In my final project I sought to expand on the theme of movement and juxtaposition. I had been experimenting and learning about these aesthetic concepts in video artwork, so in my final I wanted to employ them in a different way. An overarching theme in my final work is Human vs. Nature vs. Machine in terms of their similarities, differences and the intersectionality of the three. The elements I used to invite comparison were color, speed and movement.
The shots of the girls dancing and the boy playing guitar represent the human element of the video. These figures move about freely in an unpredictable way, most exemplified by the choreography. Humans have the power of choice and autonomy, they can chose to move about or be entirely still. Human bodies can create things, such as dance routines or music. They have subtle personalities that can be expressed in their movements and in their demeanor. This is displayed by the close ups on the boy showcasing his different moods and depicting him as a thoughtful creature. The girls moving around show how movement can be careful contrived as in a choreographed routine, or natural. This is showcased in the sequence that flips back and forth between dance and the girls standing still.
Shots of the street and the train are the machine elements of the work and the ocean and trees are the natural elements.
Intersectionality occurs in several places and is an important element to the work. The shot of the girl dancing against the sunrise, the waves layered over the dancing and the boy playing guitar, the man made soda can carelessly thrown on the ocean shore (most likely by a human) all show natural overlaps of person, nature and machine. The people moving on the street scene in time lapse also show an overlap of these three fields. Humans existing alongside the traffic of the city show how things like buildings and streets always remain stagnant while the people around them, especially in New York, are constantly in motion.
The splicing of the boy playing guitar against the train is meant to also illustrated a comparison as opposed to a contrast; both this machine and this boy are calmer and more still, likening man to machine, while the girls are more unpredictable and erratic in their movements, akin to the natural elements in the video like the ocean.