~ Nationality: United States ~
The Return by Edna St. Vincent Millay
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iLNkl5UqY4g
Voice and editing by Nic S., using public-domain footage from the Hubble space telescope.
How to Time an Engine by Matt Mullins
A remix of 1940s footage, both professional and amateur, by R.W. Perkins for a piece by Matt Mullins from his book Three Ways Of The Saw. The recitation is by Mullins.
Ganthier by Kwame Dawes
Another in the Voices from Haiti series produced by the Pulitzer Center, exploring life after the earthquake and focusing on the lives of those affected by HIV/AIDS, with poetry by Kwame Dawes, images by photographer Andre Lambertson, editing by Robin Bell and music by Kevin Simmonds. See YouTube for the text.
Postcard From Persephone by Luisa A. Igloria
http://vimeo.com/43880844
The reading isn’t perfect, but the imaginative shot selection more than makes up for that, I think. And while most student videopoems come out of film classes, this was unusual in that it was made for a literature class, according to the brief description at Vimeo.
For more on the poet, see her website.
Jonah by Robert Peake
Alastair Cook‘s 20th filmpoem uses a text and reading by Robert Peake. The film is due to premiere at the Felix Poetry Festival in Antwerp on June 15.
The poem’s back-story is fascinating. Let me quote from the first couple of paragraphs from Alastair’s description on Vimeo:
[P]rior to London, Robert lived in a small town full of artists in the foothills of the Santa Barbara mountains called Ojai (a Chumash Indian name meaning either “moon” or “nest”). He lived next to the directors of the local theatre company on one side, and a metal sculptor called Mark Benkert and his wife Marcia on the other. One morning just before dawn, a 400-pound black bear wandered through the theatre directors’ yard and out onto Robert’s street. He then climbed into a tree and became stuck.
Robert takes up the story: “he drew us all out, awed us with his presence, and brought us together as neighbours. Sadly, because it was also the first day of bear hunting season, he was shot out of the tree that night and killed by the wildlife “authorities.” Benkert swung into action, welding and cutting all night to produce a half-ton metal outline of a bear in rusted iron sheeting. Early the next morning, a capable rock climber, he hauled himself and the statue up the tree and placed it there–his bulletproof metal bear defying all. As far as I know, it is still in the tree. Mark and I became closer, and finally discovered that we held in common losing a son: my James in infancy, his Jonah gone at thirty-two from drugs and mental illness leading to suicide. The town commissioned Mark to create a bigger second statue to be displayed prominently.”
Color of Home by Meena Alexander
http://vimeo.com/43268894
With spoken word videos, sometimes setting is everything. Ram Devineni filmed Alexander on the Highline in New York City for a Meena Alexander feature in Issue 3 of Ratapallax magazine. For more on the poet, visit her website.
Ecclesiastes 11:1 by Richard Wilbur
Faith Eskola created this month’s Motionpoem for a poem by America’s preeminent contemporary formalist poet. See Motionpoems for the text and some process notes by Eskola in the comments.
Disintegration Nation by Howie Good
A “mash-up-videopoem” by the indefatigable Swoon Bildos, focusing on “truth and fiction in the US…TV and violence…reality and fear.” The poem is from Howie Good’s Dreaming in Red. The video uses footage from Kansas City Confidential by Phil Karlson (1952) as well as CCTV from the security tapes of the fatal police beating of Kelly Thomas.
Underwear by Lawrence Ferlinghetti
An animation by film student Aja Rose Matthews, with the reading of course by Ferlinghetti himself.
Thoreau and the Lightning by David Wagoner
See the Motionpoems website for the text. The animator and director is Adam Tow. As with April’s Motionpoem, the free email newsletter contained additional content not archived on the website — an interview with Tow.
Motionpoems: What made you choose this poem to work with?
Adam Tow: After reading all the poems available for this year’s event, ‘Thoreau and the Lightning’ was the piece that I had the strongest connection to. As I read it, I was reminded of my grandfather’s home in the country and the land around it. He was a hard working midwestern man that for some reason I felt had a lot in common with the character in the poem.MP: What is this poem’s most important moment for you?
AT: For me, the lines that ask if he should “feel humbled” and “give thanks” are the crux of the story. The moving truck and estate sale sign are references to my experiences watching my grandfather’s estate being sold as his health deteriorated. Visually speaking, the tree exploding is my favorite shot.MP: What was the biggest challenge in turning this piece into a film, and what was your solution?
AT: I struggled with how I wanted to interpret the final sentence of the poem. I had two ideas for what meaning to imply with the visuals (one involving a hearse, the other a moving truck). As far as how to depict things, I wasn’t sure how to show both the positive memories of the past as well as the farm’s abandoned state at the same time. I decided to use a shimmery effect to illustrate his memories overlaid on the farm’s present day appearance.MP: What did you find most surprising in this process?
AT: It was interesting to see how much you can change the implied message of the poem just by altering a seemingly minor visual element. Also, hearing the music and voiceover for the first time was one of the most exciting moments I’ve had in the last year.MP: Is there anything else you want to add?
AT: I have to give loads of thanks and credit to Scott Yoshimura (music composition/performance, voiceover) and Logan Christian (audio recording and mixing). I intentionally gave them zero direction and they knocked it out of the park, as I knew they would. Also, many thanks to David Wagoner for agreeing to let me humbly interpret his poem.
