campus

RIT – Main Campus

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