Chelsea Cronin Revisons and Citations

[0:00] Over top of the video playing, Chelsea begins narrating:
 
For this e-poem revision, I decided to make it more multi-dimensional in the sense tha, rather than just have the words of the poem and narration by Morgan Freeman, I chose to have a more interactive background to the words of the poem. Though the narration by Morgan Freeman was a cool element in the first video, I felt that choosing an overarching song and using more subject-related materials would strengthen the message of the e-poem in the revision.
 
[0:27] Shows a google search of “racial tension in South Africa.” 
 
For the first video, I searched “racial tensions,” but in order to remain authentic to the theme of Mandela and apartheid, I narrowed the search to racial tensions in South Africa, and this is one of the videos that popped up. This first video encompassed the first stanza of the poem.
 
[:37] Shows a screen capture of editing software for the video. 
 
It is followed by the same video of Nelson Mandela speaking to a crowd about fighting apartheid.
 
[:46] Skips to another section of the video in the editing software.
 
This is a set of four images that represents the second stanza of the poem. Each picture has a message about the anti-apartheid movement or depicting Mandela in prison. Each of these was found by googling “anti-apartheid” and scrolling through Google Images.The last image in this sequence was important to include to me because I think it embraces the idea of moving on, just as the meta-narrative of the movement itself.
 
[1:05] A new picture comes onto the screen. 
 
The next picture fades into focus rather than appearing and fading away. I think this helps to make the message clear to the viewer—we should all see each other as the same.
 
[1:15] The background switches back to the video editor screen. 
 
As the e-poem progresses, images and videos show more hope and freedom for Mandela, whereas at the beginning, the images and videos are about race and oppression.
 
[1:23] A picture of Nelson Mandela and Oprah Winfrey fills the screen. 
 
The video that follows is from an Oprah segment on apartheid in South Africa, and a biography of Nelson Mandela’s life, which was also included in the original e-poem video. I chose to keep this video because I think it does a great job of showing the turmoil that was happening in South Africa at the time.
 
[1:38] A picture shows of Nelson Mandela greeting a crowd behind a fence with the line from “Invictus” that reads “Beyond this place of wrath and tears” laid over top.
 
This third picture set, and third part of the e-poem represent the third stanza of the poem “Invictus.” This time, rather than using somber and oppressed images, they are images full of hope and equality.
 
[1:54] A picture of a black and white person shaking hands with the “Invictus” line that reads “And yet the menace of the years” fills the screen.
 
Once again, the last image is cruial to the meaning of the e-poem and Nelson Mandela’s message to the people of South Africa. He is saying we all bleed the same color. Each of these was found by googling “fixing racial tensions in South Africa,” and scrolling through Google Images.
 
[2:07] An image of graffiti reading “we all bleed the same color” sits behind the line from “Invictus” that reads: “Finds and shall find me unafraid.”
 
The final image fades into focus just as the one from the second stanza to really drive home the idea that the message of the image itself is important.
 
[2:20] A video clip of Nelson Mandela and his wife plays in the background.
 
The video that follows is one of Mandela and his wife Winnie right after he has been freed from prison. It is clear that Mandela and all of the people are ecstatic because his release means the fight against apartheid is working. The year was 1990, and just four years later, the apartheid movement in South Africa came to an end.
 
[2:36] A video clip plays of a crowd of South Africans waving flags.
 
The last video encompasses perfectly the message of the fourth and last stanza of the poem, as it shows the people celebrating Nelson Mandela’s release from prison. The message of the last stanza of “Invictus” says that no matter what I deal with or who tries to get in my way, I am only…I am the only person who gets to decide my fate, and no one else. Nelson Mandela embraces this idea fully.He knew what was right and didn’t stop fighting, regardless of what the government tried to do to him.
 
[2:56] A video clip of Nelson Mandela plays.
 
The last video shows Nelson Mandela speaking to a crowd about rugby, but sending a message that has much greater applications. He says, “to create hope where once, there was only despair.” I think that is exactly what Mandela did with his life. I chose to use the song “Warriors” by Imagine Dragons because I feel that the lyrics truly encapsulated what I was trying to show in my e-poem. “Keep fighting because we’re all warriors, and we will be okay in the end. I also decided to use the song with lyrics for the revision, rather than sticking with the instrumental “Strong” song for my original e-poem because I felt that the lyrics would add yet another important dimension to the overall atmosphere and aesthetic of the e-poem.
 
[3:36] A montage of video editing clips plays.
 
I used many of the same editing techniques as I did in the first poem, but one new technique I added was the overlaying of the pictures during the first and second stanzas. I decided to have an image pop up, add the verse in white type, and as it fades away, but not completely, it just becomes opaque. The next image then pops up with the next verse, and fades into opaque on top of the first image, then the same goes for the next two as well, and by the time the fourth image appears, they are layered just enough visible to still create an artistic impact. Then the fourth image slowly gains color and comes into focus on top of the other three. I made this choice to add to the dimensionality of the poem.
 
[4:10]  A black slide with “Invictus” by William Ernest Henley printed on it plays.
 
Overall, I was really excited about my e-poem revision. I think, rather than changing the message from the first e-poem, I found better and greater imagery videos to further strengthen the message of the e-poem and really be able to exemplify Mandela and his lifelong fight.