Soft Choreography: WEEK 4 Blog Post
Original Poem by Mary Oliver
Reflection:
I was extremely excited about creating this ‘poem film’ because I automatically came to an idea after reading this poem, ‘Beans’ by Mary Oliver. After spending a couple hours editing this piece together I watched it over, finalised it, and appreciated what I had produced.
Then I watched everyone else’s.
I’m now disappointed in mine.
I completely understand that what I created was what I set out to; depict my interpretation of what the ‘beans’ represent (to me it was innocence, and so I depicted that through children and animals). I put a fair amount of work and thought in doing so and I am proud of that, even though I used videos I already had in my files (since we can’t leave the house I felt it was my only option). However, it feels too comfortable now. I feel like I’ve not pushed the boundaries of what a poem film can be, or rather what I can create in general. I’m glad I have noticed this and am happy that I came to this realisation after viewing others works. That way at least I’ll get to apply what I’ve learnt from them in the upcoming assessments 🙂
I was not expecting that (in a good way don’t worry!). I found myself falling into the rhythm and the beat of the words interchanging with the video and it was quite soothing. And the contrast of this poem about beans being interchanged with images of people that I assume mean a great deal to you is an alluring juxtaposition that I never would have considered. I felt like every video snippet was a pea in their pod. Really cool work.
Hi! I really like your video and take on the poem! I liked the editing and transitions between shots. I think the orange-ish colour you used was nice and tied the whole piece together – helping to give it its colour, atmosphere, and emotion.
I’m not so sure if I grasp the concept of your video, however the poem selection was great and the combination of snapshots, followed by a fade-in, fade-out orange backdrop with each line of the poem strangely creates a jarring yet, soothing effect. Normally, a poem video like this (that features humans and the simple, banality of their lives) might have a music backdrop or if there’s no music, the snapshots of these moments might be longer to allow the viewers to gain a footing in the “narratives” of the video. But since you keep the moments short and their sounds intact, I find my attention soothed by the poem and the constant orange backdrop while the sounds of children’s laughter and giggles linger in the back of my mind.
Essentially, the poem and the orange backdrop became a “bridge” between that helps the viewers emotionally connect with the ephemeral snapshots and I find that really cool!