I Bend

Hi Courtney, I really liked that you used interpretive dance as part of your visual elements. The nature of interpretive dance went well with the poem content and music selection.  

Hey Courtney, your decision to use a single video of an individual dancing makes the e-poem unique when compared to others. My favorite part of the video was the audio in the background because I believe the song choice fit perfectly with the video and the message your attempting to convey. Concerning the text, I only question the change in size and style. I'm curious to know whether you're attempting to use the different styles of text to coincide with a message from the poem or if there is another reason? Overall, I believe this e-poem is amazing because of your decision to use interpretive dance. 

I thought the music you chose as well as the videos matched very well with the content of the poem, and helped to create a solid theme throughout. I think adding more videos might help the video poem be a bit more engaging. However, the dancing theme definitely worked here, so I wouldn't feel like you have to necessarily have to add anything. I also liked how you chose to present the text, particularly with the fading animations. 

The music creates a nice mood for the piece. The choice of imagery also resonates well with the music. The placement of the clips on the canvas can be tweaked to get the letterboxing and other framing standardized.The doubling technique around 18 secs works well. I also like the interruption with the bird imagery at 48 secs. You may be able to identify other spots where some manipulation of or variety in the imagery can break up some of the lengthier segments of visuals. At about 1:18 the imagery of nature has some extra material right at the beginning. I like the emphasis that comes from the text only on the black background at the end. Perhaps there are opportunities to do something similar in earlier segments to also break up the longer stretches of imagery. The mood and flow of the piece is working well, so adding some clips or breaking up the visuals along the way can create some potential ways of adding variety. Nice work.

I like how, throughout the poem, some of the text appears blurry and out of focus and then plops into place; I think it adds nicely to that idea of isolating, depressing feelings but how one comes back into focus and remembers their eternal worth. I also enjoy how the e-poem is matched entirely with clips from a single video; it creates uniformity. I also find it interesting how you change fonts throughout the video; I think changing the fonts based on the words is a nice touch to emphasizing meaning. 

Hi Courtney,

Great video! I love the poem and I think the dancer does a great job metaphorically symbolizing the "bend" that was referenced. To prevent the scene of the crow from seeming random, I would maybe include more clips than just one to create a balance between the bird and the dancer. I really enjoyed watching and I think your switch of font between stanzas kept me interested. Nice job!