FIVE WITH A FALCON: Elliot Zopatti, Technical Theater (COMM '24)

In this episode of FIVE WITH A FALCON, Elliot Zopatti (COMM ‘24) talks about studying Technical Theater (TETA) within the Communications Media department and being an active member of the campus community, including serving as a Residential Advisor (RA).  He also talks about how Fitchburg State -- and, especially, his 20+ strong friend group -- helped him find his sense of belonging. 

As a member of the Honors Program, Elliot describes how he stepped out of his comfort zone with his Honors thesis project to create a personal documentary called The Little Girl in the Photo is Me . The film was an official selection of Visions, the annual juried showcase of the best student work from the CommMedia department, and received an award for Best Film at the 2024 Undergraduate Research Conference.  

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Episode transcript available here.

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Recorded in Spring 2024, this episode was produced by McKenzie Calvao and edited & sound mixed by Adam Fournier.  Both are members of the Perseverantia staff, and film/video production students in the Communications Media department.

Click here to learn more about Perseverantia. Join us for programming updates on Instagram. Or reach out with ideas or suggestions at podcasts@fitchburgstate.edu.

Transcript

[Five With a Falcon theme fades in] 

Mckenzie Calvao (Host):
If you could, could you introduce yourself for the podcast? 

Elliot Zopatti:
Yeah. My name is Elliot Zopatti. I am a senior in the communications media major with a concentration in technical theater. 

[Five With a Falcon theme fades out]

Mckenzie:
So tell us a little bit about your career at FSU. 

Elliot:
Yeah, so I've been an RA for the last three years. My first few years I was in Russell Towers and this year I've been in Simons.

I was also a peer mentor for two years and I was also a building manager for a brief period last semester. So I've been all over the place. I've done, a lot of jobs on this campus. I can never escape. 

Mckenzie:
Fantastic. So where do you find a sense of belonging at Fitchburg? 

Elliot:
I would say from mostly my friends. I met a lot of good friends through being an RA.

And then I got kidnapped into a friend group, which. You may or may not be a part of but it's been, it's been really fun. I've met a lot of really awesome people. 

We have a group chat with like 23 people in it now or some nonsense, that's like the expanded universe of our friend group. And those are the people who I love the dearest on this planet.

So it's been, it's been really nice to be able to feel like I found my people. 

Mckenzie:
Absolutely. Yeah, that's awesome. So what is your greatest accomplishment been here so far? 

Elliot:
So, I'm in the honors program here, and as part of the honors program, you do a thesis project. Typically in the end of your senior year, but I did mine one semester early because of the Communications Media Internship program.

And the project that I did was making a documentary called The Little Girl in the Photo is Me. And I am not a film student, so it was a really hard endeavor. I took three different film classes trying to learn the basics of, how a camera works, how to use DaVinci Resolve, which is the editing software that we use here, all sorts of different stuff about how to make a project that I would be proud of.

And I ended up submitting it to Visions, which is the communications media showcase they do every year here and also presented at the Undergraduate Research Conference. And I ended up winning Outstanding Visual Arts, I think is what it was called. And I was really proud of that. And I keep getting people who are like, your film was so great.

Like walking up to me on campus and it's like people, I don't know, but they recognize me from the project because my face is all over it and it's a little scary, but it's been really nice. 

Mckenzie:
That's so nice that people just come up and say that to you too. Oh my god. 

Elliot:
It's also, it's like, it's not even just students, it's like other faculty.

Mckenzie:
Wow, that's awesome though. So, in what ways have you grown or transformed during your time at Fitchburg? 

Elliot:
All of the ways. I am a completely different person than I was for my freshman year. I was the Fall 2020 class. So my freshman year, I basically never left my dorm room except to go to class and go to the dining hall.

And now I barely spend any time in my dorm room because I'm always trying to spend as much time as possible hanging out with my friends and participating in different clubs and stuff. 

So I would say that the thing that I have definitely improved the most on is like my social skills because I was very much an introvert before college and I just needed to find the people who I connected with in order to become more extroverted.

[Five With a Falcon theme fades in]

And now there are times where like, I am kicked out of hanging out with my friends because I have been there for too long. And like, that's not something that I did in high school. Like I always was like, okay, I'm done. Goodbye. But now it's like, no, I never want to leave. You're also lovely. I love you so much.

Mckenzie: 

That's fantastic, though. That's such a wonderful thing to have. Well, thank you so much for joining me today. And thank you for listening.

[Five With a Falcon theme fades out]

[Perseverantia theme fades in] 

Davey Apollon:
Hello. My name is Davey Apollon. I'm a senior at Fitchburg State University. I'm a Comm Media major, and you are listening to the Perseverantia, the Fitchburg State Podcast Network.

[Perseverantia theme fades out]