Ever wondered about making poetry film?
This course is designed to show you how, step by step, you can create poetry films on your smartphone.
The course also includes advanced tutorials so that you have the tools to develop your practice and to think critically about poetry film.
One-to-one feedback included.
Ongoing support through membership of a closed Facebook group.
When can you start?
Available now.
Start the course at any time and take as long as you like – the resources will be available for as long as you need them.
What topics will you cover?
- Equipment and software
- History of poetry film
- Different styles of poetry film
- How not to make poetry film
- What makes a good poetry film?
- Approaches to editing poetry film
- Approaches to writing for poetry film
- Filming with a smart phone – shot types, angles, composition, camera movement, and lighting
- Using and recording sound
- Step by step how to make a film in iMovie on an iPhone and Android phone
- Transitions and how they can be used in poetry film
- Using text on the screen
- Accessing and using Royalty Free images, sound and music
- Working with still images
- Colours and visual communication
That’s not all!
Whenever you get stuck on something, you can contact us and we’ll do our best to help.*
You’ll also be able to receive detailed feedback on four poetry films.
Who is the course for?
This course is for all the poets and artists who have ever wondered what poetry film is and thought ‘wouldn’t it be great to make one’.
No previous experience of filmmaking is needed. The course is suitable for beginners as well as those who have already made a start.
What software and equipment do you need?
You don’t need specialist equipment – we’ll show you how to get started with just a phone.
What will you achieve?
By the end of the course, you’ll be able to…
- Make your own poetry films
- Use your phone to create and edit great footage
- Know the different approaches to writing for poetry film
- Understand what makes a good poetry film
Who will you learn with?
Helen Dewbery has been using cameras for many years and has been making poetry film for the past 11 years. Helen is co-director of The Big Poetry Weekend in Swindon.
Chaucer Cameron is a poet and creator of Wild Whispers an international poetry film project, and regularly curates and presents poetry film at events and festivals.
What do people say about this course?
The Poetry Film Workshop 2020 online course has brought a whole new world to us, both in terms of enabling a new art form that we can now achieve and by increasing an appreciation of the work of others.
Excellent tutors!
I appreciated being able to go at my own pace.
Response from both tutors has been excellent, and prompt.
Despite starting from scratch, from the start, it was a real thrill to be able to achieve really worthwhile results.
How to enrol
Go into the ‘Buy The Course’ tab at the bottom of this page. You’ll then see two options: Log In and Create an Account.
This is WordPress system – and so if you already have a wordpress account, you’ll be using that account (unless you’re using a different email). If not, then you’ll be able to create an account.
After logging in or creating an account, you’ll be able to buy the course.
If you have any questions please contact us here.
* [Please note that whilst we give advice on what software to use and how to use it, we are not always able to help with software conflicts that you may encounter. This is because there is a huge number and different models of phones. We will try and point you in the right direction for a solution, and there are always other software options you can try.]
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Section One: Getting started
This section tells you what you need to get started on Poetry Film Training. We tell you how to get the most from the course, how to build your knowledge and skills, how to get support when you need it, and what basic equipment and software you need. Jump in and enjoy it!
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Section Two: What is Poetry Film?
This section is all about poetry film: what it is and what makes a good poetry film, and offers some examples of poetry film for you to begin to think about what works for you.
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Section Three: Filming
In this section we look at filming. Basic filming on a smart phone (or a camera). We’ll look at lighting, camera angles, how to hold your phone and keep it steady. It’s practical, and at the end of it you will have some footage, and some text, to use to make a poetry film.
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Section Four: Sound and recording
You have your footage, now we look at the different types of sound used in poetry film and how to use it. This section also covers sound recording.
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Section Five: Getting ready to edit
You should now have some footage, some text and some sound. In this section you’ll learn how to get started with your software. Work through it step by step before jumping into the next section on editing.
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Section Six: Begin Editing
In this section you'll start to edit your poetry film on iMovie or FilmoraGo. If you are using other software there's still loads in here for you to look at.
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Section Seven: Adding Sound to the timeline
This section leads you through adding and editing audio in iMovie and FilmoraGo.
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Section Eight: Adding Text
Here we look at putting actual text into your poetry film.
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Section Nine: Final Editing
Final editing can be approached in many different ways. Here we suggest one approach for you to follow.
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Section Ten: Sharing
You’ve done it! You’ve made a film and now you want to share it: here's how.
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Taking it Further 1: Delving deeper
Taking it further is beginning to look deeper into what makes a good poetry film and suggests ways to expand your practice.
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Taking it Further 2: Approaches to writing text
This section explores writing and editing text.
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Taking it Further 3: Understanding Transitions
Finding transitions that work well is probably one of the hardest things to do, but also one of the most important. Transitions also pose some technical challenges - this section will help you to manage them better.
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Taking it Further 4: Sending out work
We've taken some of the work out of finding places to submit your poetry films to.
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Taking it Further 5: Royalty Free
Whether you want to find a particular sound, piece of music or footage, that you haven't been able to do yourself, or you are interested in working with archive materials, this section tells you where to find royalty free and free to use material.
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Taking it Further 6: Working with still images
If you use still images for creating poetry films, then this section will tell you how to get the best from your images.
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Taking it Further 7: Useful information
This is a handy section to drop into when you need to.
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BONUS MATERIAL
Other useful tips, hints and how tos.
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Help!
If you're struggling with something, or there is something that we haven't covered here, contact us and we will try and help.
