Breanna Butler

42

“42” written and narrated by Breanna Butler; Licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0.
Tears of Joy” by Exzel Music Publishing; Licensed under CC By Attribution 3.0.

Synopsis: 42 is a reflective digital story presented as a poetic letter from me, a daughter, to my late mother. Blending personal narration with archival photos and video, the story explores intergenerational parallels, grief, and identity, culminating in a meditation on memory, loss, and enduring connection.

Assets: I wrote and narrated the poem, and the pictures and videos were either from my archives or filmed myself.

Software: Cyberlink’s PhotoDirector 365
PowerDirector 365
AudioDirector 365

*Citations*
Audio Assets:

Video Assets:

  • “Birth of Baby Bre” by Breanna Butler; Licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0; edited with Cyberlink’s PhotoDirector 365
  • “Hillarie’s Red Shoes” by Breanna Butler; Licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0; edited with Cyberlink’s PhotoDirector 365
  • “Hillarie’s Red Shoes – Animated” by Breanna Butler; Licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0; edited with Cyberlink’s PowerDirector 365
  • “Bre’s Red Shoes” by Breanna Butler; Licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0; edited with Cyberlink’s PhotoDirector 365
  • “Bre’s Red Shoes – Animated” by Breanna Butler; Licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0; edited with Cyberlink’s PowerDirector 365
  • “Hillarie at Work” by Breanna Butler; Licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0; edited with Cyberlink’s PhotoDirector 365
  • “Mall Portrait” by Breanna Butler; Licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0; edited with Cyberlink’s PhotoDirector 365
  • “New Apartment” by Breanna Butler; Licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0; edited with Cyberlink’s PhotoDirector 365
  • “4 Month Hillarie” by Breanna Butler; Licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0; edited with Cyberlink’s PhotoDirector 365
  • “Before Church” by Breanna Butler; Licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0; edited with Cyberlink’s PhotoDirector 365
  • “Summer Girl Scout Camp” by Breanna Butler; Licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0; edited with Cyberlink’s PhotoDirector 365
  • “Bre & Buddy” by Breanna Butler; Licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0; edited with Cyberlink’s PhotoDirector 365
  • “Passport Ready” by Breanna Butler; Licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0; edited with Cyberlink’s PhotoDirector 365
  • “Paris Bus” by Breanna Butler; Licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0; edited with Cyberlink’s PhotoDirector 365
  • “Cabrillo Graduation” by Breanna Butler; Licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0; edited with Cyberlink’s PhotoDirector 365
  • “Graduation Day” by Breanna Butler; Licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0; edited with Cyberlink’s PhotoDirector 365
  • “UCSC Walk the Walk” by Breanna Butler; Licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0; edited with Cyberlink’s PhotoDirector 365
  • “Bre’s Hearst Castle” by Breanna Butler; Licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0; edited with Cyberlink’s PhotoDirector 365
  • “Hopeful Bride” by Breanna Butler; Licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0; edited with Cyberlink’s PhotoDirector 365
  • “Sad Bride – Black & White Animated” by Breanna Butler; Licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0; edited with Cyberlink’s PowerDirector 365
  • “Black Widow Cosplay” by Breanna Butler; Licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0; edited with Cyberlink’s PhotoDirector 365
  • “To Thunderous Applause” by Breanna Butler; Licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0; edited with Cyberlink’s PhotoDirector 365
  • “Harley Quinn Cosplay” by Breanna Butler; Licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0; edited with Cyberlink’s PhotoDirector 365
  • “R2D2 with Friend” by Breanna Butler; Licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0; edited with Cyberlink’s PhotoDirector 365
  • “Nevermore” by Breanna Butler; Licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0; edited with Cyberlink’s PhotoDirector 365
  • “Napa Throne” by Breanna Butler; Licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0; edited with Cyberlink’s PhotoDirector 365
  • “Goofies” by Breanna Butler; Licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0; edited with Cyberlink’s PhotoDirector 365
  • “Soobie” by Breanna Butler; Licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0; edited with Cyberlink’s PhotoDirector 365
  • “V-Man from Slipknot” by Breanna Butler; Licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0; edited with Cyberlink’s PhotoDirector 365
  • “Wedding Bands – Animated” by Breanna Butler; Licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0; edited with Cyberlink’s PowerDirector 365
  • “Profile Picture” by Breanna Butler; Licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0; edited with Cyberlink’s PhotoDirector 365
  • “Stryder & the Giant – Animated” by Breanna Butler; Licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0; edited with Cyberlink’s PowerDirector 365
  • “Hillarie’s Car” by Breanna Butler; Licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0; edited with Cyberlink’s PhotoDirector 365
  • “Hillarie’s Bike” by Breanna Butler; Licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0; edited with Cyberlink’s PhotoDirector 365
  • “Hillarie’s Eater Bunny” by Breanna Butler; Licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0; edited with Cyberlink’s PhotoDirector 365
  • “Hillarie at the Beach” by Breanna Butler; Licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0; edited with Cyberlink’s PowerDirector 365
  • “New Red Shoes” by Breanna Butler; Licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0; edited with Cyberlink’s PowerDirector 365
  • “Lake Day” by Breanna Butler; Licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0; edited with Cyberlink’s PhotoDirector 365
  • “Hillarie in a Hat” by Breanna Butler; Licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0; edited with Cyberlink’s PhotoDirector 365
  • “Go-Go Hillarie” by Breanna Butler; Licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0; edited with Cyberlink’s PhotoDirector 365
  • “Hillarie & Omar” by Breanna Butler; Licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0; edited with Cyberlink’s PhotoDirector 365
  • “The Toy Box” by Breanna Butler; Licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0; edited with Cyberlink’s PhotoDirector 365

Dust, Deco, & Depression

“Dust, Deco, & Depression” by Breanna Butler. License CC0.

Audio Editing: Cyberlink AudioDirector 365
Video Editing: Cyberlink PowerDirector 365

Audio Credit

Yes! We Have No Bananas” by Golden Gate Orchestra; Silver; Cohn in the Internet Archive. Licensed under Public Domain.

Video Credits

The Plow That Broke the Plains” by the US Department of Agriculture in the National Archives and Records Administration. Licensed under CC0 1.0 Universal.

‘Frisco in Grip of Strike!” by Pathé News and RKO Distributing Corp in Library of Congress. Licensed under Unknown.

Image Credits (in order of appearance)

Old Timer Structural Worker” by Lewis Hinein Wikimedia Commons. Licensed under Public Domain. {Title Card}

Art Deco interior with furniture by Émile-Jacques Ruhlmann” uploaded by Neoclassicism Enthusiast in Wikimedia Commons. Licensed under Public Domain.

Sorting the Mail” by Reginald Marsh in Wikimedia Commons. Licensed under Public Domain.

Hooverville” uploaded by Hmalcolm03 in Wikimedia Commons. Licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Huts and Unemployed” by Berenice Abbott in Wikimedia Commons. Licensed under Public Domain.

Cochise County Courthouse Bisbee Arizona ArtDecoDoors” by Peter Bronski in Wikimedia Commons. Licensed under Public Domain.

American Union Bank” by the National Archives in Wikimedia Commons. Licensed under Public Domain.

Unemployment Rally in DC: 1930” uploaded by Washington Area Spark in Flickr. Licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0.

Skid Row” by Dorothea Lange in Wikimedia Commons. Licensed under Public Domain.

Chrysler Building” uploaded by Magnus Manske in Wikimedia Commons. Licensed under CC Attribution 2.0.

Neuwielier – End of Prohibition – 6 Apr MC – Allentown PA” uploaded by user Atwngirl in Wikimedia Commons. Licensed under Public Domain.

5 December 1933: U.S. Prohibition Ends!” uploaded by Thomas Cizauskas in Flickr. Licensed under PDM 1.0.

After End of Prohibition New York Times 1933” uploaded by user Adeletron 3030 in Wikimedia Commons. Licensed under Public Domain.

Aspects of Negro Life: From Slavery to Reconstruction” by Aaron Douglas in New York Public Library Digital Collections. Licensed under Public Domain.

The Horror Hour

“The Horror Hour: Frankenstein” is by Breanna Butler, licensed under CC0 1.0 Universal.
Bled Castle, Slovenia” by Dimitry Anikin, licensed under CC0 1.0 Universal.

Chapter 5 of “Frankenstein” by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley found in Project Gutenberg-tm. Read by Breanna Butler. Please see Credits for sound clips used.

I loved reading horror stories when I was growing up. Some of my favorites included gothic literature like Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley’s Frankenstein. When I was a teacher, I played audiobooks while the students read along (multiple modalities), and they especially liked the ones with sound effects or music in them. It would create a more immersive environment. I could not always afford to buy the nice audiobooks for my classes, so I was sometimes limited to what I could find in the library or on YouTube. Taking my love of horror and using my classroom experience as inspriation, I thought it would be fun to create a podcast that read horror stories from the works available in Project Gutenberg-tm. Since the scene is set during a storm, I added the light rain and thunder sound. Then, I faded from the light rain to the music; I felt music adequately terrifying.

Credits:
Bled Castle, Slovenia” by Dimitry Anikin from Wikimedia Commons is licensed under CC0 1.0 Universal.
Stock sound “Thunder01.mp3” and “Rain02.mp3” by Cyberlink’s AudioDirector.
Frankenstein FX (120 BPM)” by Xinematix is licensed under CC BY 4.0.
Chapter 5 of “Frankenstein” by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley from Project Gutenberg-tm is read by Breanna Butler and is licensed under CC0 1.0 Universal.

The Lady Iustitia

Berner Iustitia” (1656 x 2662) by user Mael vreich in Wikimedia Commons and is licensed under the Public Domain. Derivative (700 x 420) by Breanna Butler for the Public Domain. Text from the UN’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Photo of “Berner Iustitia” (1656 x 2662) found in Wikimedia Commons and is licensed under the Public Domain. Photo edited in Cyberlink’s PhotoDirector by Breanna Butler, who releases the derivative to the Public Domain. Article 10 found in the UN’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Rural Sunset

Sunset, Before the Storm by Breanna Butler

Sunset, Before the Storm by Breanna Butler CC BY-NC 4.0

I took this photo in September, 2022, before Hurricane Ian made landfall. My husband and I were enjoying the nice weather outside before the oncoming storm arrived. Because of where we were located, we did not need to evacuate. But, it was my first time riding out hurricane level winds. This photo was taken from my front porch, and I cropped it so that the sky, with its windblown clouds and sweeping colors, is the feature instead of the asphalt driveway and white fence.

The cropped image is not as busy compared to the full image. The trees give a nice border of contrast and highlight the gradient created by the colors. The crop removes the “blandness” of a man-made manicured lawn and focuses directly on the drama of nature. The only editing done was the crop. This photo was taken with my Google Pixel phone instead of my trusty DSLR, but it got the job done.

Boop Oop a Doop

Image Title: Konica Minola Digital Camera*

*Image Title is Konica Minolta Digital Camera but from the tags it is also named the Rosa ‘Betty Boop’ and is licensed under CC-BY-SA-4.0

I had the “Boop Oop a Doop” song stuck in my head for a few days – the one from Betty Boop. I’ve only seen the cartoon a few times, but it is certainly catchy. There is this one version on YouTube, and then I thought it would be a fun bit of audio for this assignment. Helen Kane sang the linked YouTube version, but I noticed many comments referred to an “Esther Jones.” I didn’t think too much of it then and continued my search for a song for the assignment. The search Betty Boop on Internet Archive guided my journey, and I found the results “Mae Questel, the voice of Betty Boop” and then the track “Don’t Take my Boop Oop E Doop Away.” This was the song. After retrieving the song, I thought, huh, that’s strange – Mae Questel is another name. My history teacher senses tingled, and it had been a while since I did a Wiki deep dive, so I searched for Betty Boop on Wikipedia, and sure enough – Mae Questel was a Jewish actress who played Betty Boop and Olive Oyl. So that was one name down – Who, then, was Helen Kane?

The Betty Boop Wiki explained who the other voice actresses were, and further scrolling led me to a reference about the Helen Kane Lawsuit. Helen Kane sued Fleischer Studios and Paramount in 1932 for allegedly copying her distinctive “baby” singing style to create Betty Boop. Another handy, dandy Wikipedia search later for “Baby Esther” led me to the page of Esther Lee Jones – the same Esther Jones of the YouTube comments from earlier. Baby Esther was an African American child singer and entertainer in the late 1920s known for using a distinctive “baby” or “boop-oop-a-doop” vocal style. During Helen Kane’s infringement lawsuit against Fleischer Studios over Betty Boop, evidence showed that Baby Esther had performed this style earlier and, in fact, was the inspiration for both Fleischer’s Betty Boop and Kane’s flapper persona, weakening Kane’s claim that she originated it. This testimony helped lead to the dismissal of Kane’s case in 1934.

There is little known about Esther Jones; unfortunately, there are no recordings of her songs or voice. What a piece of history that would have been—the first Betty Boop on record. But alas, we live in this timeline. And there was my little wormhole, peaking back through history over an unfamiliar topic. As for the rose pictured, Betty Boop has her own flower as well, a floribunda rose, to be specific, which was produced by rose grower Tom Carruth.

References:

Baby Esther. (2025, January 9). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baby_Esther

Betty Boop. (2025, January 19). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betty_Boop

Helen Kane. (2025, January 12). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helen_Kane

Mae Questel. (2024, December 27). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mae_Questel

Rosa ‘Betty Boop’. (2024, January 22). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosa_%27Betty_Boop%27

Short and Sweet

Greetings, fellow students!

My name is Breanna. I’m originally from a small town in Texas. I lived in California for 20 years before moving to Monticello, FL, a few years ago. I am a former English/History high school teacher with a BA in English literature (UC Santa Cruz) and a master’s in education (University of La Verne). I am studying for my master’s in information at FSU and am thrilled about all the new things I’ve learned and will learn. So far, my favorite writing assignments have been about UAVs, Bigfoot, and my extensive nail polish collection.

I work as a dedicated caregiver for my husband, a disabled veteran. We have our American bully, Stryder, who is the best of boys and a true brand ambassador. People always ask to pet him and take pictures with him. We adopted him from the Leon County Humane Society in Tallahassee, FL. They do good work there and are a credit to their cause.

In my spare time, I enjoy creating cosplays, which my former students got a kick out of – their favorite was Black Widow. I also play D&D on Sundays with an online group, using Fantasy Grounds as our platform.

I am a passionate hobbyist photographer, so I look forward to this class to hone my skills and learn new ones in digital media.