~ January 2015 ~
Pond5 Public Domain Project gives free access to 10,000 historical film clips
Online multimedia marketplace Pond5 has just launched a Public Domain Project, which provides free access to a variety of media including nearly 10,000 public-domain film clips from various U.S. government sources and other repositories. It’s unclear what percentage of it has been uploaded to the web for the first time, but simply having such a large, curated collection available under one virtual roof and searchable by keyword should make it an important new resource for videopoets and other filmmakers. According to a help page,
Pond5 is thrilled to begin representing public domain content on our Website through the Pond5 Public Domain Project. We are making this content available to our customers and contributors without any charge, so they can rediscover part of mankind’s history and build upon it in their creative projects. We have designated Content on the Website as being “Public Domain Content” when we believe that it is in the public domain under the laws of the United States, meaning there are no copyright restrictions over that content.
[…]
What are Pond5’s sources of Public Domain Content?
We have generally obtained our public domain content from three categories of sources:
- U.S. government repositories of creative works.
- Other online and offline collections of public domain content that we believe are reputable.
- Content that our curators or contributors have reviewed, and based on that review, believe are in the public domain.
I’ve added the link to Moving Poems’ page of Web Resources for Videopoem Makers. Thanks to Anna Dickie for bringing it to my attention.
Crows by Lori Lamothe
Lori Lamothe is the latest poet to have work added to The Poetry Storehouse, which is where Australian multimedia artist Jutta Pryor found this poem (originally published in Third Coast) and the reading by Nic S.. Pryor is responsible not only for the cinematography and direction but also for the very effective soundtrack.
The Art of Poetry Film with Cheryl Gross: “Highway Coda”
Highway Coda by Matt Mullins (Mull)
Poem and video by Matt Mullins
Music by Michael Pounds
I usually look for collaborations between a video artist and poet, but in the case of Highway Coda, the poet Matt Mullins wears both hats. The visuals are a perfect setting for his poetry. The music by Michael Pounds complements the splendor of this piece. That is the actual partnership. It’s a wonderful soundtrack that takes an otherwise mundane journey and turns it into an adventure, allowing us to visit the past by way of entering lost time.
Concerning the video, the burn filter that Matt applies along with sound effects throws the viewer into a mid-20th-century atmosphere, very cool and nostalgic. The use of looping and reversing of the driving section of the video follows the poem perfectly, thus causing the rhythm of the piece to be emotionally disquieting yet engaging.
I love the unconventional visuals such as garbage and abandoned cars that the poet uses to symbolize icons and landmarks. A good example is the Chinese food container that was taken away by a crow. At first I was confused as to why he chose to show us wings and the crow. But when it’s explained that the crow took the container, realistically it makes perfect sense and adds a bit of humor. This is exactly what a scavenger would do, pick garbage and hold it in high regard as if it found a pot of gold.
There is a part of me that wants to know where the artist is driving, but then I ask myself does it really matter? He may just be coming or going from someplace routine. The impression I get from the video is that the artist resides in and identifies with the past. That’s his perception of life. This to me is what On The Road would look like if were made into a video poem.
Editor’s note: “The Art of Poetry Film” will be on hiatus for a week or two as Cheryl begin a three-month artist’s residency in Heidelberg, but she assures us she’ll still have time to write columns once she settles in, so filmmakers and videopoets may continue to contact her with suggestions of collaborative projects to review.
Deze zachte witte kamer / Our padded white rooms: six poems by Runa Svetlikova
Belgian poet Runa Svetlikova‘s collection, Deze zachte witte kamer, has just won the 2015 Herman de Coninck Debut Prize. Here’s a film Swoon (Marc Neys) made a few months ago with help from the Spanish filmmaker Eduardo Yagüe. (Be sure to watch on a laptop or desktop computer and expand to full screen so the English subtitles are legible.) Marc described their process in a blog post:
Early this summer Runa Svetlikova asked me if I would be interested in creating a video for some poems from her debut ‘Deze zachte witte kamer’ (Uitgeverij Marmer, 2014)
“The beating heart of that new collection is a series of six poems that would fit perfectly in one video”
She was right.The collection appears to consist of no more than a handful of atoms that randomly traverse space. Against that cosmic and sometimes comical background Runa explores the alienation she feels at the birth of a child, the difficult maintenance of a love without knowing whether there is such a thing as love, the urge to give a voice to a dead father… Yet the poems do tell a story. Especially the middle six; Vogeltje / Birdie – Verzorging / Care – Habitat / Habitat – Classificatie / Classification – Conceptie / Conception – Draagtijd / Gestation.
[…]
For this project I asked the help of Eduardo Yague. I felt these poems could use the visual approach of Eduardo. We mailed back and forth on a concept. On what kind of images to use, on colours, a vision. I was lucky he said yes.
I created a track with a reading from Runa;
[listen on SoundCloud]I gave the recording to Eduardo along with a fantastic translation by Willem Groenewegen.
During a stay in Stockholm he filmed different scenes and improvisations with an actress (Gabriella Roy) and sent me the footage. I asked more or suggested different stuff.In a final stage I chose and edited the different piece of footage to the track. I am very happy the way this turned out. Working with Eduardo was rewarding and there might follow more…
This easily would’ve qualified for inclusion in my list of Top Ten Multi-Poem Films and Videopoems, had I not already included two other Swoon films. It’s interesting to see how differently he approaches the challenge of melding multiple poems into a single work for each project.
Call for videopoetry submissions: Atticus Review
Writer and videopoet Matt Mullins asked me to share this call-out:
The Atticus Review, an online literary/mixed media magazine, seeks filmpoems/videopoems of between one and eight minutes in length for publication. You can submit via Submittable at the Atticus Review website, or you can email mixed media editor Matt Mullins directly at m-mull at hotmail dot com.
How to exhibit videopoetry in a bookstore: Swoon’s “Gathering Light” exhibition
Here’s a kind of poetry-film screening that ought to be more common than it is. I’d been following the Facebook event page with much interest (and not a little regret that I can’t be there), but since I don’t know Dutch, I’m grateful that Marc Neys A.K.A. Swoon has put up a short blog post, complete with pictures. I lifted a couple for this post, but do click through and look at the rest, because Marc et al. appear to have implemented this really well:
The cultural centre of my hometown (Mechelen) asked me if I was interested in a solo exhibition with my video’s.
Yes.
I asked my favourite bookstore if we could set up the exhibition in their store. Putting up different screens in between and on top of books.
Yes.
After a few days of setting everything up (a big thank you to the technical team of CC Mechelen), we opened ‘Gathering Light’ last week (on my birthday, talk about a present)
No more than 20 screens (of different size and age) spread out over this fine store. A selection of what I’ve been making over the last 5 years.
If you’re thinking of making the trip, March 6 might be a good day to visit:
The exhibition runs until march 8 and we’ll end with a finissage dressed up as a showcase on videopoetry with live readings in ‘De Kapel van Contour’ on march 6 (more on that later)
Last call for submissions of remix-ready poems to the Poetry Storehouse
After consultation with her board of advisers (me included), Nic S. has made the difficult decision to phase out submissions to The Poetry Storehouse, with a deadline of 28 February. Filmmakers and other remixers will have a bit longer: she’ll continue to archive videos and other material on the site through September. After that, the site will become dormant — though all of its content will remain online indefinitely, and filmmakers will continue to be able to use it as a source of material and inspiration.
I’ve enjoyed the project immensely but it’s becoming clear to me that it has gone as far as it can in its present configuration – ie as a one-person all-volunteer show for daily operations. To get to the next level, the Storehouse would have to think about expanding its volunteer staff and/or trying to attract investment that would allow the operational staff to grow.
The past 14 months have proved the concept of the Storehouse and shown there really is considerable untapped energy behind the concept among poets, readers and remixers alike. I think both community and buy-in exist to take the Storehouse to the next level. The way my life is going, however, I know definitely that I have neither the time nor the desire to administer additional staff and/or resources.
Read the rest of Nic’s blog post for the full details.
The “weeCinema” pop-up theater: a unique Kickstarter campaign and call for poetry-film submissions
Todd Boss and Motionpoems have come up with a proposal that’s hard not to fall in love with: a portable, miniature theater made from a shipping container, with a translucent screen at the back so that films will also be viewable from the outside (in reverse), turning the theater into a lightbox at night. It’s especially designed with continuously looping programs of short films in mind.
It could stand as an alternative to the big chain theater experience, where you’re just another member of the herd, moving through the box office. It could create an entirely different kind of intimacy among casual theatergoers who might just be happening by, in a park, on a campus, or on a pedestrian mall.
That’s from the weeCinema Kickstarter campaign, which aims to raise $20,000 by February 19 in order to buy the shipping container. The design (by award-winning weeHouse architect Geoff Warner) is in, and it sounds fantastic. I happened across the promotional video when they posted it to Vimeo six days ago, and was so taken by the idea I shared it on Facebook right away (where it garnered lots of likes).
I figured a crowd-funding campaign was on the way, but Motionpoems still managed to surprise me with one ingenious fundraising twist:
Pledge $10 or more
Entry fee. This fee enables you to answer our call for POETRY FILMS. Deadline Feb 25. Your film could be screened in the weeCinema during MSP Int’l Film Festival! Submission details: http://bit.ly/WeeCinema
(MSP = Minneapolis-St. Paul.) So there you have it: possibly the coolest Kickstarter ever. Give till it hurts.
Oslo Poetry Film 2015 schedule online
I’ve never been able to find much information in English about the annual poetry film festival in Oslo, which is coming up next weekend. In part, that’s because their website is kind of messed up (to use the polite term); I’m unable to scroll down and read the rest of the content in either Firefox or Chrome. Fortunately, I’ve just discovered that they also have a Facebook presence (not linked to from the visible part of the website). An event listing reproduces the schedule in full, which I’ll paste in below for the benefit of the Facebook-phobic. This looks like a terrific festival, with lots of useful talks to supplement the screenings. Wish I could attend.
Oslo Poetry Film 2015:
Festival for Digital and Visual Art
31.01 – 01.02.2015
KUNSTNERNES HUS, OSLO
–Free entrance–————————–
PROGRAM:SATURDAY, 31.01.2015
13.00 – 13.45
The Counter Machine to the Machine of Language: How can poetic language be translated to cinema? Talk by Alice Lyons (USA/Irland).14.00 – 14.30
Found in translation: Poetry between writing, sound and image. Niels Lyngsø (Denmark) reflects on poetry videos by Iben Mondrup, based on poems by himself. Screenings of tungenosser (2011, 03:43), rødmandblåmand (2011, 03:55), Besat af de tre tyranner (2013, 04:15), Slår flapperne ud (2013, 01:24).14.30 – 15.00
The making of a music movie: Kajsa Gullberg (Sweden/Denmark) on her music video MIN KITTEL ER FOR KORT, 2014 (03:45) – a collaboration with poet Mette Moestrup and musician Miriam Karpantschof.15.15 – 16.00
Highlighs from Zebra Poetry Film Festival 2014 – presented by director of ZEBRA Poetry Festival, Thomas Zandegiacomo Del Bel (Germany). Screenings of In the Circus of You, 2013, text by Nicelle Davis, video by Cheryl Gross (06:08), The Aegean or the Anus of Death, 2014, text by Jazra Khaleed, video by Eleni Gioti (07:21), Bacteria, 2014, text by Paul Bogaert, video by Paul Bogaert and Jan Peeters (06:18), Photon, 2014, text by Simon Barraclough, video by Jack Wake-Walker (04:52), The Thing With Feathers, 2014, text by Jinn Pogy, video by Rain Kencana, Jalaudin Trautman and Miguel Angelo Pate (04:00), and Walking Grainy, 2013, video by Francois Vogel (02:20).19.00 – 19.30
Reading standing up – Poetry, in the 21st century, should be read standing up with the same glancing disdain as advertising, billboards, logos and street signs. Talk by Derek Beaulieu (Canada).19.30 – 20.00
Formal Possibilities for the Poetry of the Internet: Steve Roggenbuck (USA) on his favorites among image-based poetry, video-based poetry, and plain text as distributed in social networks. What kind of poetic exploration can we expect in the future?20.30 – 21.00
Screenings: Ursula Andkjær Olsen (Denmark): Maske (2:50) Solcreme, 2015 (2:50). Kristian Pedersen (Norway): Pipene, 2013 (03:15), KUUK (Norway): HOR, 2014 (4:45).21.00 – 21.30
SHAPESHIFTING POETRY: Different Ways to Communicate Poetry – Žygimantas Kudirka aka. MC Mesijus (Lithuania) presents his film Hands off the blue globe, 2013 (4:23).22.00. – 23.00
Readings: Derek Beaulieu (Canada) Niels Lyngsø (Denmark), Marie Silkeberg (Sweden), Ursula Andkjær Olsen (Denmark), Steve Roggenbuck (USA) and Žygimantas Kudirka (Lithuania).23.30 – 23.50
She´s a show – concert with Mette Moestrup (Denmark) and Miriam Karpachof (Denmark).————————–
SUNDAY, 01.02.2015
13.00 – 13.45
Strategies for Building Poetry Audiences Online. Steve Roggenbuck (USA) provides practical, usable strategies for how we can build audiences for poetry projects on the Internet.14.00 – 14.30
New media and distribution: Reaching out through new media. Experiences and hypotheses from the publisher’s point of view. Talk by Harald Ofstad Fougner (Norway).14.30 – 14.50
Poesi på G is a innovatory free poetry app. One poem a day for a month, is read by famous artists, comedians, actors and sportsmen- and women. Presentation by Sara Paborn (Sweden), who created the app.15.00 – 16.15
Presentations: Scott Rettberg (USA/Norway) on the project TOXI-CITY, 2014, Marie Silkeberg (Sweden) on two collaborations with fellow poet Ghayath Almadhoun, The Celebration, 2014 (8:53) and The City, 2010 (07:00), Terje Dragseth (Norway) on his and Rolf Asplunds video POEMA NAPOLI DEL 2, 2012 (05:04).18.00 – 18.30
Screenings: Vidar Dahl/Jøran Wærdahl (Norway): Byttedagen, 2013 (4:15) and Erkjenning, 2011 (3:05), J. P. Sipilä (Finland): #002_out_of_the_forest (sleight of tree) (2:56), #004_a_tourist (sleight of tree) (2:50) and #006_lost (sleight of tree) (1:25).18.30 – 19.00
It was mine – short film in production. Is there really such a thing as coincidence? Director Kajsa Næss and compositor Kristian Pedersen will screen scenes and explain their thoughts around the making of their work in progress, It Was Mine, based on a short story by Paul Auster.19.15 – 19.45
Steve Roggenbuck (USA) presents make something beautiful before you are dead, 2012, (3:25) and other works.19.45 – 20.15
Screening of Bella Blu 2012, (23:00) by Terje Dragseth (Norway).http://oslopoesi.no/film
