Fast City
by Yi Ko (Danny) Wo
Storyboard
Frame 1 – Room brightens as sunrises for another day in a “fast city”.
Frame 2 – Shower
Frame 3 – Boiling water for coffee and drinking.
Frame 4 – Sound of stove turning on for making breakfast.
Frame 5 – Flipping through the channel while eating breakfast.
Frame 6 – Quick smoke before leaving the house.
Frame 7 – Washing dishes.
Frame 8 – Leaving the house.
Frame 9 – Lobby of the housing estate (apartment building – it is hard to find actual housing estates in Taipei).
Script for frame 9
As of May 11th, 2021 Taiwan has only had a total of 1,210 cases of COVID across the entire country. That fact ranks it as one of the safest and most unaffected countries in the world by COVID. And my experience living there the last year reflects that. Aside from the constant usage of masks, life has remained virtually the same. I was able to have the time of my life the past year, making new friends in a city new to me. Where many others around the world lost their “University experience” or “first step into adulthood” in 2020 I was able to experience that in a city that never stopped moving. I’m Taiwanese but I’ve never actually lived there until COVID forced me back there, in a twisted selfish way I’m so grateful that this pandemic allowed me to experience the country I never had the chance to know. I’ve come to realize Taipei is a fast city, maybe it always was. When the world stopped moving, Taipei and its people continued running full speed ahead. It’s been an absolute blast living here. I’ll miss you Taipei.
Frame 10 – 13 – Various shots of people having fun around the house.
Credits
Director – Yi Ko (Danny) Wo
Script – Yi Ko (Danny) Wo
Actor – Yi Ko (Danny) Wo
Music – Gymnopédie No. 1 by Erik Satie
Synopsis/Reflection
This video essay attempts to convey the normality of life in Taipei from the perspective of the home. While the greatest benefit of Taiwan’s COVID-19 pandemic response has been the opportunity to spend time outside the house, I wanted to shed light and perspective on how life is at home. Because daily life is still going on, daily routines are emphasized in order to express and create the familiar feeling of waking up in the morning and going out for a normal day before COVID-19. The silence and relatively fast cuts in the first half of the video seeked to portray a sense of urgency as for people in Taipei there is not the option to stay at home, because life is supposed to be normal you have to behave normally and get up and go to work/school normally. The longshot of the lobby and the road outside is meant to portray how busy and fast Taipei still is, the sight I see every day when I step out of the lobby.
References
Center for Systems and Science and Engineering (CCSE) at John Hopkins University (JHU). (2021). COVID-19 Dashboard. Retrieved from https://www.arcgis.com/apps/dashboards/bda7594740fd40299423467b48e9ecf6
Focus Taiwan. (February, 2020). School openings postponed to Feb. 25 due to coronavirus. Retrieved from https://focustaiwan.tw/society/202002020016
Focus Taiwan. (June, 2020). No new cases of COVID-19 as CECC switches to weekly briefings. Retrieved from https://focustaiwan.tw/society/202006100011
Yi Ko (Danny) Wo
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I particularly enjoyed the first half of your video! It somehow portrayed the “fast-ness”, but also gave us a context the everyday life. Maybe, “subdued city” could better capture your intention of showcasing how normal life in Taipei has been despite the pandemic. The title aside, so, what did you investigate for this video essay and what have your discoveries been? Was there anything that surprises you? It would also be productive to relate your argument(s) to the concept(s) we discussed throughout the semester. In this case, you could explore a little bit more on De Certeau’s “Practice of Everyday Life”, or something from the “housing stories” (L6).