tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-329800043283255166.post2161728112999893510..comments2023-11-05T07:41:04.214-05:00Comments on Strong Verse: Poetry, Movies, and Pop MusicG. M. Palmerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14515043039690357593noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-329800043283255166.post-21027787090020283242008-05-06T22:03:00.000-04:002008-05-06T22:03:00.000-04:00Sheesh, a lot of typos in that last post. 'you're...Sheesh, a lot of typos in that last post. <BR/><BR/>'you're,' not 'your.' And some run-on sentences. Forgive me! I must be tired or something.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-329800043283255166.post-45181983467852122802008-05-06T22:00:00.000-04:002008-05-06T22:00:00.000-04:00You could use a poem as a basis for a treatment, i...You could use a poem as a basis for a treatment, if the poem had character, setting, drama, plot, etc. <BR/><BR/>(much the way you would use a short story for a treatment). <BR/><BR/>Many times the best movies-from-books come from novellas and short stories...long novels are much clunkier. <BR/><BR/>So one could imagine that a good 30-page narrative poem, or even a 15-page narrative poem, could catch the eye of a producer, writer, or director who would either turn it into a script or a treatment. <BR/><BR/>If the movie-people were looking for ideas in poetry, and if poets were writing narratives. <BR/><BR/>Neither of which is really happening. <BR/><BR/>So I think you attack it on two fronts:<BR/><BR/>Try to influence producers, screenwriters, directors, so that they start Looking for movies in poetry. <BR/><BR/>Try to influence writers so that they write good, substantial, dramatic narrative poetry. <BR/><BR/><BR/>I just don't think you should inspire poets to write narrative poetry so those poems could be turned into movies. <BR/><BR/>If you want to write something to be turned into a movie, write a treatment. <BR/><BR/>Another avenue to consider is the short film - trying to encourage independent filmmakers to adapt poetry into the short film format, which would also lend itself to less narratively-driven work, and there is less of a drive for profit, movies from poems might be an easier 'sell.' <BR/><BR/>Shorts don't get nearly the same exposure as big feature films, but going down that route might help create bonds between the poetry and cinematic communities, and get the idea that 'poetry can be made into film' into the zeitgeist. <BR/><BR/>At the very least, though, I think your right in trying to get poets to write better. And there's also the fact that poetry seems like such an insular community. The vast majority of people who seem interested in contemporary poetry are poets. <BR/><BR/>There's not even the NPR-like 'high art' interest in it, the way there is with jazz or classical music, because a lot of it is condescending to things like ideas, meaning, and emotion. <BR/><BR/>(though I gather that I'm preaching to the choir here...)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-329800043283255166.post-85359981390776588122008-05-06T12:41:00.000-04:002008-05-06T12:41:00.000-04:00Brett--Thanks for posting! As I say, I am woefull...Brett--<BR/><BR/>Thanks for posting! As I say, I am woefully unschooled on such matters.<BR/><BR/>Couldn't you use a poem as a basis for a treatment? I could see a shortish poem (5-20 pages) being used as excellent advertising material.<BR/><BR/>And while I am certainly trying to re-introduce verse as a viable vehicle for narrative, I hope to pursue several approaches at once, not just the meaningless "get people to read more." The first step is to get poets to write better.G. M. Palmerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14515043039690357593noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-329800043283255166.post-2702733319785509152008-05-06T11:50:00.000-04:002008-05-06T11:50:00.000-04:00The problem with turning narrative poetry into fil...The problem with turning narrative poetry into film isn't simply about narrative poetry not being written well enough or often enough, or (even) that it's not being placed in front of the faces of producers... <BR/><BR/>The reality is that the reason Troy and Beowulf were made into movies is because they're already a part of the zeitgeist, and therefore marketable. <BR/><BR/>Otherwise, if you write a poem for the purpose of wanting it to be made into a movie, you're doing it wrong! <BR/><BR/>Especially a 'short' narrative. There's already a form that does this better than poetry. <BR/><BR/>It's called a 'treatment,' and if you're going to have 1-10 pages of lines to describe the actions, settings, plots, and characters that will become a movie, it might as well just be a 'treatment,' which is superior because it is Designed for and has the Explicit Goal of selling itself as a movie. <BR/><BR/>Now, write a long narrative poem and let it gain the popularity of 'The Davinci Code' or even, shooting lower, something like 'The Diving Bell and the Butterfly,' and you're getting somewhere. <BR/><BR/>So the project, it seems, would be to re-introduce poetry as a vehicle for narrative in popular culture. THEN it would be able to have a somewhat substantial relationship with the movie industry. <BR/><BR/>But retraining the masses and the intelligencia in that way is a long and arduous project, and the question is 'how do you do that?' <BR/><BR/>Good luck!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-329800043283255166.post-71769275157560275712008-05-05T08:19:00.000-04:002008-05-05T08:19:00.000-04:00Sefton --There's a huge difference between taking ...Sefton --<BR/><BR/>There's a huge difference between taking the stage with text in hand and reading in a "textgazing monotone." One of my favorite poetry readers ever (A. Kyle Strohmann) always used printouts -- but was just, if not more, engaging and fascinating as any performer who memorized their lines.<BR/><BR/>What we really need, though, is not poetry readings of brief 5-10 minute stints. We need readings of 30+ minute narratives that sweep the audience up in the rhythm and the story. I don't care whether or not the work is memorized (I, for one, can memorize anybody else's work buy my own -- don't have a clue why). What I do care about is that the work is equally well-written and performed.G. M. Palmerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14515043039690357593noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-329800043283255166.post-79581750880698754922008-05-04T18:48:00.000-04:002008-05-04T18:48:00.000-04:00Stage actors, rappers, singers, comedians, and sla...Stage actors, rappers, singers, comedians, and slam poets memorize their lines. They practice them over and over until they can deliver the words without thinking about them, so that when they're onstage, they can worry about other things, including timing, projection, moving their voices up and down, making eye contact with the audience, and creating a compelling performance.<BR/><BR/>Meanwhile, "serious" poets think it's fine to take the stage with a notebook and a textgazing monotone. You know, because the innate fabulousness of the words will surely transfix the crowd...<BR/><BR/>Why should live audiences give a crap about serious poets, when serious poets don't give a crap about them?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com