I have my top 3 favourite ideas, each have their own qualities and issues.
At this stage i am weighing up the ideas' potential for visual portrayal and emotive design.
IDEA .1)
Nationality, Seamus Heaney has prooved through his work and his actions that he is a homebird and oproud of this, as a catholic man who lived through many decades including the troubles he was very vocal about his nationality and heritage.
Seamus always returned home to Ireland, born reared, died and buried where he felt most comfortable, and it would be the perfect theme to protray Seamus himself, although no one in particular poem protrays his nationality as a whole several compiled do, the animation would primarily focus on the 1966 poem Requiem of the Croppies, made on and for the 50th anniversary of the Easter rising.
'Terraced thousands died
shaking scythes at cannon,
the hillside blushed
soaked in our broken wave
They buried us without shroud or coffin,
and in August . . . the barley grew up out of our grave'
keep in mind this is my interpretation and could be wrong, but to me the visual words have alot of potential animation wise.
Strong words that connect Heaney to the poem and make you feel not only he was apart of it but all of us are used, primarily, us and we. Hits home alot harder in that way.
shaking scythes meaning scared and unarmed but determined against the forces and cannons.
helplessness emotions and fast visual movements could be interesting to tie this scene in the video.
the hillside BLUSHED, the country was embarrassed, even the land was shamed. this could have blood or paint splatter, even a red wash across the peaceful grass lands?
there is alot of potential in that one phrase alone, it is my favourite in the whole verse and the reason id like to pursue this. i believe it would be a very powerful visual if i choose this poem.
SOAKED is such a powerful representation and could open doors with the viewers senes espicially through sound and not just animation.
broken waves sounds like such a sorrowful line to me, like the determination and power were shattered and it was a major loss, this will tie in the themes of the poem.
power and loss.
anger and oppression
shattered and nostalgic
They buried us
'They' being an oppressor or masked body, dark shadow, all of which could be interesting come character design.
without a shroud or coffin feels very dark and ominous, its that hallow feeling you get when you hear of a tragic death or murder on the news, when you really empathize with the victims, there are basic rights and assumptions.
even during war the opponents were allowed to collect and bury their dead.
abuse of death,
many fear or worry at least over death and what will happen after, either in the next life etc or simply this life and what happened their body and what their families will go through. you worry how your family will cope and whether you will be respected in death.
the lack of ceremony and respect in this line will be tricky to portray but even Heaneys words fading to black or the next scene would be enough to really get the empathy from the viewer.
I want to really empathize the disrespect the dead and their loved ones would feel here and then the life after in the next line.
. . .
the pause should be emotive.
hopeful but still allowing the previous line to sink in within the short time.
the barely grew up from our graves.
still has the disrespectful element in a paupers grave but at least life goes on, and barley represents their beloved Ireland in which they fight, fighters primarily made up of lower class and farmers, barley being their income and home, crops they know as their own.
Its dark, its emotive, its powerful in language and should be interesting to animate, especially in grey scale? with perhaps the verse specific subject in either light colour or powerful vibrant colours?
However its short, and the theme and research to push the imagery along isnt just from this one particular poem which i feel it should be in this projects case.
Another piece i found that made Seamus Heaneys position and beliefs clear was his Untitled objection to being added to the Anthology of British Poets in 1982.
'Be advised my passports green,
no glass of ours was ever to toast the queen'
its short and clear, and really pushed this idea of an opinionated and national Heaney along for this particular project idea.
However it is short and not poem specific so im not 100% sure im happy pursuing this particular idea. It seems to be a better Moving Image or maybe digital compositing idea rather than animation, especially if it was for a portfolio piece and needed an explanation.
edited for brainstorming purposes, original image from the rebellion walking tour:
http://sf.funcheap.com/rebellion-walking-tour-irishamericans-1916-easter-rising-sf/
IDEA .2)
Innocence is a recurring theme with Heaney, although it appears in many forms at different part of his life, but my favourite is him discussing the innocence of his childhood.
Sometimes (depending on the poem) he writes about it in a nostalgic sense, which i would like to incorporate but my favourites are the ones that he either wrote while very young and published much later or the ones he talks as if he were still a child and still in that time and place.
To me one of his most renowned poems, The Death of a Naturalist, also the name of his first published collection in 1966, speaks about innocence on so many levels.
This unlike the first idea is more general, speaks to more than just one sort, one age group, it is alot more whimsical both in a nostalgic sense but also a here and now sense that would speak to younger audiences and far far older. I believe this is the most inclusive poem and idea out of the my top 3 that i have chosen.
The theme is young, vibrant, whimsical and light enough that i could go in a far lighter tone and direction than either of the other final ideas. The reason i chose it however wasnt because it was the lighter idea, it is because of Heaneys use of descriptive words, it is full to the brim with visual text that flows so easily through the readers mouth, mind and imagination.
The way he words everything is so clear, you can practically taste the air in which he is talking about, but my above all reason for choosing this particular poem to protray innocence was when i read it i felt it was as if a child was talking to me, the things he was describing were things only a child found delightful, it had a youthful innocence about it that i think he captured perfectly and i would have a alot of fun developing this idea further.
"But, best of all, was the WARM, THICK, SLOBBER of the frogspawn, that GREW like CLOTTED water, in the SHADE and in the banks,
here,
every spring,
i would FILL jampots of the Jellied specks to range on window sills at home, on shelves at school, and WAIT, and WATCH, until the FATTENED dots BURST into nimble, swimming TADPOLES!'
It has a youthful atmosphere that only something so trivial and simple could capture, collecting frogspawn and seeing tadpoles burst to life is a small miracle to a child, yet its one we all have gone through or have done something similar, myself it was ladybugs, getting up close and personal with small vibrant life at a young age feels powerful and new, something children rarely feel. and its exciting, and i think the animation for this would be far lighter and up tempo than the others.
rarely do good things happen, but when they do they are something to behold and remember fondly through all the horrible and even mundane times, i think the happier poems can be few and far between and i would like to focus on the happier side of poetry and life in respect for Seamus Heaney, and put his happiness and written memories into an animation for the many who like myself don't indulge in poetry the way others might.
Similar to learning, everyone feels and absorbs information and feelings in different ways, i would be a visual learner so i can understand others who don't like to read for pleasure but would benefit from seeing Heaneys words rather than read them. To become a fan of something you are more than likely to like and appreciate a happier more positive piece than a negative, so if my intention for this project is to encourage more fans of poetry and Heaney i think adapting this lighter and childlike poem to moving image is a better choice. However it feels less interesting than the artistic routes the others could potentially take.
Animation wise it would be light but colourful if not with a whimsical atmosphere, the movements would be slow for both camera and characters, it seems like a decent promotion of Heaney but nothing new for my portfolio and that is a another objective i have to keep in mind during this project.
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/194921490092760355/
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/533746993314989883/
and finally. . .
IDEA .3)
Senses, throughout Heaneys work he focuses on senses, it is a particular style of poetry in my opinion, instead of describing what has happened he describes what it felt like when it happened, making many of his poems vague to the unknowing reader.
i think it would be an interesting idea animation wise to focus in on senses, similar to a birds sight, everything is faster, heightened and closer than normal, to achieve this style in animation ill have to chose a poem when senses are primarily heightened, so a poem about a very intense memorable situation.
i've looked into several Heaney pieces but the one that suits this idea the best is midterm break, first published in death of a naturalist in 1966, i think this is one of his earliest greatest pieces and when i think Seamus Heaney this is the poem i remember the most, even at a young age in school when studying poetry and Heaney, midterm break always seemed so tragic and intense.
The poem is described as:
The subject of this poem is the death of Seamus Heaney's younger brother, Christopher who was killed by a car at the age of four. It is a tremendously poignant poem and its emotional power derives in large measure form the fact that Heaney is very muted and understated with respect to his own emotional response.
www.sheerpoetry.co.uk
Death is a powerful intense situation when your senses tend to be on overdrive, and the death of a toddler, especially through the eyes of a child would push the emotive design of this animation further than perhaps the other ideas would.
my biggest concern for this idea however is that it could also lead to coming across as overly dramatic white noise if not developed throughly and then defined in great detail.
From the start im already imagining sound and silence will be major factors with this animation and need to mesh perfectly or the original intention will be lost entirely.
Style wise i have a clear idea with little mournful movements but colour wise i am very undecided, i will have to have a few different trial and error runs before really understanding which will protray the emotions, situation and memories the best and in the most respectful manner.
Because the poem is more of a story in verses rather than one you could take your own interpretation from, i will be following the storyline, from the lonely college, to unfamiliar home with relatives and neighbours drinking tea in the busy wake house, and ending at the climatic moment where he finally sees his toddler brother in his 4 foot coffin in the sunkissed upper room.
Edited photo from:
http://helloteacup.com/2014/12/21/why-start-tea-business/
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