Medusa WIP
Presented below is my first video work that I have made that seeks to explore Medusa as a symbol of power and the ‘female gaze’ using my dramatic monologue piece as a base for the work. screenshots of the video can be found beneath the video itself. I found my use of natural imagery I’ve filmed myself was strong in establishing a magical aspect within the work, embracing video as a medium that can depict the fantastical. Editing the footage has proven to be an effective tool when dealing with mythical motifs that encompasses natural elements- such as the sea imagery in connection with Poseidon and the snake imagery in connection with Medusa. The added iPhone frame works not just as a phone, but also as a doorway and a void, an idea that is expanded upon in my following works. I play Medusa within the piece as well as within the following video works I have made. In doing this, I hope to humanise her as a character, while also experimenting with my own concept of empowering myself as a performer. I experimented in this work with concealing Medusa’s eyes whilst she speaks the lines of the poem. While I had hoped this would make the concept of her gaze more intimidating and therefore more powerful, I have found this instead restricts her power as a subjective speaker, – something which I have changed in the works that follow this one. My speaking the lines of the dramatic monologue directly also appeared to tie the story of Medusa too directly to me as a performer. This led me to later experiment with captions describing the narrative in ‘Medusa I’ and having the narrative voice me separated from the visual imagery of Medusa in ‘Medusa II’.
