On November 9, 2006 Seton Hill University (SHU) professor of English Michael Arnzen hosted a premiere of the experimental short film �Exquisite Corpse� which is based on his award-winning poetry. Arnzen, along with friends, SHU faculty and members of the Greensburg community gathered in the university’s administration building to witness this spectacle of horror that has been labeled by some critics as the Frankenstein of film because of its various directors and scenes.
Amy Kirby, a junior at SHU felt the film was very interesting and could be interpreted in a number of ways by each viewer.
By Leslie Rodriguez,
Sports Editor
On November 9, 2006 Seton Hill University (SHU) professor of English Michael Arnzen hosted a premiere of the experimental short film �Exquisite Corpse� which is based on his award-winning poetry. Arnzen, along with friends, SHU faculty and members of the Greensburg community gathered in the university’s administration building to witness this spectacle of horror that has been labeled by some critics as the Frankenstein of film because of its various directors and scenes.
Amy Kirby, a junior at SHU felt the film was very interesting and could be interpreted in a number of ways by each viewer.
�I didn’tknow what to expect when I went into the screening other than to see something scary. I knew it was going to be a little off the wall. I left and almost felt like I didn’tknow what I had just seen,� said Kirby.
The project first came about when producer Jim Minton was attending an art festival and listening to slam poetry. He soon came up with the idea of creating a short film that incorporated music, as well as poetry in a very unique way.
After returning home from the festival, Minton began the project by sending out a query for slam poetry writers and writers of short-short poetry. Immediately he received a response from Arnzen and their collaboration began shortly after.
In total, the film is 17 minutes long and features directors from six different countries.
There are 11 short-short horror scenes that make up the film, and each of them is done differently.
The styles in which the scenes are directed vary from digital animation and clay-mation to live action shooting.
The film’s title refers to the surrealist technique of exploiting accident through a collective collage of words or images called the cadavre exquis.
According to Arnzen, the film’s directors were unaware of what each other had produced and in what medium until the film was completed.
�It was definitely surreal in my opinion. I think you almost have to be familiar with Dr. Arnzen’s style of writing in order to understand what the filmmakers were trying to achieve,� said Brad Kelly, a sophomore.
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