Commercial Poetry: production

Thursday, December 5, 2024

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

The Outerview Series

Saturday, September 7, 2024

The Outerview Series: Part VII - Production

      At this point we know that poetry is memorably speech, how to scan verse, rhyme, and use sounds to stitch words together. So what do we do now?

     "Write poems and get them published?"

     To what end?

     "What do you mean?"

     How many contemporary poems do you read each day?

     "Well, none, but..."

     Exactly. No one is going to read your poem, even if it is printed in a magazine.

     "Okay, post it on my blog then."

     And how much time do you spend reading verse on blogs? Or social media?

     "Probably none..."

     Precisely. No one reads poetry. Except, perhaps, others who want to be published there and trying to get a feel for the editor's preferences.

     Thus, the question becomes: "Under what circumstances would anyone want to read or hear our poetry?"

     "If it's set to music, maybe?"

     Yes, but let's just talk about spoken verse here. When might people want to read or hear poetry, as opposed to song lyrics?

     "Never?"

      Pretty much, yes. Never.

     "So what do we do?"

      We create an audience.

      "And how do we do that?"

      We ask ourselves: What do people find interesting?

      "Movies? Television?"

       Right. So our task is to get our poems into movies and/or television.

       Consider the three best poems of this century. All were made into slide shows. They attracted 1444 hits over a combined (14+14+15) 43 years. That is 33.58 hits per year. All were historical perspectives, the idea being that anyone making a documentary or feature film would web search the subject, find the poem, and consider including it.

       Never happened. A more targeted approach is in order. Find out what your favorite director's upcoming project is, write a poem about that, make a video, post it onto social media, then join an online discussion group for that director or genre and, after establishing yourself, casually mention your piece there.

       If that is not your style then write for an upcoming event. You have four months from now (2024-08-25) until Kamala Harris is sworn in as POTUS. Use that time to write, perform, record, and post an inaugural poem. Get going on it!

Other Venues and Embedded Poetry

      In addition to songs there are open mics and slams. These attract participants and their entourages more than listeners, per se.

       Shakespeare didn't publish his sonnets. What poetry he did publicize was his dramatic verse. Plays. He made enough to sustain two theatres--not just the troupe of actors but the actual buildings. It is unclear that the Bard could do that today but it is certain that no one else has managed to do this in the 21st Century.

       A different approach is to write a novel or movie script that includes (i.e. "embeds") poetry. For example, "The Paradox of Love" is a novel/movie about two open mic poets who fall in love. One has to depart [because of an undisclosed illness] so the poem she wrote as her wedding vows now serve as her farewell.

       Consider this: There is only one time every four years when the anglophone world listens to a poem: the U.S. presidential inauguration ceremony. At that, only after a Democratic victory.

       So here's a practical suggestion for American versers: Write an inaugural poem and have it performed (i.e. by yourself or someone else) on a video posted to YouTube. Add "2025 Inaugural Poem" after the title (e.g. "Locked Towards the Future" - A 2025 Inaugural Poem) so scouts can find it. Not an American? Pair up with one.

       You may need to network, joining up with a performer and, perhaps, a songwriter. In any event, writing and producing a performance (even on your telephone) will be only half the battle. You will need to spent at least as much time, energy, resources, and imagination finding an audience.

       Good luck!

Earl Gray

Thursday, December 5, 2024

The Outerview Series: Part X - Production

Enactments and Narrations.

Next: Attracting and Impressing

The Outerview Series

Saturday, September 7, 2024

The Outerview Series: Part VII - Production

Other Venues and Embedded Poetry

The Outerview Series