Artist Statement:
The inspiration for my short film, Poetry in Picture, began in the Fall 2023 course I was taking, Study of Film (ENL: 2550) taught by Professor Rombes. The class was presented the final exam project early in the semester. We had the option to choose between a short film, movie trailer, or essay. Immediately, I knew I wanted to make a film. I began brainstorming ideas in September and filming nature around me because I knew it could be useful. The bright, colorful trees helped me build my film. “Let the idea come natural, don’t force it,” I thought to myself. I had a lot of self-made poems in my repertoire that could be useful for narration, then realized the poems could be the backbone of the short film. I split up the short film into five sections: an introduction poem combined with videos of trees and then four more poems I created in a Study of Poetry course (ENL: 2450) with Professor Gnall from my previous semester. The film has no specific theme besides my own poetry. I captured film all across Michigan to create it, then had friends narrate each section.
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Colin Gaddey is a junior at Detroit Mercy, studying for his bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering. He enjoys writing poetry and making short films, letting his creative mind expand beyond variables and math formulas. He recommends that everyone take a step into poetry no matter their interests, because there are no rules or limits to creating poems. He believes that life is full of poetry, and that we see metaphors and lessons around us every day. We can choose to ignore them or to expand our love of life through them.
Between the Pages 
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