The above video is the final version of an e-poem of Dorothy Parker's "The Flapper." The piece, which includes both live elements such as typing and edited video footage, was constructed on Camtasia. The program allows users to incorporate a wide range of media in order to create a new, often creative project. 

In this case, The Flapper progressively takes on a modern interpretation. Through the use of current music, performed by Marian Hill and Kyla Fletcher, the e-poem translates the experience of a 1920s flapper into contemporary demonstrations of boldness and flirtation. 

This project, like my other productions in the course, has been reworked based on feedback from peers and Professor Anderson to better communicate with the audience. Originally, I found my video to contain less sophisticated use of Camtasia — which was then incorporated into the final production. I also worked to include a more layered approach to the visual input of the video to enhance the viewing experience. Along the below path, you will find the original draft of The Flapper by Dorothy Parker. 

Choosing how to edit your e-poem after initial construction might seem a bit of a daunting process. At this point, you've navigated the Camtasia software enough to make a cohesive piece and likely gone through all of the necessary steps to export and share your project online. But just like with every good piece of writing, every successful e-poem requires some consideration and revisions. 

This process for me required a first step of re-watching the video about 3 or 4 times without taking notes to truly grasp what I felt needed to be altered to improve the quality of the e-poem. After these initial watches, I turned to my trusty notebook (not digital, I know) and wrote down the time stamps of when I could see myself smoothing a transition or entirely altering a sequence of video clips. 

In doing so, I realized my first attempt at the e-poem — included below — wasn't actually what I decided to use for my final product. What I had thought was so exciting and seamless in a cursory glance, now led me to feel as if my intended project had evolved into something more exciting, something better. 

The first change I made in the video was significantly reframing the amount of text I included. It's true that such a task can be difficult to accomplish when you're working with a previously published piece of text, in my case, Dorothy Parker's The Flapper. But I realized that there were definitely ways to improve the viewing experience, nevertheless. 

I added additional content to the moments of Parker's poem flashing on the screen, also including a more dynamic collection of video elements. Before, I think my e-poem watched like a simple, perhaps documentary-style feature on video clips. But now, with overlaid videos and a more sophisticated approach to transitional phrases on Camtasia, I'm super excited to see the final result.

Below, you can see my first draft of the e-poem. Be sure to compare it with the final!