Frida to Marty McConnell
Short Video
In Collaboration with Corinne Thrash, Hannah Mintek, and Meg Wiedl
THE CHALLENGE
Inspired by Marty McConnell's poem 'Frida to Marty McConnell' , we wanted to visually illustrate the main themes in this beautiful poem that so inspired us. In the poem, a fictional post-humous Frida Kahlo gives Marty advise on life, and the heartache and ecstasy of finding love.
VISUAL SOLUTION
Using abstract imagery and metaphor, we strived to create a visually evocative painting of Marty's poem. We also wanted the accompanying music to emphasize the emotion in Fridas' descriptions of love found, lost, ached for, and grieved. After an extensive musical search, we chose to compliment the imagery with Lila Downs' soul piercing singing and instrumentals, which we felt matched the the melancholic feelings in the poem so well.
TIMELINE–3 WEEKS
Visual research
Group brainstorming
Inspiration boards
Story boarding
Screenwriting
All editing and videography by Corinne Thrash
NARRATED BY MARIA BILLOROU
MY ROLES
Art direction
Music sourcing
Storyboarding
Screenwriting
Shot list
PROCESS
Frida Kahlo to Marty McConnell
by Marty McConnell
leaving is not enough; you must
stay gone. train your heart
like a dog. change the locks
even on the house he’s never
visited. you lucky, lucky girl.
you have an apartment
just your size. a bathtub
full of tea. a heart the size
of Arizona, but not nearly
so arid. don’t wish away
your cracked past, your
crooked toes, your problems
are paper mache puppets
you made or bought because the vendor
at the market was so compelling you just
had to have them. you had to have him.and you did. and now you pull down
the bridge between your houses.
you make him call before
he visits. you take a lover
for granted, you take
a lover who looks at you
like maybe you are magic. make
the first bottle you consume
in this place a relic. place it
on whatever altar you fashion
with a knife and five cranberries.
don’t lose too much weight.
stupid girls are always trying
to disappear as revenge. and you
are not stupid. you loved a man
with more hands than a parade
of beggars, and here you stand. heart
like a four-poster bed. heart like a canvas.
heart leaking something so strong
they can smell it in the street.– Marty McConnell
INSPIRATION
We were inspired by several abstract spoken word videos, which employed a vast amount of visual metaphors. The video imagery to which we were most drawn to, played with a lot of contrast in lighting and shadows. We decided we wanted to emulate this look and feel for its dramatic effect, which we thought would be a good visual representation of the light and dark themes in the poem.
CREATING THE SHOT LIST
We pulled apart the poem and found the areas where the rhythm slowed, and then quickened again. Wanting to be intentional with how we framed our scenes, we isolated places in between the lines where it felt natural to transition from one visual arena to another. This syncopated separation creates both a smooth, cohesive and abstract visual arch in the timeline between scenes, that explores and represents the poem's imagery.
