Latest video reviews
For two NATO soldiers… by Paul Perry
The complete title of the poem is “For two NATO soldiers who drowned in an attempt to recover supplies from a river in the province of Badghis, Western Afghanistan, November, 2009”; Swoon calls the videopoem Drift. Irish poet Paul Perry’s text contrasts sharply in mood with the video images. As Swoon writes in a blog post:
The main images came not from me but I used footage from the site Beachfront B-Roll. Crisp and clean footage. Idyllic images with water, birds and logs.
Movement and juxtaposition I found with Cullen McHale. This footage of young men, alive, in their prime and having fun with searching kicks in innocent danger forms a perfect contrast with the content of the poem. Yet they tell a story of what was, or could have been.
I only had to add a layer of ‘light’ and some treated photographs to add to the general atmosphere of the video.
Orpheus’ Pony by Lisa Tuyula
Departing from the usual relationship between poetry and animation in which the latter illustrates the former, this animation may be said to exist in dynamic tension or conversation with the text and music. The director, Michael Fragstein of Büro Achter April, told me in an email that his animation came first, and the German-Congolese jazz singer Lisa Tuyula wrote her spoken-word composition in response, following which Marc Fragstein wrote the music that ties it all together.
While I think this was intended more as a music video than a poetry video, the ekphrastic approach is one that poets and animators ought to consider experimenting with.
i carry your heart with me(i carry it in… by e.e. cummings
Director/producer and editor Jacqueline Donahue was assisted by director of photography Nathan Ng and actors Naomi Khanukayev and Sami Lodi. I like the fact that the father in the poem, from whose perspective the film was shot, is never shown, and the relationship between the daughter and a boyfriend adds an interesting dimension to the text (which may be read at the Poetry Foundation website).
For a very different videopoetic interpretation, see Experimental Film: Heart by Coenraad Viviers.
Höpöhöpö Böks (The Höpöhöpö of Bök) by Eiríkur Örn Norðdahl
Icelandic poet Eiríkur Örn Norðdahl calls this “a univocal lipogram composed for Christian Bök, author of Eunoia.” The univocality here is brought to you by the letter ö, and recited with characteristic verve by the author (who apparently also did the animation). This received a Special Mention at the 2010 Zebra Poetry Film Festival.
Utan Hringsins (Outside the Circle) by Steinn Steinarr
http://vimeo.com/32051497
Steinn Steinarr (1908-1958) is Iceland’s most famous modern poet, and “Utan Hringsins” is one of his best-known poems. It was recently put to music by the Icelandic singer Friðrik Ómar, who used it as the title song of his fifth album, Outside The Ring, and sang an English translation by Jón Óttar Ragnarsson. I found another translation online in a Yahoo group devoted to the study of Icelandic and Old Norse:
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Utan Hringsins by Steinn Steinarr Ég geng í hring Minn skuggi féll um stund Ég geng í hring |
Outside the Circle translated by Alan Thompson I walk in a circle My shadow fell for a moment I walk in a circle |
The video and sound are by Máni M. Sigfússon. Arnljótur Sigurðsson collaborated on the music.
