Kafka - With A Twist

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Bachelor's Ill Luck; Excursion into the Mountains; The Sudden Walk; On the Tram: These four short pieces portray characters whose ideologies and traits fit very well on the Autism Spectrum. I've given (fed) Kafka's words to 5 different, yet very similar, characters, and added a little twist (departure from the norm - especially in the Sudden Walk) with the help of voice and appearance of character along with simple effects and the music of Astor Piazzolla.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-5NkLoI-PE[/youtube]

Quite lovely. Beautiful texts also. (I'm afraid I didn't quite understand: are they original Kafka, or just derived from his work. I have Kafka's collected novels here with me, but I didn't find any of the texts you quoted. So if they are original, I guess they must be from his short stories. Is this correct?) Have you considered letting a couple of real persons (such as your friends or relatives) do the voices? The computerized voices are adequate for very short texts, but become rather wearisome to listen to after a few minutes. Love the Piazzolla music by the way. Please continue!

These original pieces of Kafka were taken from Collected Stories, edited and introduced by Gabriel Josipovici, from the Everyman's Library series and published by Alfred A. Knopf. They are grouped together under the title "Meditation (1913)" I haven't read the introduction, but I'm guessing they may have been journal entries.

Ah, yes. Real persons would be wonderful wouldn't they. I would be a true film maker with cast and crew. I would need equipment and money.

Oh, it just occurred to me that you are suggesting "voice overs". Whew. Trying to imagine any of my friends or family willing to dress the part of a futuristic street walker. I have thought of that - using real voices, my own voice. I suppose it could be done. I would have to mute the sound on the original video and then record the voice performing the text along with or over the background music.

Thanks for the info! I'll look them up. So far I've only read Kafka's novels (and Metamorphosis).

Yes, I was suggesting "voice overs". It shouldn't be too complicated to do, given some patience on the part of the persons performing them.

i've bookmarked it for later viewing---the video kept pausing to load, and broke the continuity for me---but the animation is wonderful and i'm really excited about the idea. i've often thought that Kafka was on the spectrum---at least that his characters were; it's interesting to discover that someone else views it from this perspective.

i haven't read his short stories yet. now i have a motivation to do so. (i especially love "The Trial." the main character must live by rules which are unstated and which make little sense, always with the threat of punishment. it's a little like everyday life.

i also love "Metamorphosis"---the persistent sense of one's own oddness---the surface is so different from what's actually happening; everyone seems invested in believing that "everything is fine" even as the main character has transformed into a giant insect-like creature. it reminds of not having a physically visible difference, but one which profoundly affects you anyway.

i'm sorry. am babbling. so heartened to see this.

Not babbling at all, Exhausted. I enjoyed reading your comments and good to meet another Kafka enthusiast and enjoyed reading your insights of "The Trial" and "Metamorphosis". Every time I start to fear that I've done something"inappropriate" or broken a rule of some kind, or committed some kind of minor infraction, I wrack my brain trying to identify what crime I'm guilty of and can almost feel the presence of "those officials' waiting outside my door to nab me. And with "Metamorphosis" I can identify with the character in the sense that I always feel like I am changing, from one day to the next, morphing into something that I haven't been previously. Thank goodness it has never been a huge insect.
Not yet, anyway.