Text Opinons wanted

[slushparlor1]

I have a client that wants to have a poem for her mother at the end of the video. The poem is quite long (in my mind) - there are about 20-22 lines in it. I told her that it might seem long to people to have this scrolling this long but she wants it in. What would be the best way to accomplish this? Should I have the text scroll or fade in lines and have the audience read that part and then fade in more. Has anyone every needed to do this? What approch did you use?

Thanks.

Theresa

[cdeemer]

Why not have an audio track of someone reading the poem? If you have a college or university, it would have a theater department with good actors/readers, who would do it free for credit. The challenge then is to find the images that match the reading.

[Steve Grisetti]

Scrolling would be the easiest solution.

But poetry, unlike most prose, isn't just read. It's usually experienced.

What would you (or the client) think of fading in and out just a couple of lines at a time, each set of text with a background that helps accentuate it? (Although a single background for the whole thing would also work, if it was either black or interesting enough.)

The point is to feed the poem slowly to the audience so that they can concentrate on the meaning of each block of words rather than trying to read it as fast as it's scrolling, like the opening titles to Star Wars.

That make sense?

[Steve Grisetti]

Actually, I like Charles' idea the best!

Although maybe there's a way to combine both our suggestions.

[Chuck Engels]

I like Charles' idea along with the lines appearing at different places on the screen, one line at a time, and then fading out.
Maybe changing the background with each line, kind of like those cute slideshows you get in emails from people, one line per image.
Moving the text around on the screen and changing the background keeps the viewer interested

[Bob]

Thought I'd toss in my 2¢.

With that many lines (20-22), changing the background for every line would be too distracting. Steve is absolutely right, the poem is the important thing -- not the background. You don't want a lot of distractions.

I'm guessing that the poem is maybe 3 or 4 stanzas. I'd change the background no more than once per stanza and maybe less depending on the length of the stanza and the mood of the poem. I personally would prefer a scroll using a track matte so the text fades on at the bottom and fades off at the top -- unless the stanzas are short and can be displayed legibly as a unit. If the poem is spoken and not displayed as text to read, the background can change a bit more. I do like the idea of someone actually speaking the poem. If the intended audience is older, some will have hearing problems while others have vision problems. Having both will solve both problems and add to the interest. But, you need to discuss these options with the client. What the client wants should be your guideline.

[Chuck Engels]

Excellent suggestions Bob, what was I thinking

[momoffduty]

Would suggest fading in one line of text from left to right (maybe use a soft gradient wipe) at a time until you have one stanza on the screen....if the stanza is small. If large then 2 lines of text.

There are some very nice Spring & Autumn backgrounds in the Complimentary section. Could grab freeze frames as the background for a still image. There are also a few scenic title images in the Various Title pack in the complimentary section. If the background is too busy, could add a slight blur.

Since the client wants the poem for her mother, the background could be an old photo of them together. Convert the photo to black and white and blur a bit.

[George Tyndall]

What would be the best way to accomplish this?

My preference is for simple but effective.

If the poem is in stanzas, or the lines can be separeted into, say, 4 or 5 lines per screen, you could use any of the rolling Title Templates as follows:

Overlay the first template onto your music, then have the first, say, 5 lines slowly scroll to the top. Add a separate template for each of the additional 4-5 lines.

It's your call whether you want the templates to be all the same style--or, have each set of 4-5 lines on a rolling template from a differernt title template set.