Monday, July 23, 2012

(Rochon) Into the Depths...

"I'll never let go, Jack. I promise." -Rose from Titanic (1997), before she let go of Jack's hand.


Approaching the Titanic Museum was like approaching a giant jagged iceberg protruding from the cement ground.  This iceberg is split into four quadrants by a slightly taller tinted crystal.  There is also a Brass cutout of the word "Titanic" in front of the iceberg.  Bravely, I opened the gateway into this massive formation and proceeded into its depts.  The interior of the iceberg is very wide and spacious, containing a gift shop and an elevator to access the various floors of the museum.  Every floor is unique and had different interactive displays.  One of these exhibits is one that offers a look at the blueprints of the entire ship. It occupies six to eight feet of one wall and 


roughly fourteen feet of the floor directly in front of the wall.  The wall display is activated by stepping on one of the electronically generated arrows on the floor section.  Each floor activation causes the floor screen to shift to a blueprint of one the Titanic's decks.  This in turn, makes the wall screen produce information about certain sections of the floor screen's current blueprints.  For entertainment, I pressed the arrows as many times as could; even beating some of the children eager to activate them.  I travelled towards a long line of people destined for a small ride that reveals the construction of the Titanic through the eyes of its workers.  I tucked myself into the little car held by a hook attached to a ceiling belt (much like a ski lift) to see how the Titanic was built.  The small journey revealed the vast amounts of materials used for the ship and the long grueling process the workers went through.  I continued my adventure to the theatre that shows footage of divers discovering the deep sea ruins of the Titanic.  The divers called our attention to small objects like shoes, shovels, and an ancient lantern that once belonged to the passengers and crew members.  Below this floor, I located another section that revealed a different perspective of the Titanic's ruins.  Little rectangles clustered together on a small section of the floor formed a window into the murky depths of the Atlantic, where the recked bough and stern of the mighty lay silently rusting.  I immediately felt submerged in those icy waters gazing from inside a mini sub using my lights to find my way around the bottom of the seafloor.  After getting a good look at the wreckage, I emerged from the Atlantic and the iceberg, and returned to the surface of Belfast; satisfied by my exploration of the Titanic Museum.






4 comments:

  1. Nice description of the museum. The iceberg image does hold one's attention.Nice quote from the now famous film as well. Watch tense shifts. I think the idea that people should see the museum from the point of view of the men who built the ship is important. I am glad you brought that up.

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  2. I think you need to watch your paragraphing. There are obvious changes in idea here but no structural clues to note them. Good photos.

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  3. There's some great imagery in here. At points it seems the peice could have more of a arch if you better resolved the tension brought with the iceburg image. Overall though, it's a good description of your experience at the museum.

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  4. You had great description of the museum--you can tell that you spent time exploring it, which makes your piece sound trustworthy. Maybe you could pull out a particular part of the museum that affected you the most and describe what makes it so effective.

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