“a visual concerto”

In this project I am playing with the idea of “movement” and the various meanings it connotes.

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Firstly, the overarching structure of this short video is designed like the ‘concerto’ which traditionally has three movements. A “concerto” originates from the Latin: consere – to tie, to join, to weave - and, certamen – 1) (a matter) in dispute and 2) battle, combat, struggle.  

 

In the first sequence, you are introduced to the static television relaying “movements” in the past. The silence is purposeful – an intended moment to think about where we are now. To stop. To pause. To reflect. To think about the ramifications of silence. To think about your silence or any of your silences, in this moment, and before. As a society, are we much further ahead?

 

Next, the second “movement”, looks at the interplay between the individual and the collective. The balloon represents freedom and freedom of movement. The marching feet are the people united in this daily journey, moving through life. My daughter, a young voice of the future, recites the beginnings of Maya Angelou’s poem “Still I Rise” - a poem that was recited at the first Women’s March in Washington in January 2017.

 

The third movement is a record of this protest – a movement that should not be necessary, but, sadly, it is. This last sequence has a different energy from the first two, which begins slowly in momentum, carrying the polyphonous voices of the marchers.

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**(This was made in 2017 as an exercise in After Effects. Unfortunately, my skills were (are) quite rudimentary, and as it was intended to be a demonstration of my understanding of the program, there are a number of items I would change...eg. a) the style of the moving fonts and b) include more images for the first and last series. I would probably end in blackness after the last image regarding “silence” ...However, I would still end with “the beginning”...as it really was!)