Project Development

I decided to go ahead and develop my first idea of a project more. After thinking about the questions Thursday's class, I realized that I would probably enjoy and benefit from it more. First, I'll just post the first "draft" of the project here:


1) YouTubing Whitman Remix
I'm not really savvy when it comes to taking and editing videos, but I feel  more welcome in the realm of photography. I really wanted to choose another location for my video, but couldn't due to lack of transportation and the will to walk half an hour on a cold day. That aside, I would love to take on a longer excerpt from the poem (if not the entire poem, if the project requires such ambition) and combine it with a slideshow of images taken by myself within the sphere of my hometown, the city of Hercules -- all to capture the natural essences that Whitman has entwined in "Song of Myself". I really love the idea of using images (or anything visual) to bring more out of a poem's imagery. It does feel sort of contradictory to go with "showing" rather that "feeling" what Whitman wants to convey; nevertheless, until it is possible for us to be able to actually be within the pictures we take, this will have to do! Whitman's details of natural scenery really do paint a beautiful picture and, at the same time, do not lose sight (or touch) of its reality; the beauty comes not from dreamy clouds or spores, but instead from solid soil and grassroots. Thus, if I can take on trekking to the beach by the bay, the hidden forest, the dirt paths near and across the train tracks, it would not only be a fun field day of taking digital pictures, but it would also feel like a rough adventure through nature. Or even, instead of "Song of Myself" I could also look into "Song of Occupations" or even "Calamus" (since it's a fresh new seed of thoughts in my mind). This could be even more helpful -- what kinds of images does Whitman evoke from nature to support his ground-breaking notions? Are they "consistent" (I say this rather objectively since a poet's style can change over time, but there's still that unique voice) with each other in other poems?


So, imagery (with emphasis on nature) is the main subject, and the overall presentation will be a slideshow. I probably will also record myself reading the lines, and so while I go out to various locations to get scenic photos, I'll also have to bring my laptop or something to record myself while there -- it would feel weird reading from my room and not getting sound effects in on what's supposed to be a sort of representation of the scenes found in the poem. In the end, my goal is to try to emulate the senses Whitman is evoking from his descriptions of nature and how they relate to his work as a whole -- or at least I hope that makes as much sense anyway as it does in my mind.