~ Videopoems ~
Videopoetry, filmpoetry, cinepoetry, poetry-film… the label doesn’t matter. What matters is that text and images enter into dialogue, creating a new, poetic whole.
And Sometimes by Christian Bök
The London-based graphic/digital/motion designer Tom Martin says,
MA project looking at visualising the spoken word using kinetic typography. I chose the poem ‘And Sometimes’, which itemises every English word that contains only consonants, as hearing it spoken is an entirely different experience to reading it.
It was published in the book ‘Eunoia’, designed by its author – so in order to best capture his voice I based the video on his design. To capture the rhythm of the poem, I redesigned the type based on the wave pattern of the audio.
As the object of this exercise was to recreate the spoken word, I then distorted the audio so it does not clearly repeat the visuals, yet still enhances the unusual atmosphere of the piece.
Christian Bök is a contemporary Canadian poet, whose book Eunoia “won the Canadian Griffin Poetry Prize, and which has been said to be ‘Canada’s best-selling poetry book ever,'” according to the Wikipedia, which also includes this charming detail: “He was born ‘Christian Book’, but changed his last name ‘to avoid unseemly confusion with the Bible.'” There’s a Flash version of Chapter e from Eunoia at Ubuweb.
Oh Yes by Charles Bukowski
A new interpretation of the Bukowski poem by German artist Clemens Wilhelm. The decision to make it a silent film was especially interesting for a poet so associated with oral delivery, I thought.
Three poems from Savage Sunsets by Adrian C. Louis
http://vimeo.com/45367747
The poems are “Archeology,” “Wheels,” and “Love the Distant Roar,” expertly knit together by Sky Hopinka into one of the best poetry book trailers I’ve seen. Most unusual for the genre is the choice of a reader (Trevino Brings Plenty) other than the poet, but this really works to put the focus squarely on the poems and — with the addition of two listeners — the communal reality they appear to reflect.
Adrian C. Louis is no stranger to film; his novel Skins was made into a feature-length film starring Graham Greene and directed by Chris Eyre. Savage Sunsets, his tenth book of poems, is forthcoming in September from West End Press. For more, visit his website.
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Housekeeping note: I’ve just started a Book trailers category here, thinking it might be useful to compare and contrast different approaches to the genre. I’ve retroactively added the few videos that came up when I seached the site for “book trailers,” but I know I’ve missed some. Please let me know if you can think of any more trailers I’ve posted.
Clearance by Tom Schilling
http://vimeo.com/47808467
Directed and produced by Jan Walentek, this was shown at the 2010 ZEBRA Poetry Film Festival in Berlin. There’s also a version in German:
ctrlC/ctrlV by Katrijn Clemer
Belgian poet Katrijn Clemer reads her poem, which, according to the note at Vimeo,
was constructed out of 100 lines taken from a diary.
Each line deconstructed into separate words, constructed back into 20 new lines.
Deconstructed those 20 again into words and then constructed the poem using the cut/up technique.
Annmarie Sauer translated it into English for the subtitles. Swoon did everything else.
Steak Night by Melissa Broder
A fun animation and text from filmmaker Daniel Lichtenberg and poet Melissa Broder. “Steak Night” appears in her widely reviewed new book, Meat Heart. The soundtrack includes original music by Diana Salier and Rob Justesen, and the poem is read by Edward Carden. Both music and animation were produced at Photon SF.
“Steak Night” originally appeared online at The Awl.
The Conqueror Worm by Edgar Allan Poe
Poe would’ve loved this! It was directed by Aurélie Godefroy with music by the band Les Pleureuses, whose keyboard player and art director, Yannis Lo Pellegrino, is the main actor/reciter here, and shares credit with Godefoy for the making of the film.
Without You (Ohne Dich) by Hermann Hesse
http://vimeo.com/47438051
A very minimalist take on the Hesse poem by Philip David Edson. It uses the classic James Wright translation for the titling, with punctuation and capitalization removed.
Martyr by Danielle Nicole Burgess
Model/actress/writer Danielle Nicole Burgess stars in this video adaptation of her poem by Austin, Texas-based filmmaker J.J. Castillo of Jose Jones Films. Castillo writes in a recent update on the Jose Jones Films Facebook page:
Really happy with “Martyr” the short poem film I made with Danielle Nicole Burgess, just need to finalize the music…Now I’m thinking about starting an entire series where filmmakers put imagery to other peoples poems. It would be great exposure for the filmmaker and the poet. More to come…
Wax Ear by Alice Lyons
A short poem by Alice Lyons made into a film by Orla Mc Hardy. As with The Polish Language, this appears to have been a collaboration: Lyons is credited with 2-D animation, and Mc Hardy with photography, compositing, computer animation and sound.
