The final poem of The Cat Piano that served as the final narration track in the film is now available on this site. Like any script or piece of writing, the poem went through many changes from when I first wrote it. The first version was quite long and probably too wordy to be used in the film so it was trimmed down by a page or so. Even once Nick Cave’s narration of the full poem was recorded, lines were trimmed and shuffled here and there, where possible, to best build the film we wanted to make. This was hard at first but the more changes that were made the more fluid the process felt and the less precious or attached I was to the written material.
An example of what was removed from the final poem that was sent to Nick Cave is below:
Unlike Jack the Ripper who slew his victims by dark
This marauder held no knife to spill blood
Clad in black
The cat burgler loomed over our lives to pinch not poach its prey.
As you can see, a passage like this becomes quite unnecessary when you pair it with visuals that explain so much.
I just found this movie today, and I have to admit, I’m surprised (and a little disappointed) it hasn’t gotten more attention. It’s fantastic, with excellent writing accompanying wondrous animation. I am glad to have been able to see it.
I love that short film
When will it be released on dvd? will you include a making-of with it?
Yes a dvd will be available in the near future – gonna put lots of special features on there too. All the takes of Nick Cave and subtitled versions of the poem too – stay tuned!