I plan to use the poem, “Contact Lenses” by Audre Lorde. Though it is a short piece, I believe there are many interpretations that, yes, can fill up seven pages each.

I want to make a short film that is constantly switching in and out of focus. My friend will film for me, using a sophisticated Nikon DSLR. I’d like to either turn the poem into a song or have it spoken over an eery track playing throughout the film. I’d like for the protagonist to be wearing thick framed glasses. The blurs will show time passing and the clarity, experience. In the end, the character’s glasses will fall off and be stepped on. The character will actually be able to see clearer now. I have many details worked out but I still need to specify the main point and have it match my group mates’ interpretations as well.

I’m really excited about this digital essay. I have a lot of ideas and I hope at least half of them can become reality.

So I COMPLETELY forgot we had to come up with an idea of what to write our third essay on but I think I made up my mind. I was browsing through all the poems and the one that stuck with me the most was “Makeup on Empty Space” by Anne Waldman. I liked her short little phrases and i feel that in a video, I could work around the things she mentions. Also it appealed to me because I could create such a vivid image about the objects she mentioned.

Although I haven’t made my final decision as to what poem I’ll be digging into (sorry!), I’m definitely interested in either Audre Lorde’s, Gertrude Stein’s or Carl Sandburg’s poems. Their styles really speak to me and I think that it will be a lot of fun to dissect their work and then put it back together again. For my digital essay, I’m even more unsure of what I’ll do. I know that it’s recommended to work in groups so… anyone interested (insert awkward laughter)? I am currently leaning more toward a stop action video rather than writing out a script and trying to “act.” Unlike many of my peers I’m not a Mac so it will be interesting to see how my PC will fare. I had this sudden Jimmy Neutron-esque brain blast moment while reading Stein’s “A Completed Portrait of Picasso.” Perhaps my stop action video will be parts of people’s faces and bodies…and this will convey a message of… ur… Yeah. It’s just an idea but I’m partly relieved that the creative juices are somewhat sloshing away in my brain. That’s enough of my midnight rant. Goodnight!

After browsing through many poems, I have chosen to do “An American Poem” by Eileen Miles. A good majority of the other poems i encountered were either too abstract for me to understand or too short to be analyzed in 5-7 pages. I believe the poem I have chosen contains many abstract as well as many obvious opinions. For example, the poem deals with the American dream, feminism, homosexuality, the arts and sciences of society among other themes. As for the digital essay, I am not entirely sure how I will do it. I tend to be most creative when I am not trying too hard, therefore I will try to be relaxed with the digital essay. So far, I find the other papers to more fun than this one.

Cool. So i have had experience with making videos. i used to be a total drama nerd in highschool. Im really pumped for this paper/video project. Our group has an amazing poem picked out, and i have so many things i want to say about it that i basically cant wait to get started. One thing im looking forward to in the video is making it really dramatic. I think that when we have the person come in and teach us how to make great use of our Macs itll be fun. i havent made a video in a really long time and im really psyched to get back into it.

Also over the vacation ive been doing a lot of watching movies, getting exposed to different types of film-making styles. And honestly there are so many things and ways to approach this video. I really cant wait to get started. 😀 Yay!

This paper which is the final paper of the semester is new to me. I have never written a paper in which i have to make an interesting video that corresponds to my thesis. In fact i have never had to make a video of myself for as long as i can remember. I have however made class presentations but those feel different than the video to me. I guess well have to see and find out. It is a new experience for me and i have never tried this but i am actually looking forward to it. i saw some of the previous year videos and it seems as if the students have had fun creating them in the past. Im sure it’ll be fun even though i havent gotten any of the details yet.