The Outerview Series: Part X - Production

      We've written and edited our best verse and, poetry being a mode of speech, not writing, we now want to find listeners.

      "Why not readers?"

       Poetry doesn't attract a lot of those.  Given the state of the art, there isn't nearly enough poetry to fill even one page of text in a periodical, let alone dozens in the average journal.  What readership there might be amounts to contributors hoping to divine the editor's tastes and interests.

     "But people did used to read poetry, right?"

      Folks used to read poetry for two reasons:  To find something to perform for their friends and family or to analyze why people enjoyed hearing that particular verse.  At the very least, when people read poetry they were able to do so imagining how it would sound--something they could well envision because they listened to so much verse during their lives.

     "So if we want people to read our poetry we need to recite it to them?"

      Perform it for them, yes.  But more directly, we want them to hear and appreciate our speech.  Or rhymes, if you wish.

 Enactments and Narrations.

      An enactment involves one or more presenters performing a poem on camera, with or without action.  Your laptop camera or your telephone might suffice.  If you have the cash, consider getting a tripod (photo at top, often under $20, usually  with a remote start button) and, for sound better than a telephone call, a microphone ($6 and up).  A popular choice is the Hollyland M2 (a little over $100, about the size and shape of a quarter).

      The performers need to look and sound as if they are making it up as they go along.  Try to avoid looking up and to the right;  this makes it seem like the speaker is trying to recall lines.

      Enunciate clearly.  Textual subtitles are a good idea if hoping to attract non-anglophone audiences.  

      It is a good idea to record each stanza or strophe separately, perhaps from different angles.  This is particularly effective when there is a change in perspective or tone, as at a sonnet's volta.

      Insofar as lighting is concerned, position the light facing the actor(s) from two different angles [in order to avoid shadows].  A room's ceiling light can be augmented by a lamp on the floor.

      If you are too shy to appear on camera record your voice and do a slide show with still photographs in the foreground.  Networking with a photographer would be a good plan.  For this purpose a wired microphone will do, often providing better audio than a similarly priced wireless model.

      Speak with natural inflection.  Don't give up until you are satisfied with what you have recorded. Above all:  Never introduce or, worse, explain your poem.  Ever.  Anywhere.  The only exceptions are "terms and times":  a word or phrase that is either archaic (e.g. annotations of Shakespearean verse) or jargon (e.g. a mention of "Dragon" in a piece about chess).

      When you post it online you might include the text below your video.

Music  https://pixabay.com/music/search/instrumental/

      Check out some of the royal free instrumental download sites.  These tunes can be snipped for use before, after, or in the background at low volume during your poetry performance.  Occasionally, we'll see instrumental slide shows with verse text.  No recitation.

      This is usually because the poet has a unique, overriding need for anonymity.

      Now that you have your final version posted, how do you gather viewers?

Next:   Attracting and Impressing