William Allinghams poem, 'down on the shore' consists of two parts. The first verse of the poem desribes the shore in a good light, a happy, fun place to go. Its what i think of when i think of the coast. The second verse is the opposite, it tells us how the beach can be an angry and aggressive force. weather depending, it can be quite a drastic difference. I decided to focus on the first verse of the poem.
The day of shooting went quite well. It wasn't as sunny as I would of liked but i wasn't expecting it to be. I got up at half 6 to try and get the sun coming up but I was too late by the time I got to the beach. I was a bit disappointed and obviously if I had more time I would try and get this shot.
I also had an idea to do a short time lapse, but I couldn't get hold of a tripod and it wouldn't have worked well without one. I had a great day filming and was extremely happy with the shots i managed to get.
If i'm totally honest though I would liked to have spent a lot more time on the editing of the film. I wanted to try and blend some of the shots together, overlapping them, for example a steady shot of the water or rocks and over lay a bird in flight. I left it a bit late but i'm still happy with the outcome.
https://vimeo.com/110745646
Monday, 3 November 2014
EDITING
I left it a bit late to be editing my final film. I'm a bit disappointed that I wasn't more organised. I would liked to have spent more time blending clips together and experimenting with colour and different transitions. However i'm quite happy with how the text looks over the clips. I think its goes really well and compliments the poem.
SHOTS
I need to consider what kind of shots I may need to use. I would prefer my film to go quite smoothly so a tripod would be useful. Long panning shots of the horizon are a definite. I could use hand held shots of walking up the beach, I could speed them up to make it seems like the camera is going somewhere.
It would be great if i could get filming on a day that had good weather, but with it being october my chances aren't great, as long as the rain stays clear I could colour correct the clips if need be.
It would be great if i could get filming on a day that had good weather, but with it being october my chances aren't great, as long as the rain stays clear I could colour correct the clips if need be.
WHERE TO GO
I went on a road trip to get some
inspiration. All the usual places I like to go to. Starting off with Benone
beach, making my way to Portstewart and Portrush, along the coastal scenic
route to ballintoy harbour and portballintrae.
Sunday, 2 November 2014
DOWN ON THE SHORE
I love the beach, I’ve
spent every summer at the beach since i was a child and any chance I can get
now as I’m older, I drive there, all along the coast. It’s my favourite place.
When I read Allinghams poem “down on the shore” it takes me there. I can
imagine everything that is written. I can relate to it. I have decided to take
this poem and create something for it.
My personal strengths
are in photography, typography and moving image. So I would like to combine the
three to make a film.
I think if I had shots of the beach, different aspects like harbours, the sand, rocks and waves, i could overlay typography of the most important parts of the poem. It would be a nice visual way of reading it.
DECISIONS DECISIONS
I have two main poems that
ive been trying to choose between;
A day dreams
reflection.
Chequer'd with woven shadows as I lay
Among the grass, blinking the watery gleam,
I saw an Echo-Spirit in his bay
Most idly floating in the noontide beam.
Slow heaved his filmy skiff, and fell, with sway
Of ocean's giant pulsing, and the Dream,
Buoyed like the young moon on a level stream
Of greenish vapour at decline of day,
Swam airily, watching the distant flocks
Of sea-gulls, whilst a foot in careless sweep
Touched the clear-trembling cool with tiny shocks,
Faint-circling; till at last he dropt asleep,
Lull'd by the hush-song of the glittering deep,
Lap-lapping drowsily the heated rocks.
Among the grass, blinking the watery gleam,
I saw an Echo-Spirit in his bay
Most idly floating in the noontide beam.
Slow heaved his filmy skiff, and fell, with sway
Of ocean's giant pulsing, and the Dream,
Buoyed like the young moon on a level stream
Of greenish vapour at decline of day,
Swam airily, watching the distant flocks
Of sea-gulls, whilst a foot in careless sweep
Touched the clear-trembling cool with tiny shocks,
Faint-circling; till at last he dropt asleep,
Lull'd by the hush-song of the glittering deep,
Lap-lapping drowsily the heated rocks.
Down on the shore
Down on the shore, on the sunny shore!
Where the salt smell cheers the land;
Where the tide moves bright under boundless light,
And the surge on the glittering strand;
Where the children wade in the shallow pools,
Or run from the froth in play;
Where the swift little boats with milk-white wings
Are crossing the sapphire bay,
And the ship in full sail, with a fortunate gale,
Holds proudy on her way;
Where the nets are spread on the grass to dry,
And asleep, hard by, the fishermen lie,
Under the tent of the warm blue sky,
With the hushing wave on its golden floor
To sing their lullaby.
Down on the shore, on the stormy shore!
Beset by a growling sea,
Whose mad waves leap on the rocky steep
Like wolves up a traveller's tree;
Where the foam flies wide, and an angry blast
Blows the curlew off, with a screech;
Where the brown sea-wrack, torn up by the roots,
Is flung out of fishes' reach;
And the tall ship rolls on the hidden shoals,
And scatters her planks on the beach;
Where slate and straw through the village spin,
And a cottage fronts the fiercest din
With a sailor's wife sitting sad within,
Hearkening the wind and the water's roar,
Till at last her tears begin
Where the salt smell cheers the land;
Where the tide moves bright under boundless light,
And the surge on the glittering strand;
Where the children wade in the shallow pools,
Or run from the froth in play;
Where the swift little boats with milk-white wings
Are crossing the sapphire bay,
And the ship in full sail, with a fortunate gale,
Holds proudy on her way;
Where the nets are spread on the grass to dry,
And asleep, hard by, the fishermen lie,
Under the tent of the warm blue sky,
With the hushing wave on its golden floor
To sing their lullaby.
Down on the shore, on the stormy shore!
Beset by a growling sea,
Whose mad waves leap on the rocky steep
Like wolves up a traveller's tree;
Where the foam flies wide, and an angry blast
Blows the curlew off, with a screech;
Where the brown sea-wrack, torn up by the roots,
Is flung out of fishes' reach;
And the tall ship rolls on the hidden shoals,
And scatters her planks on the beach;
Where slate and straw through the village spin,
And a cottage fronts the fiercest din
With a sailor's wife sitting sad within,
Hearkening the wind and the water's roar,
Till at last her tears begin
INTRO
On Thursday the 6th of November 2014 in the Abbey Centre, Ballyshannon,
visitors to the Allingham Festival will have an opportunity to experience the
unique cinematic screening of moving image and animation projects by the final
year design students from the School of Creative Arts, University Of Ulster,
Magee, Derry and LYIT Letterkenny. The shorts are moving image responses to
William Allingham's poetry, displaying their interpretation of Allingham's written
word, using their chosen discipline, e.g. illustration/graphic design/3D/moving
image/etc.!
So this is our brief.
Honestly my first thoughts were a little pessimistic as I’m not one for poetry,
I don’t read it much and find it hard to understand the meaning sometimes. But
when I looked into William Allingham’s poetry I found some quite nice ones.
The ones that stood out
were “down on the shore”, “a day dreams reflection” and “after sunset”. I think
these stood out to me as they’re all related to the environment and outdoors. I
love photography and capturing natural scenes. The way he describes
the world makes you think about things you would never have noticed before.
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