The facial features that clue us in to an individual's age are a bit nebulous. Wrinkles certainly tip off that someone is no longer young, but it is the entire package of one's face — not a single identifiable feature — that leaves an almost instinctual impression of how old that person is. A new time-lapse style video that's both truly eerie and wonderful will certainly make you consider these points. The work, by video editor Anthony Cerniello, shows his friend named Danielle progress from childhood to old age in a single five minute shot.
Instead of capturing photographs of her while she ages, Cerniello worked with photographer Keith Sirchio to take portraits of Danielle and her extended family at a reunion. According to Colossal, images of those with similar bone structures were collected, scanned and then animated with the help of Nathan Meier and Edmund Earle (as well as software like After Effects and 3D Studio Max) to convincingly show the tolls of age on the human body. The clip is long enough that the transitions are largely imperceptible, leaving the viewer acutely aware that some change is happening while being unable to pinpoint the specific differences. This was precisely Cerniello's intention; as he says in his description of the video, "The idea was that something is happening [and] you can't see it, but you can feel it, like aging itself." For the full effect, be sure to watch the clip in its entirety, with the audio on.