|
The Revolutionary Approach to Teaching Poetry
Poetry: A Powerful Ingredient In
Herman
Berlandt, grandfather of the poetry-film movement once said, “Our traditional
arts can be traced back to pre-literate paleolithic times, and poetry, as oral
incantations, can count itself among the most ancient forms of artistic expressions.
On the other hand, film and its offspring video, now the dominant contemporary
art form holding the attention of the entire world, has been in existence for
less than a century. Yet this ubiquitous vehicle is now capable of revealing
the entire freight of human creativity from prehistoric times to the present
to billions of households.”
Herman
founded the Poetry Film Festival which has been the first and most consistent
effort showcasing and honoring some of the most inventive short poetry films
and videopoems since 1975. Berlandt’s
vision is becoming more of a reality today thanks to the Internet and to affordable,
high-quality digital moviemaking tools.
When
I became director of the festival I coined the term ‘Cin(E)-Poetry’ in 1996,
which stands for cinematic(electronic)-poetry, and replaced the festival name
to encompass the wide range of exciting entries that experiment with the language
of cinema, using an array of video, film, animation, sound and computer techniques,
to reinterpret, rethink and remake written or spoken poetry.
Today, the Cin(E)-Poetry Festival archive contains the richest and largest
collection with over 500 titles spanning over a quarter century.
Ultimately,
as Berlandt reminds us, “it’s the poetry and the fluid narration of the same
that captures our own imagination and its high eagle vision of life, becoming
eternal.” I wholeheartedly
agree. Poetry has moved people to action, to tears and to ponder facets of our
universal human condition. Poetry has
affected all of the arts in important ways through its ability to inspire through
words either written or spoken.
Poetry
without technology simply becomes an old artform form struggling to find a place
outside the library and art house café and back into the hearts and minds of
everyday people. Cin(E)-Poems show that
poetry has a unique place in modern times as a tool for inspiration in the creation
of new computer-aided art forms. In
this technological era, it may seem that poetry (in its traditional form) has
fallen into the realm of “academic” appreciation rather than its true place
in the world as an art form that attempts to speak to all of us, no matter our
academic pedigree. The best of poetry,
at its heart, wills people to make their own poetry and to share it with others
in a never-ending cycle of information sharing and intellectual progress.
Like the domino effect, once a good poem is heard or read, it propels
us to continue the action by either writing, or speaking our own words.
Cin(E)-Poetry strives to put ‘poetry’ into computer technologies so technically-oriented
generations can see how art, beauty AND poetry can be derived, enhanced and
articulated through computer-aided, cinematic art.
Cin(E)-Poetry
is a groundbreaking marrying of the old and new technologies to show how the
power of poetry can be delivered through the mass medium in dynamic and innovative
ways. Words are either seen or heard
in a distinct style for each cinepoem, demonstrating both the power of words
and the innumerable ways cinema can be used to heighten concepts within them.
Through the presentation of Cin(E)-Poetry, the artistic possibilities
of old and new mediums of communication speak to lovers of the word, visual
artists, filmgoers, teachers and the general public.
The application of computer-
generated images in the hands of creative multimedia masters, with their rich
color washes and unique startling caption arrangements and mood-reinforcing
electronic sound-effects, has demonstrated some mind-blowing sensual and cerebral
effects. Gifted craftspeople have illustrated
masterful use of advanced technology with very different treatments creating
work ranging from deeply philosophic and futuristic to dazzling and humoresque
epigrams.
Cin(E)-poetry,
if used with care and sensitivity, can integrate all the arts, drama, dance,
music, graphics and documentary elements. For
proliferating media outlets and their insatiable appetite for fresh material,
the highly condensed Cin(E)-poem is quickly becoming an ideal format for Internet
presentations.
George
Aguilar © 1999 George@Aguilar.com
This site contains examples from workbooks in progress and should be read in conjunction with viewing our demo video. If you do not have this free video, contact us at 415-267-4887 or email George@Aguilar.com Copyright 2004