‘The Dragonfly’ : a poetry film : an audio-visual adaptation of Kenneth Wain’s poem, ‘Still Life 1’

Abstract

This dissertation aims to explore the integration of two media: poetry and film. The result of the combination of the two is a poetry film, The Dragonfly based on and adapted from the poem Still Life 1 by Kenneth Wain. The film aims to explore the message behind the poem as well as adopt additional layers of meaning by means of the audio-visual aspect.

The film follows a couple’s broken relationship and the different stages the two are dealing with during the process of healing and moving on. The young woman manages to detach herself from the relationship through the symbolism of the painting reflecting the last place they had met, its burning, as well as the breaking of the eggs which is a reflection of the brokenness. The young man on the other hand is in denial and cannot seem to get her out of his mind. In fact, he keeps looking for her and when he realises that she is far out of his reach, he buries himself with the dragonfly necklace – a symbol of their love that is now dead and his inability to cope with this.

The Dragonfly is my first poetry film as a director, writer, producer and partial editor and I have learned a lot about film production as a whole due to the many people who have taught me along the way. Since it lacks dialogue, there is more emphasis on the words of the poem, the music and the visuals which tie it altogether. Ultimately, this dissertation aims to emphasise the fact that it is possible to merge two media of communication and expression to produce a work that becomes a medium in itself.