Tag Archives: Poetic Short Films

Poetic Short Films: “Home” – The Himalayas Of Ladakh

Going the distance is not about how far away will you get, But from what length you are willing to return.

Seldom, we get to do projects crafted with so much perseverance, honesty, and love. Shooting at one of the most humble places in the world – Ladakh and exploring a side we hadn’t seen before, be it the raw beauty of the place or the wholehearted emotions of its people – it was a process that got us close to the feeling of being a Himalayan. Their way of life made us think if we are missing a point when we say we need to go the distance in life. Maybe at times going the distance could mean going back, to your roots. This introspection is what fuelled our latest project ‘Home’ for the Royal Enfield Himalayan.

We would like to thank some really talented minds who got associated with the project because they felt what we felt. It was an ever-evolving collaboration where each crew member brought something special to the film. A project that started with a casual conversation about doing something meaningful to shaping a strong idea and concept, to multiple jamming sessions with some of the best writers in the industry, to finally shooting in the extreme winter conditions of Ladakh (-17°C at 17,000 Feet to be precise), to endless hours on the edit, grade, and music. Yes, it’s been a long journey and a beautiful one.


We feel proud & blessed to be a part of this project and to having some of the most beautiful people in our team without whom this film wouldn’t be what it is. Grateful to each one of you for making this piece your own.
We’re excited to share our latest film with you all. Hope this finds a place in your heart as well.

Concept & Directed By : Aiman Ali
Starring : Chum Darang
Executive Producers : Nupur Guha & Tushar Raut
Senior Producer : Mrudangi Jasani Baidya
Producer : Suraj Shetty

Animated Short Films: ‘Ozymandias’ – A Poem By Percy Bysshe Shelley

Directed and animated by Alvaro Lamarche-Toloza

“OZYMANDIAS” is the animated 3D adaptation of a poem written by English poet Percy Bysshe Shelley in December 1817. It was created with a series of wash paintings animated with the Unreal Engine and EbSynth to test an experimental 3D animation pipeline.

Additional info:
Using EbSynth, a texture synthesis / transfer tool created by Secret Weapon, we applied wash paintings to 3D scenes created in real-time with the Unreal Engine. The result is a unique look and a promising experimental pipeline which dramatically speeds up the production of 3D animation stylized with traditional 2D art.

About the poem:
Written in 1817 by Percy Shelley, “Ozymandias” refers to pharaoh Ramesses II and was perhaps inspired by the acquisition of a large Ramesses statue by the British Museum the same year. References to this poem have often appeared in pop culture, though Shelley himself might not have considered it to be one of his major works.

It was first published in the 11 January 1818 issue of The Examiner of London. 

Credits:
Directed and animated by Alvaro Lamarche-Toloza
Wash paintings by Estelle Chauvard
Voice by Bryan Cranston, taken from the Breaking Bad Teaser Trailer
“Menkaure colossal statue base” model by Zhejiang University
“Ramses II” model by Taoetsia
“Horse Skeleton” model by Diego Luján García

‘OZYMANDIAS’ By Percy Bysshe Shelley

I met a traveller from an antique land,
Who said—“Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. . . . Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed;
And on the pedestal, these words appear:
My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings;
Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal Wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.”

Poetic Short Films: ‘NELLA MIA CITTÀ (In my city)’ – A Tribute To Venice (Video)

Filmed, Edited and Directed by: Milton Kam

NELLA MIA CITTÀ (In my city) is my visual ode to Venice. The film observes the lagoon city and its residents during the relative scarcity of tourists in its streets. From the lustre of its famous spots to the anonymity of its quiet alleys, Venice feels as if ‘the future did not come,’ to borrow a line from the poem, which the film is based on.

Nella mia città is written by Anna Toscano and was taken from her book Doso la polvere, Milan, La Vita Felice, 2012

With music by Federico Toffano (cello), Liesl Odenweller (soprano), and Ivano Zanenghi (lute).

IN MY CITY by Anna Toscano

The future does not exist
the future does not come
in my city:
however long my step is
however much you have the favor of the wind
the number 2 does not go more than 22 km per hour.
How to get beyond the past
how not to look back
(at this speed)
with your neck always at three quarters:
time stops in piazzale Roma
so we live entangled
in the stories of peoples.
We stand, happy,
in a rearview mirror.

Poetic Nature Films: ‘I Am The Spirit’ – Poland (Video)

“I Am The Spirit” is a Cinematic Poem Short Film Directed by Krystian Artur Bielatowicz.

Filmed, Edited and Directed by: Krystian Artur Bielatowicz

The film “I am the spirit” is the second part of the “I am” trilogy.
Film by Krystian Artur Bielatowicz / Light Keeper.
lightkeeper.pl

“I am”, part I:

Travel Videos: ‘Je Viens’ – Hiking The Trails In Tignes, Southeastern France

“Je Viens” is a Cinematic Poem Short Film In Tignes, France Directed by Franck Pinel.

Filmed, Edited and Directed by: Franck Pinel (FKY)

Music by: Steven Gutheinz
Written by: Samuel Revol
Narrated by: Siméon Revol & Laure Revol
English Translation by: Madeleine Barter

“Between the desert peaks and the wild plains, Itinerary of the man alone; poisoned, in love, alive.”

I invite you on the trails of Tignes in Savoie, under the August sun, to breathe the fresh air! A little vastness, horizons blurred to forget for a few moments our confined lives.

A first FKY / Srevol collaboration, with a text written for the film, and read by a young Simeon with a rocky voice.

I Approach

Tightrope walking earthling
Lying heavily on rock
I look for your softness
Your suspended caresses

In my solitude, I approach

My bones follow your tracks
Along smoke-filled banks,
Burns under your sun
My masterful soul

In my solitude, I approach

My wings poisoned
by oily molecules
accept my sorrow
my ghostly pardon

In my solitude, I approach

Tightrope walking earthling
With smoky soul, I approach
I burn in your softness
Masterful earth

—————————————

Je viens

Funambule terrien,
Aimanté à la roche,
Je cherche tes douceurs,
Tes caresses suspendues.

Dans ma solitude, je viens

Mes os suivent ta piste,
Aux rivages enfumés
Je brûle sous ton soleil
Mon âme de capitaine

Dans ma solitude, je viens

mes ailes empoisonnées
de molécules pétroliennes
accepte mon désolé
mon pardon fumigène

Dans ma solitude, je viens

Funambule terrien,
A l’âme enfumée je viens
Je brûle dans ta douceur,
Terre capitaine

Tignes is a group of villages that form a high-altitude ski resort in the French Alps, near the Italian border. With nearby Val d’Isère, it’s part of the Espace Killy ski area, linked by a network of lifts. Val Claret and Tignes Le Lac villages are lively hubs, with restaurants and shops. In summer, the area offers trails, golf and a bike park, plus ski runs on the Grande Motte glacier.

Website

Top Poetic Travel Videos: “NIÑO – Corse Roadtrip” In Italy By Sebastian Linda

“NIÑO – Corse Roadtrip” is Cinematic Poems Travel Short Film In Italy Featuring Poem by Kahlil Gibran Directed by Sebastian Linda.

Filmed, Edited and Directed by: Sebastian Linda

Original Music by: Sebastian Linda (Spotify)

Here is the new music and film from our Roadtrip to the beautiful island of corse.

On the way we listened together as a family to the poetry from Kali Gibran and the Poem “On Children” really stuck with us, while watching the beauty of Corse unfolding in front of our eyes.

I wrote the song about a year ago and recorded it, but I needed more time to understand my inner thoughts to create the combination of reality and fantasy children have.

Maybe some childhood dreams awake from your side. It’s important to create a great life for your children, but don’t forget. Your children, are not your children.

“On Children” by Kahlil Gibran (1883 – 1931)

And a woman who held a babe against her bosom said, Speak to us of Children.
And he said:
Your children are not your children.
They are the sons and daughters of Life’s longing for itself.
They come through you but not from you,
And though they are with you yet they belong not to you.

You may give them your love but not your thoughts,
For they have their own thoughts.
You may house their bodies but not their souls,
For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow, which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.
You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you.
For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.
You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth.
The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite, and He bends you with His might that His arrows may go swift and far.
Let your bending in the archer’s hand be for gladness;
For even as He loves the arrow that flies, so He loves also the bow that is stable.

Website

Poetic Short Films: “Free.” Written And Performed By Stacy Barton (2020)

“Free.” is a Cinematic Poem Short Film Written and Performed by Stacy Barton Directed by David Todd McCarty.

Directed by: David Todd McCarty.

A Hopping Frog Studios Production.
Story Written and Performed by Stacy Barton.

Free. Cinematic Poem Short Film Directed by David Todd McCarty April 27 2020

Cinematography by Omri Ohana.
Music by Josh Leake.

Website

Top New Travel Videos: “FØROYAR” In The Faroe Islands, Denmark (2020)

Filmed, Edited and Directed by: Stéphane Ridard

Voice : Liah O’Prey
Text : Martin Laugery
Music : Tiernan Piroué
Sound Mix : Noise Ark
Editing & Color Grading : Stéphane Ridard
With Rose Brasselet

“Are we still sleeping or have we woken up ?”

Shot in the Faroe Islands, « Føroyar » is a reflective journey exploring the human sense of wonder when traveling.

Website

The Faroe Islands is a self-governing archipelago, part of the Kingdom of Denmark. It comprises 18 rocky, volcanic islands between Iceland and Norway in the North Atlantic Ocean, connected by road tunnels, ferries, causeways and bridges. Hikers and bird-watchers are drawn to the islands’ mountains, valleys and grassy heathland, and steep coastal cliffs that harbor thousands of seabirds.

New Travel Videos: “City Odes – Lagos, Nigeria” By Sheldon Chau (2020)

Directed, shot, edited by // Sheldon Chau

Produced by // Ella Utomi, Jide Adewale
Poem by // Ntongha Ekot
Starring, voiceover by // Jide Adewale
Music composed by // John Corlis

“EKO ILE” (CITY ODES) A CINEMATIC POEM SHORT FILM IN LAGOS, NIGERIA BY SHELDON CHAU (2020)

“Eko ile”

A man straddles a love-hate relationship with Lagos in which he attempts to not only grasp both the intensity and comfort that the city has to offer, but also to embrace it as his home.

—-

The City Odes Project is a passion project in which I collaborate with my composer, a poet and an actor to create a humanist, emotional, and visual story amidst the backdrop of a specific city. “Eko ile” is the second entry into this series and takes place in one of the most intense, vibrant, and overwhelming places I have ever been – Lagos, Nigeria.

The title “Eko ile” translates to “Lagos is home” in Yoruba, one of the primary languages in the country. For this piece, I wanted to capture the city in the language I encountered most when I was there – Pidgin English (which is sort of a local slang) as well as plain English, both of which my lead actor Jide Adewale (who also happens to be one of the producers) speaks as he narrates the poem. I wanted to create a character who personifies the feeling of living in Lagos in which the hustle is as real as it gets and the frenetic pace is nonstop. Lagos truly is one of a kind.

The final result here features the work of Ntongha Ekot – a Nigerian poet – who eloquently captures these push-and-pull feelings through her words, and my frequent collaborator John Corlis – an LA-based musician and composer – who complements the poetry with his emotional piano piece “Into the Atmosphere” from his latest album of the same title. My incredible producers Jide and Ella Utomi made it all happen by finding the locations, security and logistics; they took care of me during my memorable time there.

Website