Note that that all material on poetry video will be moving to poetryvideo.com soon. Once it does, we'll put a notice to that effect here. If you're familiar with the old poetryvideo.com, this will be a completely different creature emphasising poetryvideo instead of documenting poets with video.
If you've got a suggestion for a site that covers poetry video in some way, please email.
LinksVideo poetry is a mixed media format in which poem, image and sound interact symbiotically. A well integrated poetry video strives to achieve a unity of mood with each factor enhancing the other so the synergy is more effective than the poem or image presented seperately. The highly condensed nature of the poem provides the ideal scenario for a short film or video. The visual carrier offers a fresh alternative, a modern vehicle for presenting poetry to media savvy audiences.
Good video poetry integrates poem, image and music into a unified work of art. The whole being more effective than any of the elements presented seperately. Where the poem is dominant the eye absorbs the image and frees the ear to follow the spoken word. If the image dominates the captions or voice over enhances the course of the moving picture, reinforces it and gives it articulation and direction. The music, of course, supports and bonds poem and image.
Currently, we are witnessing the expansion in the use of the video poetry medium as a conveyor of poetry. Festivals in at least two cities (Chicago and San Francisco) hold festivals in which poetry video is a major element. The last forty years has conditioned the public to the dynamics of the visual medium and now we find more opportunities to present poetry during this era of community channels, film and video festivals, and other multi- media access venues.
Video poetry provides a format that may effectively be used by students as themes for short videos and films, as well as providing a modern vehicle for poets and the literary minded to carry their voices to larger broader audiences.