The tale of how the ³Poetry Everywhere² project came to be may seem like a
series of happy coincidences, but executive producers Liam Callanan and Brad
Lichtenstein emphasize that the key to making this ³poetry cinema² a reality
is the outstanding talent of University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee students.
April is National Poetry Month. Beginning in late April/early May 2008, mass
transit systems nationwide will feature 15 animated short films of poems
that were made by UWM film students. Supported by the Poetry Foundation, the
³Poetry Everywhere² series will premiere on Transit TV¹s network of
video-screens on transit system vehicles in Milwaukee, Chicago, Los Angeles,
Atlanta and Orlando.
The films also will be featured on the PBS and Poetry Foundation Web sites:
www.pbs.org and www.poetryfoundation.org, alongside another 17 films
produced by WGBH/Boston and David Grubin Productions. The films also may air
on local PBS stations at various times and at select venues in Milwaukee
(see sidebar).
The UWM-produced films are 45 to 90 seconds long, and feature a wide variety
of contemporary poems, including two by UWM professors: John Koethe of
philosophy and Maurice Kilwein Guevara of English. An amazing range of
animation techniques were used, including two-dimensional hand-drawn
watercolors and 3D computer-generated gaming graphics.
Callanan, assistant professor of English, got the idea for the project while
riding the bus in Milwaukee. ³I saw everyone watching the video screens, and
I thought, wouldn¹t it be great if they were watching poetry?
³The challenge was how to make the programs visually compelling, especially
in such a busy environment,² Callanan says.
He met Lichtenstein through the UWM Children¹s Center, where they both have
children enrolled. Callanan learned about his colleague¹s documentary media
center, docUWM, based in the university¹s film department.
³At docUWM, our specialty is to work with students to make completely
professional productions,² Lichtenstein explains. ³This project is a great
testament to how literate our students are, both in a visual and literary
sense.²
In the UWM films, most of the poems are read by the poets themselves,
although some are read by notables like local actress Flora Coker and
artist, writer and musician DJ Spooky.
Callanan says that while the student animators had to ³sweat over each
word,² working with poetry was actually more liberating than the usual task
of working with a storyline. ³They actually had a lot more creative freedom
and really got to experiment.²
²Exciting and intimidating from day one,² agrees student participant
Christopher Dudley Thorpe. ³Many instructors from different departments,
high aspirations, and potential national publicity all made the task
formidable.²
He was the animator/designer for ³Weighing In² by Rhina P. Espaillat, and
appreciated the ³genuine, personal connection made to poem and artist.²
For Allison Alexander Westbrook IV, ³The amount of work involved in doing
animation is always astounding, but the end results are like magic.
³I have been a fan of poet Robert Hayden¹s work for a long time,² she adds.
³And to create an animation for ŒThose Winter Sundays¹ was a great honor.
Creative collaboration
Lichtenstein emphasizes that a ³studio model² instead of a ³classroom model²
was used for the project. Meaning that in the midst of all that creative
freedom, students were continually challenged by each other and other
members of the production team. Both executive producers stress the ³tons of
collaboration² and the cross-disciplinary approach required for the
project¹s success.
This approach drew partners from across the university. Tim Decker, Jenny
Plevin and Alison Farmer served as producers. Decker, a lecturer in the film
department whose credits include Walt Disney studios and work on The
Simpsons, was the instructor for the class. Plevin, a video artist and a
project director with docUWM, ³maintained the overall momentum of every
aspect of the complex project,² says Lichtenstein. Farmer, a lecturer in
Journalism and Mass Communications, teaches a course in journalism
documentary production.
Maurice Kilwein Guevara and Ellen Elder, an English graduate student, worked
with the Poetry Foundation to select the poems for the series. Marc Tasman,
a lecturer in journalism and mass communication and Kate Raney, associate
lecturer in film, were part of the creative team.
For all project participants, the rewards of ³Poetry Everywhere² include a
new appreciation of poetry and the creative process as well as the hope that
they may have helped a harried commuter, world-weary television viewer or
bored Web surfer experience a moment of introspection.
Read more about it at these websites:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/poetryeverywhere/uwm/index.html
http://www.poetryfoundation.org/journal/video.html?show=Poetry%20Everywhere
http://www4.uwm.edu/news/features/details.cfm?customel_datapageid_11602=3337
The round-up is at the Well-Read Child. Thank you for hosting!!
