Disappearing City
Director: Bai Yingxue
Zhengzhou, the capital city of Henan Province is renowned as one of the eight historical capitals of China and has been called the cradle of Chinese civilization because of its rich culture, long history, and a significant contribution to Chinese culture and civilization. Nowadays, Zhengzhou, a fast-growing city, is still one of the main transportation hubs in China. The city is famous for the title “Green City of Central China” because of the characteristic tree, the chinar tree, planted on both sides of the main streets of the city (Song, 2021). Zhengzhou is a city with both historic and modern characteristics, therefore, the groups of buildings located in the middle of Zhengzhou show both low flat-roofed (the last central traditional architectural characteristic) and towering architectural features. This phenomenon does also exist along PINGDENGJIE which is an alleyway located nearby the center and symbol of Zhengzhou, Erqi tower.
Hutong, the Chinese expression for the alleyway, is a memory scattered in the bustling city, and PINGDENGJIE is no exception. Along the narrow and slender pathway, richly decorated stores and architectures which are full of contemporary art elements were insight. Neon lights adorn century-old trees, the storefronts are designed with a contemporary aesthetic and so on, all of these frames are hard for people to connect in the mind with, it is a traditional residential area and most of the residents are elderly. Because of the urban construction planning steadily, high buildings and large mansions have appeared around this old community in recent years, and the bungalows in this old town do appear out of place. At the same time, news stores seem to be cutting into this small old town. In PENGDENGJIE, such bungalows may be replaced by modern constructions or become an attraction that blends traditional and modern styles. It is gradually losing its residential functions and this alleyway is seeming to be “disappearing”.
(A photo of modern PINGDNEGJIE, sohu, 2021). (A photo of traditional PINGDENGJIE, sohu, 2021)
The film was shot entirely on location in PINGDENGJIE. All videos are taken along the pathway from the entrance of the alleyway to the end of the alleyway in sequence. Montage has been used to either compress or expand the time and splice all frames together in order. The narrator leads naturally the doubt and answers to me in my mind about this “disappearing alleyway” in succession. Firstly, two particular natural phenomena which for a closely related word “disappearing”, failing petals and the flying birds, were induced to put out my question “is it true that nothing is unchanging forever?”, Immediately after the beginning, a discarded human-shaped air balloon which is placed on a roof nearby the entrance of the alleyway, is lead to the feature film. The planning shot cinematic technique I have used here to shoot this air balloon takes advantage of this shot to show the surroundings (Jaclin, 2022), the air balloon is just placed nearby the entrance spatially, and it has also corresponded to the timeline of the film. Then a Spatio-temporal system has been constructed in this film. The human-shaped air balloon looks useless, and it has lost its original functions, but it is not appropriate to conclude that it is “disappearing”, the start of the frame refers to the theme and leads to the following story. Next, several pairs of videos appear successively, each pair contains fame which represents “disappearing things” and another frame which represents “burgeoning things”, such as “an old granny with a stick” and “a group of playful pupils”, “the hackers and Chapmen” and “vending machines”. A contradiction has been used here to show the difference between these two concepts, and it has also created a visual impact due to the sharp contrast that the visitors may associate with “disappearing” and bets them to think more about “new”. As I walked along the alleyway and arrive at the middle part of the alleyway, an interesting frame showed up to me. The traditional, old low buildings and one high, modern tower-shaped building appeared at the same time in the same frame. The Point-of-view shot I have used here to introduce the mystical image spacing, lets the audience sees the same as me myself and helps the viewers feel like they are part of the story (Jaclin, 2022). This frame represents that some “disappearing things” and “burgeoning things” are possible to exist at the same time. From now on, another relationship, they coexist instead of one is replaced by another one, between these two contraries concepts has been induced. Next, several frames represent “everlasting”, the opposite word of “disappearing”, which appeared sequentially by using montage. One same thing between these “everlasting” frames is that the object shown in the frames are carriers to convey the spirit instead of the objects themselves. For instance, the stray cats and dogs in this community will die but the concern for them from humans exists in all ages. After these frames, I got my answer, the transmission of love lasts forever, which I have asked at the beginning and I arrived at the end of the alleyway.
reference
Candice, S. (2021, July 21). Zhengzhou Travel Guide-How to Plan a Trip to Zhengzhou. Medium. https://www.chinahighlights. com/zhengzhou/
Jacklin, B. (2022, March 4).Best Cinematography Techniques. Medium. https://www.movavi.com/learning-portal/cinematic-techniques.html
Ma, J. (2021). 郑州市委外宣办 市政府新闻办. Retrieved May 13, 2022, from https://www.sohu.com/a/499183801_121106991.
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Bai Yingxue
I really like the start of your video where you used kind of melancholy music and the “disappearing” naturals, which is a big contrast with the rest part.
Then, I saw the old and the new alternate in PingDengJie, the old might disappear someday and the new emerges. But people’s relationships and emotions lasts eternally on this alleyway.
I just feel so warm after watching your video. Flowers blooms next year and birds fly back in the season. It’s okay to bemoan what disappears but I’m more willing to cherish the present and hope for the new.
thank you very much for your reply. I am happy that someone can get my point. All of the past, the present, and the future are important to be recorded. Tomorrow is another day and just go on the life. Hope you have a nice day.
The site is clear and you provided both contextual information and field observations of Pingdengjie in your project. However, the research question and methods are not as clear. You related your observations in the alleyway to the word ‘disappearing’, but your definition of it can be clearer. For example, are you referencing Ackbar Abbas’ idea of disappearance? As for the research methods, you can elaborate on various aspects such as when you carried out the research and filming. You can also draw on more references to support your description of the alleyway and to deepen your analysis.