Aloud/Bagatelle
Canadian poet Earle Birney indulges his love of trains in this performance of his sound poem To Swindon from London by Britrail. In fluent "trainish," he interprets the experience of excursions by rail. Imagination sparked by the rhythm of wheels and the clink of couplings, Birney hums, hisses and hoots his way through archival footage of vintage trains and the English countryside. A must for language, animation and train buffs.
Canadian poet Earle Birney indulges his love of trains in this performance of his sound poem To Swindon from London by Britrail. In fluent "trainish," he interprets the experience of excursions by rail. Imagination sparked by the rhythm of wheels and the clink of couplings, Birney hums, hisses and hoots his way through archival footage of vintage trains and the English countryside. A must for language, animation and train buffs.
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directorDonald McWilliams
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editingDonald McWilliams
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producerDavid Verrall
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executive producerDouglas MacDonaldDavid Verrall
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cinematographyJim Aquila
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animation cameraRaymond Dumas
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soundDouglas Berry
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re-recordingJean-Pierre Joutel
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musicFrançoise Gélinas
Warnings: Depictions of adults smoking in the train
Canadian poet Earle Birney uses his invented language of “trainish” to tell his poem. What other modern inventions could easily lend themselves to their own language? Create a poem that showcases your feelings about a device that you use, using the sounds to create your own language. How might the use of an invented language change the audience’s interpretation of the poem? How have other poets used onomatopoeia to communicate a message or meaning? How would industrialization have affected the soundscape of towns and cities at the time? Should there be restrictions on the levels of noise pollution in cities?
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Aloud/Bagatelle, Donald McWilliams, provided by the National Film Board of Canada