Poetry in Motion III Things That Fall, the video

This is what I was able to do in a week. I had to work the day job, too, having blown all my vacation time. Out of the six entries, it took second prize. The ranking was determined by audience vote. Kestrel Burley did a great job of jumping in and running with the character. Joe Roessler composed the music; one of my regrets is that I did not have enough time to work more of his music into the piece.

I'd thought about going with a non-narrative approach. But I've seen enough nonlinear movies to know that it has to be very emotionally driven or people simply sit back, scratch their heads and feel stupid. This is not a bad thing in itself, but I wanted to hook the audience directly. I decided to work with a story. After chewing on the poem long enough to determine a theme, I wrote a single-character script with simple locations to improve my chances of finishing the piece on time. I also wanted to keep the feel of the poem, its sense of poise mixed with doubt.

The piece is a mixed bag. I see some obvious flaws -- all my responsibility. That said, I'm glad I took the risk, and I learned many lessons.

On to the next one. I promise it will not be delicate, solitary, or filled with a sense of regret and potential. It will be loud, proud, rude, and crude with blood on its hands and a howl on its lips.