Action Poetry (Part 2/2)

In a previous post you were introduced to the basics of writing performance poetry and saw some good examples of this artform. Today we will go further into details of getting into this field and further succeeding!

So you have a passion for the art or you're a poet who written lots, how do you get better and more well known?  The answer to this question is style, substance and support.  These three have the potential to take you from relative unknown to having a fan club started in your honour.

Photo courtesy of HubPages.com

Style

This refers to how you write.  The arrangement of your lines.  In performance, the art of poetry must be modified for the EAR because the audience is NOT meant to SEE the script.  This gives some about of latitude for the use of assonance and other phonetic literary tools.  The aim is to have your audience be able to follow the story you are telling so don't be too technical.
NB: Be sure to practice your delivery before performance.  It would be ideal for you to memorize your poem so that you could use your whole body and eyes to convey the message to your audience.

Photo courtesy of Inbound Sales Network

Substance

In order to grab the attention of the masses you must talk about something that will resonate with a large cross-section of people or even a niche market.  It is important to know who you are performing to so you can choose appropriate poems and deliveries.  Also, current topics and topics about which you are passionate will likely reflect in favour of your performance.  While you do not want to be too technical and lose your audience, it is important that your content be something that won't easily be forgotten.




Support

Photo courtesy of Apperson

Get out and perform.  How will your work be known if you keep it to yourself?  Find a Open Mic club in your area, or make time to go the distance to those far away maybe once a month, or make YouTube videos of yourself performing.  Do all that you can to put yourself and your work out there.  It is likely your art will benefit from your exposure to others in the field and you will find inspiration.  Another thing you will find are poets to collaborate with.  Find good poets who could compliment your style and substance then make connections; write and perform poems together.

All the great performance poets have these three things in common.  Along with writing ability and passion for the artform; they know they are writing for an audience to hear, they produce memorable content and they all put themselves in the spotlight.

Hopefully you will put these tips to good use 

May the snaps and cheers come ringing through 

At the end of each poem that you perform

So fame will pour down, on you like a storm. 

... withShantelleS

Mass Media Writing Formats

I just spent a gruelling weekend writing a Screenplay, Double Column Script for Television and a Audio Script for Radio.  All I had to work with was a movie and limitations.  As I learned so will you.

The featured video today is Kissing Cousins. 
A "relatively" romantic comedy about a professional heartbreaker (and cynical bachelor) who teams up with his attractive cousin from the UK in order to fool his friends into believing he is capable of a relationship.


I adapted scenes two and three of this movie into the three formats mentioned using:

1. Celtx; a free, media pre-production software 
2. Screen-writing guidelines explaining how the different elements of a Screenplay are used
3.  Double Column scriptwriting guidelines with Camera shots angles and movements.
4. Audioplay (for radio) scriptwriting guidelines with writing for the ear pointers.

Essentially, I blindly walked into the project like the first day I went driving a Manual Transmission vehicle after only reading about the principles (true story--bad outcome).  It is fantastic to have the theory but hands-on, practical work is where you find out how much you have really learned.  I encourage everyone who wants to write for media to not just read about but do it!

Just a break down of how I went about adapting the two scenes to the different script formats:

* Adapting across media from audio/visual to audio is really difficult and takes diligence to remain true to the story being conveyed.  It spent 4 hours doing just this.
* Shot composition takes time due to changing shots for almost every sentence of dialogue.  People move a lot and the audience is always curious to to see general set layout as well as facial nuances.  Her went another 4 hours.
* Putting into words all that is seen and heard takes care and attention to detail.  I spent 2 hours just transcribing the scenes.


That makes a combined total of approximately 10 hours spent on 2 minutes worth of footage.


Here is the movie Kissing Cousins.  I scripted the scenes from Amir walking down the hallways in his apartment building until he woke in bed the next morning (3:21--5:21). 

...withShantelleS

Quality Production with Limited Resources

Hey guys today we will be talking about Video Production.

and Action!
Image from Behind the Scenes of Casual

The project we will focus on to bring across key points is Casual a webisode series that is based on the 'casual' relationship between "a Guy and a Girl".  This series is an outstanding example of how having 'limited' resources does not put a limit on quality.

Casual has a few strengths that every video needs. These are:

• good writing
• good acting or on-screen personalities
• good technical production crew
• a production team with drive

One added bonus:

• Beauty-Full locations

In the words of the Director, Jay Diaz and Cinematographer, Tony Joun the shooting style was "dirty" or "guerrilla" to portray a realism or feel of the audience spying on the relationship.

The production has been described as "low budget" with a lot of:

• handheld or Steadicam usage
• no lighting set up; just natural light & the use of reflectors
• on-location shoots   
• A skeleton crew of Producer, Director, Cinematographer, 2 Starring Actors and few featured cast.

In spite of these limitations the quality of the series cannot be denied just watch this series trailer and you too will get sucked into the the drama of Casual. 

After the critical acclaim of Casual the series it was made into a feature film and is now on the Film Festival Circuit!

...withShantelleS

Making Mass Media Social (Part 1/2)

Hey guys, today we delve into creative writing for the Internet by converting newspaper (mass media) articles into a blog post (social media).


The first pick will be the Jamaica Gleaner's Sports article titled "Bolt's Late Show" published Friday June 8.  Yes, the link is to an online edition.  No, it does not effectively use social media; they just placed everything that would be printed on the Internet.  There was no real utilization of the what the Internet has to offer like hyperlinks to videos of the race or interviews of the participants.


Points to note when writing for the Internet include:

• Attract the eyes.
• Give viewers hypertext links to get more information.
• Reduce your text; most Internet users won't read everything that is written, they will scan for points.
• Keep your pages (stories, articles, videos) short.
• Use a hook to engage your viewers.
• Write for an international audience.

Now I will use these points to make the story more Internet friendly.

Bolt's Late Show

Men's 100 metres world record holder, Usain Bolt, sprinted to a win in the last 20 metres of the Diamond League Bislett Games in Norway on Thursday June 7.

The Jamaican set a new meet record of 9.79 seconds, surpassing his compatriots Asafa Powell who finished in 9.85 seconds and Lerone Clarke who closed in 10.10 seconds for third place.

Usain Bolt had this to say about his race, "The starting reaction was good, but I did not have the flow in the first metres like in Rome.  Overall, technically, the race was not as good as in Italy, but I showed I can compete well under pressure."

Usain Bolt now has the three fastest times for the year and is set to run the 200 metres race in Monaco on Friday July 20.

-30-


When using social media it is important to remember that your audience has many other choices.  It is your job to bring together all the information that they need to ensure that you are the preferred choice.

...withShantelleS

Welcome/Introduction

Good Night all :D

Welcome to this brand, spanking, shiny, new blog.  Really quickly just so you know what we will be doing here; I will outline the Aim of the blog, the Inspiration behind the blog, and a little bit About me.  Not sure if the time of publication will be shown so I will say it is now 03:06 hours and I am so pumped about this soooo, lets go!


Aim:
Inform people interested in the Media (social and mass) on some key principles that will give their work the edge over the competition.  The emphases will be on:

• Video production 
• Audio production
• Creative writing
• Plot development

and geared toward students of the craft, teachers of the craft, and producers of the craft.  The very concept of New Media is unlocked right here because knowledge is not just for the people with money for school.

NewMedia Origins

Inspiration:
"Enjoy work: Maximize the time spent doing non-schoolwork relating things."


About me:
I am a student.  I am pursuing a bachelors degree in Communication and I have had countless hours of experience doing television and radio production.  I also have a vlog on YouTube and voraciously use social networking sites.  What else qualifies me to disseminate information like a big know-it-all?  Drive.  Desire. Inspiration.  An awareness of where new media is and can go; I just want to push for everyone to have all the opportunities I have so this industry can benefit.




So that is it.  Next time we will be learning and I will be sharing my nuggets.

...withShantelleS