#1 Final Remix Piece
My final remix piece was made using After Affects. The original piece, “A Postcard”, was a poem I had written for the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards. I was inspired to remix this piece because I could imagine it visually. The original poem had a double meaning: the literal meaning was of a love letter that the speaker could not send, and the figurative meaning was about a person contemplating suicide. I could picture a postcard swaying in the air on a perilous journey.
Here is my final remix piece:
Here is the original poem:
A POSTCARD
A postcard that I will never send.
Unfortunately
These stamps do not cover the cost
Of it all.
A postcard that is too heavy,
Images of you imprinted on it, all of which
I will never forget.
A postcard so rare and delicate,
The corners of its edges withered
And broken.
Unfocused, focused, my eyes too rainy and heavy.
They just want to close shut.
All that I do see clearly
Is a postcard.
A postcard with all seasons,
All memories, to be soon lost
Forever. Soon it will be lit aflame
With the burning beat of the heart,
Drowned in the midnight rain pour
And lifted high up in the sky
As the wind catches it
And sends it on its way.
#2 Remix Drafts
In the first dorkshop we learned to use iMovie and I collected videos for my “A Postcard” remix. In our pair sessions we recorded more videos but in our final piece we ended up not using movies because we felt it had more impact with just images and text. But here is a clip from our work in progress:
A Postcard Video Sample
In the last dorkshop, I learned about audio production using a program called Audacity. During the workshop I chose a different piece to remix. The piece I used was former GWN mentee Brittany Barker’s spoken word poem, “Spanish Woman”. I chose the first stanza to be read aloud by mentors, workshop leaders and GWN staff. Here is a clip of how it turned out:
Spanish Woman by Brittany Barker AUDIO
#3 Links to our Digital Diaries
Monica’s Digital Diary
Elaine’s Digital Diary
#4 Remix Portfolio Statements
Monica:
The digital editing process was a much more creative process than my usual editing process. While remixing my poem, “A Postcard”, there were many things to think about such as how to drop the text, from which direction the text should come, which picture to choose to capture the essence of the text, and other small things that have a great impact on the audience. Digital editing gives a fresh new spin compared to editing words on paper. There are visual and audio components that need to be deeply contemplated for remixing writing pieces into digital works of art.
In my remix draft of the postcard poem, Elaine, Monica (remix leader), and I just sprung out any idea that came to mind as to how the poem should be digitally represented. As we started to dig deeper into the meaning of the poem, we created a story line that our movie would follow. I had previously envisioned my poem as a stop-motion mini movie, portraying the journey of a postcard. However, I was unsure of which lines should be used in the movie because I had not known the type of mood and meaning I wanted to leave behind with the audience. In my remix drafts, I discovered how difficult it is to take stop-motion pictures, especially on a cold, windy day! This is why my mentor and I decided to take images related to each other to simulate the postcard traveling. Also, Monica, Elaine and I brainstormed the idea to include a black slide at the end, with a concluding line from my poem as well as the sound effects of wind blowing. We thought this ending went well with the meaning of my poem and it still left the reader with various interpretations of the meaning.
Before the remix dorkshops, I had always believed writing was a form of expression through words on paper. However, what I did not realize until after the remix was the infinite number of ways text can be recreated, re-edited, and remixed into both visual and audio forms of expression. The dorkshops taught me how to use different programs such as Audacity, iMovie, and After Affects. I also learned how to use digital audio recorders, and had more experience using my camera phone!
If I had the knowledge, skill, and money to use all the tools in the world, I would start creating remixes of all my short stories and poems. I would also create documentaries around the world, fantastic Pixar animation movies, and multi-million-dollar blockbuster cinemas like Titanic. I am also a great fan of stop-motion pictures; in fact, one of my favorite movies is Coraline. I, along with a crew of artistic geniuses, would create the next stop motion, fantasy/horror film for both children and adults. It would also be great if I could animate one of Edgar Allan Poe’s stories such as the “The Tell Tale Heart” or his poem “The Raven.”
Elaine:
The GWN remix program completely opened my eyes to the vast range of possibilities that working in a digital medium provides. Like Monica, I had previously thought of writing as a somewhat fixed act of putting words down in print. While that will continue to be my primary means of expression, I now realize that “writing” is a fluid endeavor and that some of the most creative and compelling products can come out of re-imagining what a body of text might look like in another form.
While I mostly assisted Monica with her “A Postcard” project, I also dabbled in remixing a Figment community member’s poem, “The Coat,” and it was especially fascinating to work with text that I wasn’t the author of. Even though the poet and I weren’t in contact, it makes you reconsider the idea of writing being an inherently solitary practice. As a reader, you’re always in conversation with the author of whatever you’re reading, even if just in your head. But remixing highlights that exchange.
I definitely hope to use some of the tools we learned in the dorkshops in the future. But even more that that, I feel like my mind has been expanded through this process and hope to use that more nuanced way of thinking and approaching my subjects in all my written work going forward.
