Video link: https://youtu.be/XV71rkqBjnE
Since January 7 2022, the deteriorating pandemic has forced most of the public leisure and cultural services to shut down, with the city enveloped by stricter public surveillance. The exertion undeniably influences the citizens’ life again. This video essay focuses on how playground serves in a hybrid manner as a general fitness centre, a children’s wonderland and a performance stage. The traditional playground is replaced by a multifunctional community activities place as other interior public services become unavailable. As a panoptic site of daily intermingling crisis (Wilson, 2013, p. 630), the playground offers a broad and comprehensive view of Hong Kong life and leisure. Various people encounter at the city corner for assimilation into urban collective life as a revolt against the ban, sharing their desire and joy unintentionally. In witnessing the hybrid place, the interaction of class, religion and race with subtle intertwined feelings is vastly enriched out of segregation and the everyday disassembly of collective life in the crisis (Wilson, 2013, p. 634).
Instead of straight-talking about my views, I created a sentimental atmosphere and set a lonely and identity-ambiguous protagonist in my video as an epitome of common Hong Kong citizens, as well as their psychologies. Description and opinions of the assigned place came naturally from the narration, her monologue and observations through the lens. Around the playground theme, I montaged many textual, visual and audio Hong Kong elements like government notice, the sound of traffic lights, and minibuses, in accompany with a Cantonese voice-over, to highlight local characteristics. Cigarettes, dim lights, tides, closed shops and crowds are aimed to deliver the sense of an estranged collective life in the sense of “within-and-without urbanism”. The relationship between individuals and the city is inconsistent. The panoptic force of urban life reinforces feelings of isolation and collectivity simultaneously.
The video begins with a silent full shot of the playground, followed by a close-up of the government notice, revealing the closed and stagnant status of Hong Kong. A sequence of increasing-speed pans of empty shops and streets, together with the sound of traffic lights, matches with more and more anxious souls aching for freedom and leisure. An ironic scene is the darkness under the “Hong Kong All Day” signboard. I make the title “Hybrid City” in the same style, a sense of dim neon light, a metaphor of the glimmering Hong Kong night, as an echo. The flashing minibus naturally brings up rapid traffic lights sound, forcing the protagonist to think about where to go next, showing confusion and desire to break free from her subconscious during the pandemic.
Gradual reduction of the overlay of the protagonist with zooming out expresses the process of assimilation into urban collective life, where barriers between individuals and groups and public order and personal needs are melting. The intriguing contrast between the sign of entertainment restriction and those energetic people denotes and intensifies citizens’ desire and joy for social interaction and leisure based on the violation of rules. Various activities reveal the diverse functions of this place.
The following freeze frames and long shots of facilities at night, together with a montage in the daytime, enrich the appearance and features of the playground. Seals around facilities could not withstand children’s passion and needs for fun. However, we should also notice the flaws of the playground beyond the lively atmosphere. Many play facilities are designed for children to enhance their cognitive skills, develop social and physical abilities and enrich their experience in a relaxing setting (Siu et al., 2017, p. 170). But the lack of inclusive facilities for disabled children reveals designers’ neglect of equal rights (Siu et al., 2017, p. 172). Moreover, the needs of children’s caretakers are not taken into round consideration, resulting in a chaotic situation of using facilities by the caretakers (Siu et al., 2017, p. 174). Though music accompanies lively crowds, painting a picture of post-covid life, we should notice that not everyone could enjoy happiness, especially disabled children.
My feelings for Hong Kong could be precisely described by the sentence of F. Scott Fitzgerald in his prominent work The Great Gatsby, “I was within and without, simultaneously enchanted and repelled by the inexhaustible variety of life”. At the end of this video, I expressed my worry about the fragile recovering reality. But life goes on like tides, merciless and restless. The only choice is to go with the wind, experience and enjoy.
— Yiming Liu, 3035637539
Reference
Baudelaire, Charles, and Jonathan. Mayne (1964). The Painter of Modern Life and Other Essays. London: Phaidon Press.
Bruno, G. (2002). Atlas of emotion: Journeys in art, architecture, and film. New York: Verso.
Calvino, I., & Weaver, W. (1997). Invisible cities. London: Vintage. c1978.
Clark, D. B. (1997). The cinematic city. London: Routledge.
Fleishman, Avrom. (1992). Narrated Films: Storytelling Situations in Cinema History. John Hopkins University Press. Esp. Ch1 – Storytelling Situations: Working Definitions, 20-28.
Fitzgerald, F. S. (1925). The Great Gatsby. Laxmi Publisher.
Perec, G., & Sturrock, J. (2008). Species of spaces and other pieces. London; New York: Penguin.
Prakash, G. (2010). Noir urbanisms: Dystopic images of the modern city. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press.
Siu, K. W., Wong, Y. L., & Lam, M. S. (2017). Inclusive play in urban cities: A pilot study of the inclusive playgrounds in Hong Kong. Procedia Engineering, 198, 169-175. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.proeng.2017.07.080
Wilson, H. F. (2013). Collective life: Parents, playground encounters and the multicultural city. Social & Cultural Geography, 14(6), 625-648. https://doi.org/10.1080/14649365.2013.800220
This film is very interesting, as there is a large variety of filming techniques, and these filming techniques help to tell the story. The protagonist who smoke and the dark silent night in playground form the stressful atmosphere and represent the stressful atmosphere that everyone who live in this city has experienced. Focusing on the inequality of the accessibility of playground is a very good topic. The presentation is very attractive, this film is very philosophical and reflect we people as a citizen, how do we live in this city.
Thank you and congratulations on your finally accomplishing the fantastic work! Obviously, you have devoted lots of energy to the visual design, including the mise-en-scene, superimposition and beautiful montage. You also succeeded in combing visual and audio materials to serve the narrative and establish a fluent transition between night and day. It might seem ambiguous (and poetic of course) for the language, while the overall atmosphere suggests your ideas on “playground.”
Really Nice job! I love your old Hong Kong style. It Is a wonderful use of the important Hong Kong’s night and lighting elements. The opening shot is really, really wonderful. I prefer your excavation in the problem of the COVID outbreak behind the element “playground”, providing a deeper core to this video essay. Also, this video essay is really a big project. Extra cast and support, beautiful script, it really took a lot of effort to get it done. This is where I need learn from your video essay.
A very great piece of work with night atmosphere! The orange tones of the images, the inner monologue of the character and the smoking frame with technic of ‘step printing’ at the opening reminded me of Wong Kar Wai’s style. In this style, the director nicely combines the content of the monologue and the frame to express the character’s struggle to break free from the ban on the epidemic, while the second half of the film also leads to a reflection on Hong Kong society, whether it is encompassing enough and whether it really reaches hybrid. Really appreciate it!
Your video and the editing technologies are so impressive! I feel like watching a movie in the cinema. Some cuts remind me of Wong Kar Wai’s style, which perfectly matches the night in hong kong. Also, the script is attractive, and it gives a spark for me to think deeper about my own experience in Kenndey Town. That’s what a powerful work is, capturing a daily environment such as a playground, but expressing different themes. The audience will have sight in more aspects of the city and relate to their own memory. Miss HK again. Lovely piece!
A first sight of this film makes me think of old classic Hong Kong， then after watching it I find out that it is even better. This film gives a sad atmosphere， and used a lot of methods to present the hybrid Hong Kong under the pandemic lockdown, which is excellent. With the changing of light, we audience feel like the film is happening right front of us, and the essay list out the stance, which is then explained and discussed further in the text, after reading the essay, I fully understand what writer thought. It is a combination of best essay and film, really well done.
A very poetic video loaded with emotions. Good use of multiple techniques to create the sentimental mise-en-scene of your clip. You have also made close observations of your site. I wonder how you have treated it as a research field? You have succeeded in making an artistic short film but I would be eager to see more of the research aspect. Lastly, I would encourage you to showcase this video on other platforms.