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Final Project - Video Representation of the Forum

elly's picture
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I feel I can say that I have gained most from the conversations taking place over Serendip throughout my time in EvoLit. In my video I wished to represent these conversations in a visual way, by expressing some of the main themes of our class, and the comments of my peers on the blog. While this is not footage that I was able to shoot myself, it has all been altered, adjusted in terms of speed and color and length, as well as paired with each individual quote for a specific reason. Most connections should be apparent, along with the conversation taking place and progressing throughout the video.
      Even though I believe it is quite clear, I will explain my thought process briefly here. (This will hopefully be read after viewing the video, as to be able to include the viewers’ personal interpretations as well...)
      I began with Adaptation rather than Darwin (the reverse process of the course) because I believe that in many ways we have come full circle to question once again whether humans are superior in any way, and how all of this conversation was spurred by Darwin (and for the sake of imagery, his pigeons).
    I progress from Susan Orleans’ statement about the inevitability of change, to our inability to alter our genes, and the randomness of change (the video of a horseshoe crab, a creature whose evolution has taken a different path than most in its lack of change), and the path towards our conclusions about literature, and the endless nature of this conversation (the road). I begin to question agency, and science's role in constantly searching for an explanation, and Lynn's strong belief that we do have agency (even while a rock shelf erodes behind her due to forces of nature that she could never control, which represent the bleak attitude held by many of us concerning this possible lack of agency). The comfort in hoping for a purpose is expressed by the growth of the seedlings, while we move into Darwin's quote about superiority, bringing us full circle.

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