This project features archival video and audio footage of chimpanzees performing in a 1950’s circus act. The original video clip is from the 1950’s, produced by Castle Films and was 8 minutes and 24 seconds long. I went in and chose those parts of the footage I wanted to use, and sliced and rearranged them so my final product is just under four minutes long.

Incorporated throughout this video are audio clips from multiple interviews of primatologist Jane Goodall, as well as interviews of other animal rights activists and philosophers including Charles Magel, Wayne Pacelle, and Peter Singer. The audio clips used date from the 1970’s through the present. The video footage has been fragmented and video clips have been moved out of order, slowed down, or sped up at various points for desired effect. The audio clips used seek to work in ironic juxtaposition with the original video content, and raise questions regarding “speciesism,” keeping wild animals in captivity, and the use of such animals for human entertainment and profit.

The ultimate goal of this project is to explore the historic use and presentation of wild animals in entertainment while causing viewers to reflect upon the exploitation of non-human animal species for human profit and entertainment.

I felt that the project as I conceived it was slightly overambitious for a novice with this software. There were many other clips I wanted to include, and an entire extra segment strictly exploring the use of elephants in the circus that I may very well add as a second “chapter.”