Introduction
My intention in this document is to examine the key elements of my final Masters project and put these into historical, theoretical and cultural context. I will approach these elements as follows;
In the first chapter Visual and Verbal Metaphors, I will look at the early days of artists combining film with poetry and how these two art forms merge to create a new genre. Using examples of poetry-film I will then identify my work as belonging under this heading. I will touch on how combining film and poetry expands the potential for metaphor and attracts a wider audience than either would have done individually. I then explain how commissioning a poem by my sister helped my work progress into the final film.
In the next chapter Environmentalism in Animation and use of Anthropomorphism, I will discuss how environmentalism is approached in animation and how anthropomorphism is used to help get a message across. I talk a little about the origin of anthropomorphism and it’s roots in religion and human nature; to see life in inanimate objects and apply human traits to natural forces. Giving the example of ‘Princess Mononoke’ I analyse how this tradition is applied. I then explain how my film implements a form of anthropomorphism through visual metaphor.
In the third chapter French translation -language and metaphor, I reflect on the origin and process of how I came to use a french translation of the poem voiced over the film. I recount meeting voice actor Chris Rose, our first recording session of the poem in English and how we collaborated in deciding the poem’s representation. After that I explain how translating it into french alters and benefits the meaning of the text.
Lastly I draw a conclusion to the evaluation, reinforcing the points I’ve made in the previous chapters, summerising the document.
Visual and Verbal Metaphors
The verbal and visual interaction through combining film poetry is a recognised art form. In his essay ‘Poetry-Film’ Fil Ieropulous talks about the history and origins of combining the two mediums and how they work together. He also mentions that some might consider that coupling these art forms muddies both. But Ieropoulos’ prevailing view is that poetry-films expand possibilities in verbal/visual metaphorical communication. He goes into the history of combining films and poetry which dates back to the avante-guarde work of such artists as Duchamp, Brackhage and the Dadaists. It was regarded by these film makers that film poetry should not include text or words, rather the poetry should be embedded within the film imagery. ‘What connected most of them was the fact their writers shared the belief that films should be a primarily visual language and if there is any influence of poetry in it, then this must be on the actual picture.’ This criteria meant that the work remained pure in it’s communication and the visual was the language itself. According to Ieroploulos if it were up to the likes of early film makers Dulac and Vertov verbal language would be superfluous in modern film.
But not all film based artists of the avant-guarde era shared this view. Film makers such as Maya Deren and Ian Hugo believed that words could enhance and add another layer to the image, which should already be complete. In another way words and film should not directly reflect one another, rather they both form the subject and illustrate the intended metaphor of a poem.
In a symposium with Willard Maas, Maya Deren, Parker Tyler, Dylan Thomas, and Arthur Miller on October 28, 1953, Maya Deren stated her angle on poetic films with sound or speech.
‘One of the combinations that would be possible would be to have a film which as a dramatic construct, visually, accompanied by a commentary which is essentially poetic; that is, it illuminates the moments as they occur, so that you have a chain of moments developing and each one of them is illuminated.’
Deren acknowledges the various possible combinations of using visual and aural elements in creating film poems and highlights the benefits of doing so. She believed that a balance of the two could enhance the meaning of the poem as long as they didn’t repeat one another but formed a chain.
Ian Hugo uses spoken word, image and sound to build a poem-film ‘Bells of Atlantis’ (1954), featuring a text written from the point of view of the queen of Atlantis. Although there is no clear visual metaphor, the abstract imagery, disorientating electronic sound track and the languid voice over create a multi sensory piece. The film gives us a sense of other-worldliness as we are led by the reader’s recollections of Atlantis. The film is based on an excerpt of a story by Anais Nin, wife of Hugo so it does not strictly count as poetry. However the combined elements form the basis of a new approach to film and poetry:
‘While the text may not be poetry per se, the form and style of the film anticipates modern filmpoetry/videopoetry by decades.’ (Dave, Moving Poems)
My film uses poetry, imagery and sound to widen potential possibilities for metaphor. These languages are used together to create a symbolization of an issue close to my heart. It is designed to express a view. Billy Collins, (Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry, 2001-2003) uses animated film in a similar way in his Action Poems series, except he writes the poem and employs a film maker to generate visuals. These work together to make a complete metaphor while reaching a wider audience. Alistair Cook says in his introduction to the Film Poem website ‘The combination of film and poetry is an attractive one. For the poet, perhaps a hope that the filmmaker will bring something to the poem: a new audience, a visual attraction, the laying of way markers; for the filmmaker, a fixed parameter to respond to, the power of a text sparking the imagination with visual connections and metaphor.’
Before I’d even considered using poetry I started the project focusing on environmental issues surrounding coastal erosion. After some research and visits to the coast including chats with the local residents I had gathered not only factual, scientific and social information on the effects of coastal erosion but also sentimental perspectives. I realised I didn’t want the film to be purely a political and a rather worthy effort to raise awareness. I wanted the effects of destruction from nature to be reflected through a more subtle, romantic metaphor. Commissioning a poem from my writer sister helped focus the project and ascertain an angle. There is a symbiotic relationship which occurs when a poet and a film maker make work together. Like all artistic collaborations one party informs the other in the early stages and then together they form a complete piece. The Temple Sisters work together, using collage and canvases;
‘It is the sisters’ belief that collaboration – artist-to-artist, translated to art-to-observer –is at the heart of the creative process. Their work deliberately reflects this communion’ (Holly and Ashee Temple, 2014)
Given that I am at once saddened by the lack of action taken to protect our land from a raging sea and yet in awe and admiration for nature’s irrepressible force, I wanted a piece which neither condemned or condoned the antagonist. It is after all Nature. My sister Helen wrote Shhh…(see appendix A) as an allegory of how the sea is like a lover to land. It gives and helps build land and creates life, yet it has a destructive side. In the first half of the poem the ocean is calling us towards it, luring us in with softly spoken words and promises of secrets and kindness. The next half reminds us that we should not attempt to harness the sea, it’s power and rebellious nature will overcome anything we try in order to possess it. It reads like someone angered by the will of another against it, becoming more and more defiant until….! It calms itself down and remembers to be gentle in our presence, repeating the first words of the poem.
My film uses a combination of verbal, visual and audio. These elements conspire to portray the metaphor together, without repeating one another. For example when the line ‘remember too that I have the power to take and to destroy’ is said in french the visual is a scene where a cliff, in the shape of a female profile is licked by a wave and subsequently the cliff face crumbles into the water. I chose this imagery based on the decision that the poem was written from the viewpoint of a male, seducing a female, represented by sea and land. The land could be embodied easily, we often see faces in cliffs and rocks. It is a stationary and passive character. The sea however is embodied in an action, a wave is likened to a tongue, lapping at the face within the land. The action of this lick causes destruction, as would a wave crashing into a cliff. The metaphor, then comes full circle without tripping over itself. (see table of illustrations 2)
Environmentalism in Animation and use of Anthropomorphism
Environmentalism is ubiquitous in the world of animation. From Miyazaki’s ‘Princess Monoke’ to Pixar’s ‘Wall-E’ messages of saving our planet from the exploitative effects of humans upon nature are well discussed. Pollution, destruction of wildlife and general shortsightedness towards the fate of our world are enduring issues which are the subject of feature and short films alike. There are websites full of animations aimed at children, hoping to inspire them to carry the conservation flag. On the website for Anita Sancha, Eco-Animator and Movie Production many of the animations are handled with a light hearted touch so as not to point blame, rather than positively highlight what we can do together to fight a cause. Some of the more adult targeted films are often serious and panic inducing, borderline depressing and made to inspire collective guilt such as ‘Plague Dogs’ by Martin Rosen.
‘Rather than light entertainment for children, animation now presents itself to the public as a mature visual genre that is able to address issues ranging from war and discrimination to technological innovation and environmental crisis.’ (Ursula K.Heise, 2014)
Something these films all have in common is their use of anthropomorphism. Anthropomorhism is the characterisation of a non human entity or concept. It begins with the theory that all things, living and non have a soul, this is called animism. Anthropomorphism continues this idea to apply human aspects and traits. It is rooted in religion and is part of our natural inclination to see parts of ourselves in the world around us but also a fail safe in case there really is something bigger than us out there.
‘If Guthrie is correct, the origins of religion in this personalizing projection is in no way unique to devotees: it is a strategy basic to being human—even cats, he informs us, think of rustling leaves as potential prey. And dogs chase cars as if they are somehow intruding or making a territorial challenge. If such wagers are correct, the payoff is large. In the case of religion and the belief that the spirits have wills, it means either eternal bliss of some sort or a relatively lower level of anxiety here on earth. Both options have their appeal.’ (Russell T. McCutcheon, 1994)
Often films with environmentalist messages use an anthropomorphic representation of nature as a Deity, and one that we shouldn’t mess with. In ‘Princess Mononoke’ Nature is embodied by a mythical creature that transforms into a giant spectre to roam the forest at night, called The Great Forest Spirit. When its head is cut from the body, a substance oozes forth, spreading death and corruption around it. Death is a thing that is brought closer by mankind’s foolish actions. Here the Great Forest Spirit is characterised to show the two sides of Nature: one that gives and maintains life, the other inevitable death. In Princess Mononoke Nature is portrayed as a mysterious God of Life and Death; Something we are to admire and fear but ultimately respect. It is a parable in how we humans cannot fathom our connection to nature and that we wrap it in mythology thus further distancing ourselves from it.
In Shhh Nature is embodied by the Sea and the Sea is a mercurial lover to our Land. This outline is designed for an audience who can relate to the romance, sensuality and also rage and tumult that occur within an intimate relationship. My intention was to bring us closer to nature by looking at it like a sentient being, equipped with its own will and desire to give to another sentient being; to view at it as something we can connect with and to marvel at it’s power simultaneously. In the traditional sense of anthropomorphisastion my film would be a parable, attempting to make sense of some sort of Sea God, whose loving and giving is contrasted to his wrathful defiance.
French translation -language and metaphor
Chris Rose provided the voice over for my film. He has taught English and also performs theatre. We worked collaboratively to transfer the poem from text to speech and work out the personality of the poem. He compared the writing style for Shhh to that of Shakespeare in that it is written in a rhetorical and seductive style. Metaphorically there are a lot of tangible, physical words and gestures used in it such as ‘my wild water kisses your land’. It references the body in that land rhymes with hand and a kiss comes from the lips. Water and land are given bodies and abilities to make gestures.
We went through the poem together before recording in English to check the structure and flow for speech. We chose which words needed emphasizing and which were superfluous. It was part of the process of turning text into spoken word and something which a director would do in preparation for a play. There were quite a few dominant lines in Shhh and when it came to recording it in English there were some conflicts still, when Chris spoke a line he may have emphasized one too many words. It results in over-playing the emotion throughout the line. For example when we recorded the line ‘Keep me within your boundaries and I will breech them’ Chris emphasised the last four words. It gave the end of the sentence a rhythm and vigour, reflecting the energy of the sea but ultimately sounded a bit laboured.
When I found out that Chris was fluent in French and had lived there for two years I asked him to translate the poem for me. It added to the poem’s seductive nature and also references the connection between Britain and France. A French sea coming to charm and make love to our English coastline, but which we can never tame. Chris said in an interview that between languages one of the differences is in how we use metaphors. ‘English uses a lot of war imagery; French doesn’t, and leans more toward the idea of seduction, hence why you might find it more seductive…’ (see appendix B)
French language, even when describing something passive translates as a sensual action ‘…you could use the french verb ‘caresser’ in most situations, like brushing by someone’s coat. Talk about the language of love, dear me!’ We associate the word ‘caress’ with a physical gesture of affection and in french it is used for patently mundane events.
When we rerecorded it I asked for him to use more of a whisper in his voice. A whisper can be used to seduce and also to threaten. It has an intimate quality shared only between two people. Seduction and threat are quite importantly private activities. Intimacy and secrets are begot through whispering. Whispering denotes the connection between two people and usually occurs in a romantic scenario. In a study ‘Private whispering was used with special forms of tenderness, affiliation or invitations for playful interaction to the life mate or a partner, preferentially without other people around… …Its repeated use… seemed not only to reinforce the performance of whispering, but also to strengthen the bonding of mates.’ (Jasmin Carillo, 2004)
Thus whispering a threat as opposed to stating one is doubly portentous because it suggests there is a bond between the two parties which could be hard for the victim to sever.
Choosing to rerecord the poem in French resulted in more emphasis on the seductive element through subtle threat, which is appropriate to the content. The Sea is embodied in a male character which is at once giving and destructive.
Conclusion
To summerise my evaluation I have looked at the interplay between the verbal and visual in film and poetry, metaphor and anthropomorphism used in environmentalist animation and how translating a text from one dialect to another can enhance it’s meaning.
My film falls into the new genre of Poetry-Film as outlined by Fil Ierpoulos and used by the likes of Billy Collins. I supply and idea to a writer who then supplies me with boundaries and possibilites for metaphors. These verbal/visual metaphors interplay to create a complete piece, aiming to capture audiences interested in poetry but also eager for visual stimulation.
The poem and film address the issue of coastal erosion through the characterisation of the sea, representing it as something we may relate to with a human voice. This harks back to not only ancient religions, but our natural need to give non living things life and personality on order to understand it. I want people to connect with my subject and creating a two sided charcter, reflecting the mercurial nature of the sea satisfys this archetype. Like many environmentalist animatiors I have continued a tradition prevalent in story telling.
Choosing to translate the poem into French was the result of being ready to explore the possibilities of language and their potential in altering meaning in a text. French language uses seductive metaphor and often a gestural word has many meanings, dependant on context. Geographically using french in my poem was relevant because of Britain’s proximity to France.
The sum of my final Master’s project is an environmentalist animation which uses anthropmorphic allegory to bring a natural force closer to us. The use of french enhances the language in the poem and adds a subtle threat, reminding us of the giving yet wrathful presence of the sea. The collaboration between visual and verbal forms a multi sensory poem, expanding the audience for both art forms.
2681 words before quotations.
Appendix A
Feedback interview with Helen Jaeger, author of Shhh
When I first spoke to you about the research I was doing for project, what was it that made you volunteer your own contribution?
I was interested in the themes of the project and looked forward to working collaboratively in a genre that wasn’t just writing. It was also great that my sister asked me!
I asked you to write a poem based on the issues I was looking into. I remember not feeling entirely clear or confident about what I wanted to express in the film so it must have been a bit tricky to pin point something. How did you whittle down the concepts and ideas into a theme?
We talked around the issues to do with the project and considered various different angles. I’m used to the concept stage of a project being a bit undefined, so it didn’t surprise me that the themes weren’t completely clear – that’s what brainstorming, research and collaboration is about and it’s fun when a project moves in different directions. I was interested in the idea of the sea as a person or entity that could shape people and landscapes, hold memories and have its own personality, so I decided that giving the sea its own voice would be the most interesting way forward.
When you write poetry how do you start. Is it with associated words on the theme or do you have clear pictures in your mind which you then verbalise?
I start with ideas – so the sea as the voice of a lover (it caresses you) was one that struck me – and it developed from there, because the sea also has a wild and unpredictable side, too. One idea I didn’t explore further was the idea of the sea as a mother – because of the briny, womblike holding element – but this could have been a different angle. I think I chose the lover one as we’d talked about the sea eroding landscapes and it fitted more closely with that idea.
Your poem contributed to my film in giving me strong visual metaphors. What do you think my film contributed to the poem and did it meet your expectations?
I loved the film! It was amazing to see a few words taken and expanded on. It was great to hear it in French translation. To be honest, when you’re writing, you tend to look at the words on the page – how they look, what shape they have – and you concentrate less on their acoustic value. Listening to the poem being read by someone else really made me see a different side to it – and improvements I could have made. It helped the poem to become much more three-dimensional. I love the graphics in the film, the movement, the ebb and flow.
How does collaboration with me, your sister compare with collaboration with non relatives and does it form part of relationship building? How does collaboration influence your work?
It’s been amazing to work with my sister! I think there is already a mutual respect and willingness to listen there, because of the relationship, which you don’t necessarily immediately get when you’re working with non-relatives. The willingness to listen is an essential part of good collaboration, however. I think you’ve brought a lot of energy to the project and you’ve put up with my late deadlines, too (thanks!). You’ve also challenged me to think in new ways, which has been great. I think it has brought us closer together working on a project together and I feel hugely proud of my sister’s achievement! I personally love working collaboratively, but in my 20 or so years professional experience, it can be hit and miss whether other creatives share those values. Maybe we can do some more stuff together in the future J.
Appendix B
Shhh… By Helen Jaeger
Shhh,
Come to the shore
And listen…
Here, where the rocks
Have been cut and shaped
By waves,
Where my wild water
Kisses your land,
I will yield up to you
My secrets.
Like a lover’s embrace,
I can give and I can heal.
Surrender your body
And in one breath,
I’ll caress and hold all of it.
Yet remember, too,
That I have the power
To take away and to destroy.
Keep me within your bounds
And I will breach them.
Tame me
And I’ll leap beyond your limits,
Claiming and reclaiming
What is mine.
You cannot grasp me,
Even in your strong hand,
But –
Shh.
Come to the shore
And listen…
There
I’ll yield up to you my secrets.
Appendix C
Interview with Chris Rose, voice over for Shhh
You’ve studied and taught English and also perform theatre, what kind of language does the original poem Shhh use and whose writing could you compare it to?
I loved the original poem, instantly. For me, that’s how poetry is; if it doesn’t grab you immediately, it’s over. It was mainly its tone; it has a Shakespearean quality to it. It sounded rhetorical, very persuasive, and seductive – it somehow reminded me of Shylock’s grand soliloquy in The Merchant of Venice, or Henry V’s rebuking of the French messenger early on in the play. I could go on but I’ll just say that this is the kind of seduction I’m talking about, with subtle threat behind it. And the poem managed to seduce me without any of those particular concrete Shakespearean connotations, and it’s written in a simple vernacular. Great stuff.
We went through the poem together before recording in English to check the structure and flow for speech. We chose which words needed emphasizing and which were superfluous. Does this process often happen when you prepare to produce a play?
Well, any good play, or any good piece of literature, for that matter, shouldn’t contain superfluous language; every word should count, regardless of its task. It’s just that, as you say, we emphasise certain words for a whole host of reasons, but primarily, with regard to theatre, for the director’s take on the play. And that’s why we can perform the same plays over and again, because we give them our own interpretation. Just look at Helen’s poem, we had slightly different takes on particular words at times, and I really enjoyed your takes, I think we collaborated really well. But I might not have seen what you saw had I read it alone. Someone else coming along to do the voiceover would have given you something entirely different, I’m sure…
You very generously translated the poem from English to French for me, I think it adds to the poem’s seductive nature. What else do you think it lends the poem?
Although languages and cultures can be very similar, they still tend to differ subtly. And I think it’s those subtleties that eventually give language learners a different perspective on the world. Metaphors are the best clues. For example, English uses a lot of war imagery; French doesn’t, and leans more toward the idea of seduction, hence why you might find it more seductive…
A direct translation from English to French would have made little sense. How did you have to alter the poem’s structure when translating it?
I didn’t need to alter the structure too much, to be honest. But generally – or at least classical, traditional – poetry tends to use a French structure anyhow, syntactically; Shakespeare, for example, becomes a lot easier to read once you’ve learned French. But that’s another reason we think of French as the language of love, because to the English it sounds like poetry.
There are some French words which have multiple uses such as ‘caresse’, what other parts of the poem or French language contains words which intone a different meaning or action?
Well, I always say that every word has a unique meaning per context, but I’ll not go down that pretentious road. I’ll just say that most of the non-‘grammar words’ in the poem will have many meanings. It’s interesting though, reading the poem again, how seductive in a sexy way it sounds, in comparison to the English version. Like what I said further up about the metaphorical language, the you could use French verb ‘caresser’ in most situations, like brushing by someone’s coat. Talk about the language of love, dear me!
You mentioned before that the French like to repeat words in their sentences. In English this would seem like the writer or speaker has a weak command of language. Why this cultural difference, what does is lend to French?
It’s a funny one, the idea of repetition. When I said that I was thinking about literature in particular, and I know that as an English writer I’m quite uptight about it, I think most writers are. But although many French writers would argue the contrary, that they don’t like repetition, I’ve never seen much real proof of it, unless you go back a number of centuries. But French is different anyway like that, grammatically, and maybe that just produces more repetition in general. If you take the idea of possession, say ‘Peter’s brother’s son’s cold’s getting worse, you could say that there’s repetition there with the ‘s’, but it’s quick, we get away with it in English. In French, because possession doesn’t work like that, we have to go round the houses a bit, and it makes sentences longer, as do English phrasal verbs etc, hence why translations are generally shorter in English, and why, in the end, you naturally end up with more repetition in French… Phew!
Bibliography
Bells of Atlantis, 1952(film), dir. Ian Hugo, USA, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HE-7qEftad8, 19/08/2014
Carillo, Jasmin Institute of Biology, Department of Behavioural Biology, Free University of Berlin
Haderslebener Str. 9, 12163 Berlin, Germany, accepted for publication on February 11, 2004, Communication by Unvoiced Speech: The Role of Whispering, http://web.fuberlin.de/behavioralbiology/themen/g_team/jasmin_cirillo_g003/Ref5_Communication_by_unvoiced_speech.pdf) 18/08/2014
Cook, Alistair, About Film Poems, 2010, http://filmpoem.com/about/, 19/08/2014
Dave, Moving Poems http://movingpoems.com/author/Dave/page/82/, 19/08/2014
Fil Ieroploulos, Poetry-Film & the Film Poem: Some Clarifications, http://one000plateaus.files.wordpress.com/2010/12/poetry-film-article.pdf, 19/08/2014
Plague Dogs, 1982, dir Martin Rosen, UK, Nepenthe Production, United Artists Corporation
Princess Mononoke, 1997, dir Hayo Miyazaki, Japan, Studio Ghibli
Russell T. McCutcheon, 1994, [This review originally appeared in the Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 33/1 : 81-82] http://rel.as.ua.edu/pdf/mccutchbkreview.pdf, 19/08/2014
Temple, Holly and Ashly, 2014, Community Palette, http://communitypalette.com/, 19/08/1014
Wall-E, 2008, dir Andrew Stanton, USA, Disney Pixar
Willard Maas, Film Culture, Poetry and the Film: A Symposium No. 29, 1963, pp. 55-63. http://www.virtual-circuit.org/word/pages/Poetry/Symposium_Poetry.html, 18/08/2014
Ursula K.Heise, 2014, Plasmatic Nature: Environmentalism and Animated Film (exerpt), Public Culture 2014 Volume 26, http://publicculture.org/articles/view/26/2/plasmatic-nature-environmentalism-and-animated-film, 19/08/2014
Alice Bouttell 