We are Ada and Penny. Today we are looking into a Hong Kong-made film, LOVE IN A PUFF, directed by Pang Ho Cheung in 2010. We are going to share three places shown in the movie.
First of all, it is the Footbridge KF38 across Wai Yip Street constructed around 1970 to 1980 which connects Wai Yip Street, Hong Yip Street, Tai Yip Street, Tai Yip Lane, and the Hoi Bun Road.
Appearance-wise, it forms several “Z” shapes or “T” shapes to link those streets, which it creates a sense of design. The arched-like bridge roof was designed for preventing water accumulation. The outer wall of the bridge is painted in light blue, pink, and a deeper blue.
The color matching inside is same as the one outside. They are ordered from light to dark. The lightest one accounts for the largest proportional which helps in expanding the visual spaciousness. The dark blue in the bottom takes the second large proportional so that the design won’t make us feel top-heavy. There are vents in regular rectangular shape. Once the sun shines into the footbridge, the picture will be full of patterning.
The whole feeling given by the bridge design is fresh, nice, peace and quiet, and it exude a sense of romance.
The bridge appears at around 17 minutes and 42 seconds of the film. We may observe about the composition of the picture. Jimmy and Cherie are in the left of center. On the right of center, there are regular rectangular sunlight patterns. Perhaps, these bright rectangular lights are foils of Jimmy and Cherie’s beautiful time. The picture is romantic, and all the settings are just right. The coordinating of all the elements demonstrates the beauty of encountering and love. Also, the atmosphere that produced by the picture and the two characters ‘chats is naturally fresh.At around 21 minutes and 15 seconds, Jimmy and Cherie separate at one of the forks of the bridge under the foil of more light gold sunlight being shot. The whole part illustrates a nice start of their love story.
After the screen of this movie, Wai-Yip Street got a new name –“Jimmy Bridge”. Checking in on Jimmy bridge, and the film itself is still a big hit today.
There are two alleys in the movie. One is in Tsim Sha Tsui which has a long staircase while another one is in Admiralty. Two alleys are presented near to each other in the film but it is not the case in the reality. In the film, there is only a short transition in between to show the changing of place. Presenting in this way gives the audience the impression that two alleys are close to each other and allows the transition and changing of places in the film to become smoother.
In the movie, the alley in Tsim Sha Tsui is usually filmed by facing the staircase. In the reality, there is a long, straight path at the end of the alley. However, we can merely see the path in the film. The alley is presented in this way for aesthetic reasons. First, there is a comparison between high and low which people chit-chat at the front and a high staircase at the back. In addition, the sides of the staircase are tall buildings so personal space is created. The scene can cooperate with people’s activities, chi-chat, which is relatively private.
At the beginning of the movie, people are shot individually and the proportion of the staircase in the scene is relatively small. As they get closer, the proportion of the staircase in the scene becomes larger and people are shot together. It shows the change between their relationship.
Apart from that, when Jimmy and Cherie are smoking in the alley in Tsim Sha Tsui, and Jimmy met his ex-girlfriend. There is a flight of stairs between Jimmy and his ex-girlfriend. It is to show that they have already parted ways and have no relationships anymore.
The alley in Admiralty is for Jimmy and Cherie to have deep talks. In the reality, there is a relatively wide alley before getting to the narrower alley shown in the film. However, it is not shown in the film probably due to aesthetic reasons. The film shows that the alley is surrounded by high walls and is a blind alley. A personal space that is more private than another alley is created only for Jimmy and Cherie. It is to show that their relationship is getting closer.
Wong Kwan Mei, 3036075398
Wong Pui Fan, 3036076990
Your work provides some analysis on the two critical spaces used in the narrative, the bridge and the alleyways. Some parts of the spatial analysis are rich, such as introducing the historical background of the bridge. However, the historical background and your descrptition of the spaces are not tightly linked to how architecture is used to support the narrative.
Moreover, please bear in mind that conversation and dialogue take up a very important role in this podcast as we expected interaction between the pair during the presentation. Yet, you two separated your workload and the two parts of analysis become disconnected. Take a note that it is important to engage audiences in the podcast!