Filmmakers! Digital artists! Animators! Listen up. 

You know that gigantic illuminated screen at Piccadilly Circus that 16 million people walk past each year? Well, we’ve teamed up with Forward Arts Foundation to offer you the opportunity to see your work in lights on this world-famous billboard. 

To celebrate National Poetry Day on 4 October, Forward Arts Foundation, who run the event, have secured a panel slot at Piccadilly Circus to show a special film montage responding to the Charles Causley poem I Am the Song:

I am the song that sings the bird.

I am the leaf that grows the land.

I am the tide that moves the moon.

I am the stream that halts the sand.

I am the cloud that drives the storm.

I am the earth that lights the sun.

I am the fire that strikes the stone.

I am the clay that shapes the hand.

I am the word that speaks the man.

So, given the chance, what would you do? 

To apply for this brief, submit your creative response. This can focus on just one line or on the poem in its entirety; it can be a 30-second silent film-bite (animation or video) or one to five still images. Remember to consider not only your interpretation of the poem, but the context of the Piccadilly Circus panel – in this location your work needs to have an immediate visual impact. Please refer to the Ts and Cs for the technical specifications of the screen.

Our panel of judges will choose the most inspired examples to take forward to the final film, which will incorporate both image and text in response to the poem. Your work will be screened all day on the Piccadilly Circus Lights on 4 October, with full credit given. We will also upload the film to the Forward Arts Foundation website and invite you, as guest of honour, to a special National Poetry Day event at the Southbank Centre, attended by a host of artists.

About Forward Arts Foundation 

Forward Arts Foundation is a leading poetry organisation that runs National Poetry Day, the biggest annual celebration of poetry in the UK, and the Forward Prizes, an annual award that champions and celebrates the best contemporary British poetry. Forward Arts Foundation has recently completed a major national project for London 2012 – Winning Words – for which they placed permanent and temporary installations of poetry across the Olympic Park and beyond.

Download the Ts and Cs.

This brief closes on Wednesday 15 August at 5pm and is open to IdeasTap members aged 18 to 30. Late entries will not be accepted under any circumstances, including technical issues – so make sure you don’t leave your application to the last minute. If you have technical issues, visit the help centre.