October 1

Annabel Lee – Adaptation

This is another adaptation of the poem ‘Annabel Lee’ published and created by Brian Cassidy in December 2008. It is around 2 and 1/2 minutes long and uses musical sound effects to put emphasis on certain parts of the poem.  The reason i choose this adaptation of edgar allen poe’s poem is because of the symbolism used in it. I really like the idea of not having the typical young girl and young boy falling in love and in this adaptation that is not the case. Cassidy uses nature to represent this dark romantic love story, at the same time still managing to support the idea of a grieving man who misses his soulmate Annebel Lee. He uses butterflies to represent the the narrator and Annebel Lee, and flowers to represent the angels who took her away from him. The video starts of with an old man walking up the hill and the voice over starting his story (Annebel Lee poem). Then a tear rolls down the mans cheek and the story continues within that tear. I really like the idea of this as it shows that the story he is sharing is not only an upsetting story but it is also one that he has to tell someone as he can’t hold it in any longer. It also symbolizes the man not having any control over what happened by visually showing the viewer all the memories that he has within that one tear that he involuntarily let escape. Love itself is symbolized by butterflies emphasizing the beauty and freedom of love as well as the darkness of it through the use of blacks and purples as the narrator talks about him losing Annebel Lee. Furthermore, the butterfly representing Annebel Lee remains white contrasting with all the dark colours expressing more the beauty of his love and the envy of the angels. What i also found interesting was having the faces of a young boy boy and girl present throughout the video, once in the tear and once in the moon. At first i didnt think anything of it because the poem itself talks about how young they were, but after watching the whole video i realised it was to ensure the viewers would recognise the power of their love as the rest of the story is shown through nature (the butterflies, flowers, etc). By having the image in both the tear and the moon, Cassidy is presenting the idea that where ever Annebel Lee is now, she will remain part of the narrators life and he will always look up to her as she will always remain his soulmate. Overall, i believe this adaptation focused on enlightening the viewer with the idea that in the narrator’s mind his love with continue to live on forever, both in his heart as well as in the nature around him and Cassidy was really successful is using original mediums and themes to portray this detailed analysis of the ideas behind edgar allen poe’s poem.

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October 1

‘Annabel Lee’ ~ Short Film Adaptation

This adaptation of Edgar Allan Poe’s ‘Annabel Lee’ by Sarah Jarosz and David Johnson represents the story of Annabel Lee in the most artistic way. What is so special about this adaptation is the fact that the singer manages to make the poem seem gloomy even though the poem is sung in a folk-styled type of music. The artist who designed the video uses detailed images to display and highlight the heartbreak of the man and the woman he loves (Annabel Lee). This adaptation gives a deep illusion of terror and signifies the aspect of death and mourning in the poem. My favorite part of the video is the ending when the man is crying in despair in the rain and then he finds himself in the tomb of Annabel Lee hugging her corpse. I feel like that ending is so powerful and chilling that it shows the amount of sadness he has gone through just to be with his beloved.

The editing of the video is also quite well done as the illustrations fit well with the text of the poem. For instance at the part when the narrator compares Annabel Lee’s eyes with the moon there is a skeleton of her in the moon. I feel like that depicts the morning of the lover as he can’t even look at the simplest of things such as the night sky without thinking of his lover Annabel Lee. in conclusion, I believe that this adaptation helps portray the poem best though I think the folk music created a haunting effect I believe if a more narrative voice recited the poem it would have stressed on that aspect of terror. Nevertheless, the illustrations explained the poem better as a visual representation and they also added to the eerie feeling of despair in the poem that the lover was experiencing.

 

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October 1

Annabel Lee- adaptation

This video is an adaptation of Annabel Lee written by Edgar Allen Poe. It was published just under one year ago. In the video, there are 2 people a boy and a girl. The video follows the poem’s story and the poem is read during the video. Unlike, other versions, the poem is read very quickly and the video only lasts a minute and a half. During the video, the poem is read by the girl and not the boy. The video follows the 2 people and their interaction with each other in what looks to be a park or some kind of forest. However, about halfway through when the angles take Annabel away the girl become a shadow and only an imagination of the boy.

I found that this is a good way of showing how he is not happy and is missing her and can only do things if he images that she is there. I liked this adaptation as it is very real but very simple, but I feel that it makes it better because it illustrates how losing someone can affect you in different ways. The only thing that I do not like is that there is no sea as a lot of the poem has reference to the sea. The video has no reference to angles or marriage but considering that the video is showing it in real life and not a bit abstract, I like that as it is real and not fantasy. I think that taking two school kids was a smart idea as the poem talks about the people being children, not adults. This video seems to have a more light and happy tone to it, which I enjoyed as it made the poem not seem so dark and sad. It made it seem more real and like the poem could be a real story. All in all, I like how the video is basic but still tells the story of Annabel Lee.

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