Berling 1

Brittney Berling
Authoring in the Information Age
Assignment 3 Cover Letter
30 March 2015
Project in 90: Poetry
My goal for the Project in 90 assignment was to contrast a traditional idea of poetry
with a more modern, radical one. Historically, poetry has been thought to be an intellectual
pursuit that could only be realized in an academic setting. Through this project, I hoped to
propose that poetry is an art form that represents life, and therefore must be created out of
experience. Without experience, poetry would have no place in the world.
To illustrate this concept, I began with images selected from libraries and courtyards in an
effort to represent the traditional academic world. The music I picked was Warm Foothills by
Alt-J. This song opens with a soothing (some might say boring), repetitive sound. This was
especially important to me as I wanted the music to relate to the images being shown. Because
the images are all fairly still, I wanted the music to reflect that. As the end of the first section
comes to a close, the music begins to pick up. This was a strategic decision that is meant to
mirror a change in the narrative. This is also where I use my first transition in the video: a cross
dissolve that signals the end of the first section.
The beginning of the second section of the video opens with a clock changing from
11:59pm to 12:00am. This was a rhetorical strategy that signals both the beginning of a new day
as well as new way of thinking--- a metaphor that represents a move from the past to the present.
Immediately following are a collection of videos, both personally recorded and downloaded from
the internet, that present a slice of life. I was hoping to set up this slice of life section as an
allegory for poetry. I wanted to represent as much experiences as possible in the remaining time,
so I crammed as many clips as I possibly could. They represent a whole range of experiences,
from nature, sports, and social moments to normal, everyday things. I was hoping to be abstract
enough to allow audiences to fill in their own meaning, but focused enough that the concept of

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poetry was never lost. I know that in peer review it was brought up that dancing Santa might
not quite fit the bill for poetry, but I was hoping that it might represent humor--- a concept that
(in my opinion) represents a good portion of life experiences, and therefore ought to be
represented. Plus, I just really liked the clip of dancing Santa.
I used two more effects in the video: a fade transition at the end of the fireworks clip, and
an audio fade at the end of the credits. I really wanted to extend the music past the end of the
credits a little more to make the ending seem less sudden, but I was hesitant of going over the 90
second limit.