Life Montage

                                                                                      Lila Chiu
                                                      Media Theory & Design II
                
                                            Life Montage

Motion is one of the most important aspects of life.  In my montage, I tried to represent different stages of life primarily through colors and motion.

The first footage is of a fast, slightly nauseating motion.  I created the clip by tying my camera onto my wrist and twirling it around in circles.  I wanted to represent the confusion of a newborn as he/she first meets the world.  The following slide also echoes the stage of a baby, perhaps when he/she becomes a toddler.  The beautiful sparkling rays of rainbow signify hope and happiness.  I specifically created long rays to represent that, as a toddler, one doesn’t worry about death yet because he/she still has a long life to live.  I did this by creating wavy motions.

The third clip features long transparent beams and circular white hues.  It corresponds with the precious, innocent years of childhood; death is still far away but life gets a little shorter.  The white focused circles symbolize how children begin to understand a little about life.  I created the footage by doing semi-turns of the wrist, which could also be considered a representation of a child always going back and forth to ask his/her parent questions about life.

The following footage shows very hazy concentrations of semi-opaque white circles.  It signifies the confusion of young adolescent years; one is well aware that he/she is alive but questions their purpose in life.  This is also where I began using quick back and forth motions to symbolize the pumping of the heart.  The fifth clip also represents adolescent years.  Green is the color of faith, growth, and youth.  Large green glows are apparent to signify hope in the darkness.  The motion used is similar to the previous clip but shaking was added to emphasize this anxious stage of life.

Pink circular motions represent the beauty of mutual love experienced in late teenage years.  The circular gestures create a dizzying effect signifying how love can make one blind.  The close-up blurriness adds on to the concept.

The golden years of life are also the shortest years of life.  It is the age of youth and power - the age of early twenties.  I used the “heartbeat” technique again to represent the knowledge of life, shortness of youth, and death.

The next footage shows a navy blue darkness with small glows of brightness – hope.  It corresponds to the stage of late twenties where many life-changing situations are encountered and one desperately searches around for a light or guidance.  The following clip is similar to the first clip of the video.  However, it is slower to show how during this stage of life, one tries to hide his/her confusion.

After a hardship, there’s always a rainbow.  This rainbow symbolizes the most beautiful years of someone’s life: when he/she is mentally and physically an adult.  He/she understands and begins to love life.  However, unlike the rainbow that represented a toddler, this rainbow is short because life is coming to a close.

The last footage features random sparkles of white on a black background.  The heartbeat motion has significantly slowed down and at the end it stops entirely to stillness.

I think the form of art used is very important because video editing gives us the power to use motion – an important aspect of life.  The usage of movement and colors are so abundant in my project I don’t think any other art form would have been a good alternative.  The stages of life are constantly moving and the best way to show that is through video art.  Though the stages are combined together to form a montage, each stage on its own is beautiful, just like life.  The abstract and close up shots emphasize the importance of things we take for granted as well.  Video also allows the audience to pause; just like how once in a while one must take a break from life.  Additionally, the fact that videos are recorded and shared reminds me of how life is like a stage.