"100 Years"

I've been at work on this one for quite a stretch of time. It's been slow gathering, and I finally got impatient and finished it. Not perfect, the way I wanted it, but it's got a lovely concept about it. The song is Five for Fighting's "100 Years". I tried to give a sense of the passage of time and of personal growth. I didn't include very much in the way of footage of actual gymnastics progress. What I mostly wanted to show (I've only had this camera for about 3 years, and didn't do any serious filming until a year and a half ago) is how the gymnasts have "grown up" over the past....however long I could chronicle them for. They do grow fast. Keli would not let me photograph her today in the gym, but she now stands quite a bit above my shoulder level. This photo is of Keli in May of 2003. I believe she was 10, then. Perhaps it's just as well that we did not take that picture I wanted today, as I'm 3 years heavier and 3 shades grayer in my hair, now (thanks to all the scares the kids put me through, year in and year out).

Some of the blends are footage of mothers and daughters enjoying their time in the gym. Can you pick out who's related?

The kid shown in the backhandspring progression is Mackie. A very hard worker, she is!

I will probably re-edit this video, if I'm still around in the next few years, and still filming. Or perhaps, a whole new song entirely with the same theme of showing the growth from when people were first starting to learn a skill to when they have finally mastered it.

I can think of a number of footage I COULD have included, but the song is only so many minutes long. So, here you have it. Enjoy!

"Friendship Story"

I've had the idea for this video and the song for quite some time, but only just now got around to bringing it to fruition. Unfortunately, I had to leave a few pieces of footage on the cutting room floor...but I'll just sweep those up and salvage them for a future video, somewhere down the line.

This video is my first experiment in utilizing photos with captioning to help tell a story. It's a bit of a tedious process...almost like stop-motion, but of course, far simpler. You can see the results as part of the opening and closing credits of the video.

Stacey and Jolene bring their two daughters to the intro level class. Instead of sitting on the bleachers, around December of 2004, they decided to do gymnastics themselves, during the time that their daughters, Lilly and Malaika took class.

Stacey had actually been dreaming of trying the adult gymnastics program a year or two earlier, when Malaika was enrolled in the mother-and-me, baby class.

Last year she went through a pregnancy, and still worked out, almost to the end (check out her front flip, 7 months carrying). Stacey has been a very enthusiastic student. Both her and Jolene have some athleticism that has served them well in acquiring their gymnastics skills, basically from scratch.

They were also good sports, back in April, when they participated in the annual Cartwheel-a-thon.

Video is uploading right now....stay tuned.

Cirque du Isabel

Isabel has long been one of my all-time favorites (does it seem like I say this about everyone? I mean it every time it's said...). When I first barely knew her, she had requested that I work her birthday party, 2 and a half years ago. Since that time, she and I have only grown closer together. A very sweet, good-natured kid.
Rarely seen (we tend to lose her during soccer season...then there was that period where she had broken her arm...), I always look forward to Saturdays, for that's when there's an outside chance of her being at gymnastics practice.
Isabel's also an accomplished violinist. Her parents chose the music for her video, which was made upon request for Izzy's grandmother (celebrating her 80th birthday this January!). Apparently she loves these songs from Cirque du Soleil. They kind of grew on me too, as I edited the video. Overall, I'm pleased with how the video turned out and I hope it is enjoyed by Isabel and her family.

The footage was taken throughout 2005, with the bulk drawn from summer camp and winter camp.




Isabel's always been thoughtful, and over the years, she's made me a few things. I think I still have some origami in my locker that she folded for me; and a bead...she gave me a bead! I'm pretty sure I still have that inside a groinpack (I wear my buttpack in the front so as not to get robbed..hence: "groinpack)I no longer wear. Since it's from her, I treasured it! This is a drawing she made me a couple of years ago:
















And here's a poem she made me last week, during winter camp: