"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!