Multimodal Assesment

http://vimeo.com/31040805

I am not confident with understanding my beginnings. The beginning of this sentence, the beginning of this project, the beginning of this class, the beginning of college, the beginning of manhood, the beginning of time, the beginning of me, you, us, the beginning of it... One might call ‘it’ a confusing, even frustrating, endless series of events. Another may declare ‘it’ a heap of conscious and subconscious decisions, survived by all forms of memory. Some simply shout ‘it’ as beginning with Genesis. These attempts at understanding the beginning of ‘it’, have even caused wars, an act that could ironically determine the end of ‘it’. I think ‘it’ is the existence of conscious thought, hence allowing the preservation of the past through varying mediums of recreation. Life as we know it, is solely a reflection of yesterday.


To create, is defined as “to cause to come into being.” When one comes into being, it must have been created, hence indicating a sense of past. Therefore all that is created, is simply a reflection of former concepts and events. History is recounted as a reinterpretation of memory. Contemporary society, is simply an unfathomably large memorial of past events. Whether it is our moral code, the Roman Forum, written words, or told tales, the past exists through its recreations. The reason I created the video SOC 309 was to preserve an important personal experience. The experience is the process of aging and dying vis-a-vis my grandmother. It was important to recreate this emotional experience into a tangible medium so that I could attempt to understand the process of aging and dying without having to do the latter myself.


The title is a reference to a class my grandmother teaches on the subject of “Aging and Dying.” This is important to note because of the great education the process of creating this video provided for me, while in-turn hopefully providing an educational experience for the general viewer through the end product. Although the video is entirely personal, I attempted to not make this obvious, so that the viewer could experience this process for themselves, not solely through my eyes, for this is a process all humans endure. With the lack of obvious connotations such as, familial clues, and personal inclusion, I find the psychic distance between myself and any viewer to be so close that the necessity of knowing my past does not pertain.


The arrival of a train, as well as its exit are not only metaphors for the aging process but also towards the continuation of past events into the future. In their contemporary context, trains represent death through their own history, since today trains are used more and more seldom than before. Images appear through three separate frames at different speeds, representing the different perceptions of passing time as well as reflecting on the act of seeing one event through various lenses. Undoubtedly certain moments in life past faster before our eyes than others. The color intentionally fades from a high saturation to black and white, in order to draw parallels between human death and the changing of the seasons. In the spring colors begin to arrive amidst the darkness of winter, Summer is jovial and youthful, and during autumn the color begins to change and fade, giving way to the grim darkness of death throughout winter.(1 The inclusion of a needle is a personal reference for when my grandmother was prescribed narcotics and sedatives. At this moment her personality died.)

The sound initially is unrecognizable, becomes obvious, and then is blatantly revealed with image. This represents the process of self-recognition, which I see as the beginning of one’s personal experience of life. Once it is revealed that the noise is in fact a train, the viewer is confined to the journey through a physical and temporal space. The sound changes in volume and become more complex in order to create a stronger emotional experience for the viewer as well as to note of the complexity of material and emotional accumulation in life as we grow older. Eventually, the sound fades to only ambiance, representing a piece of mind one hopefully achieves with age. However, this elderly relaxation is abruptly morphed by the alarm of being told when one is going to die. The video ends with ambiance, as to suggest a continuation of nature on earth despite a human presence.

SOC 309 is a video capable of allegorical and literal viewings. Although, my grandmother has yet to die, she has been declared to be close, an experience that has been alarming for all, allowing me to reflect on our personal relationship, as well as the general emotions enticed by the warning of death when its arrival jumps rapidly ahead from once being afar.

*Writing this essay has provided me with a greater understanding of my creative process, current influences, and how I cope with the curves life throws. I am content with the progress of this short 3:39 minute video. I give it an A for aging.