Theme
In a dense urban city like Hong Kong, many buildings are shophouses or a more integrated version of shophouses: cake-buildings (shopping malls with housing buildings on top). Shops are grounded so that they connect to the street where people walk by and pay attention to what the shops have to offer. I believe this space is where the neighbourhood creates bonding. The local shopkeepers watch the children in the neighbourhood grow up. These shopfronts are what make each street unique and fill the street with the spirit of the neighbourhood. It is a place to peek inside a shop; a place to wait for seats or food. As people walk by they might smell the burger freshly made, or see pretty clothes through the window display, which attract customers to go inside and shop.
Besides the customers, the shop means more to the owner. Chefs devote their culinary skill to the shop; Stylist, barbers, and nail technicians devote their craft to the salon The street is the stage for the shops and their owners to shine and get the recognition they deserve.
Moreover, the shops bring people closer to each other. Friends may recommend good food to each other and take them out to restaurants, or go shopping together. Shop owners become acquainted with frequent customers over time and build up bonding and friendship. The shop fronts create dynamic by interactions in the real city (in the definition of Abbas,1997), and that dynamic shifts at different times of the day. My production aimed to show the various forms of shopfronts, the contrast of the dynamics at different times of the day, how people engage in those interactions with other people and the shop.
Fig. 1 & Fig. 2 Screen still of dolly shot tracking backwards shifting from an outsider’s view to an insider’s view.
Research and Production
While I was brainstorming ideas for the video, I could not decide whether I want it to become a story narrative or a documentative narrative. I devised a script where a person passed away andreincarnated to become a cat, as a metaphor of the life of a shop. But then the video’s focus would be on the character, and I could use povs so that the main subject – shop fronts occupy a bigger proportion of the video rather than just the establishing shots. Eventually, I decided to create a documentative montage accompanied by music to guide the viewers’ emotion as if it were a music video.
Fig 3. Nighthawks by Hopper
Some famous painting resembles the way I visualise my storyboard. Edward Hopper’s Nighthawk portrays people sitting around the bar through the window of a shop by the cornerof the street. I was hoping to create a similar sorrow mood in my cinematography of the shops at night; and to show the interaction of people inside the shops looking from the street.
Sound and music play a very significant role in films to build up a mood and connect the visuals to certain emotions. When I picture the images of walking along the street, the first song that came to my mind was Leslie Cheung’s A Balloon’s Journey. Through the lyrics of A Balloon’s journey, “spring would have been nice if you were still here” it conveys a kind of ‘wish you were here’ sentiment that was not only directed towards people, but also the shops that have had a deep bonding with the neighbourhood but could shut down their business eventually for inevitable reasons.
Fig 4. Screen still of the night scene
I was aware of the copyright concerns of the song, but I believe it should be fine when the video is uploaded to YouTube, it will automatically detect the song, link it to the source and demonetise the video.
Besides the composition of each frame, I believe that camera movement is also helps viewers to understand the quality of the space better. The pace of the camera movements works with the dynamics of the cuts to create pacing which also manipulates the way we see the city’s dynamics. The footage could be made faster or slower by editing, but I think it is better to control to speed of movement while filming so I don’t have to manipulate the pace of the actions in the frame and make it look odd. The fast-tracking shots may give a sense of hustling; the slow tilts, pan, and dolly leaves a lingering feeling.
While editing I was aware of the rules that I have learnt from some sources such as the 180-degree rule: there are shots taken from exactly opposite angles, so I intended not to put one right after the other one.
Fig 5. Notice on empty shop: signifying the end of a shop’s life and the start of another
I was hoping to minimise the reliance on text to explain my intentions because I believe that would kill the quality and the focus on the visuals. Instead, by using visual storytelling, it already showed you the place we are looking at, what is happening in the place. While the sound linked the visual to the emotions I hoped viewers could link to.
Bibliography
Abbas, M. A. (1997). Hong Kong: Culture and the politics of disappearance (pp. 63-90). Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press.
“Definitive Guide to Every Type of Camera Movement in Film.” StudioBinder, http://facebook.com/studiobinderapp, 4 Oct. 2020, https://www.studiobinder.com/blog/different-types-of-camera-movements-in-film/.
Dream Perfect Regime. DPR LIVE – Yellow Cab (OFFICIAL M/V). YouTube, 2 July 2021, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z5-ASY-JOj0.
Reck, Kellan. 7 Rules of Cinematic Framing and Composition. YouTube, 17 May 2022, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MYlgj1hwcYw.
Riot, Film. Visual Storytelling 101. YouTube, 4 Nov. 2017, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iWQQgZh9EyE.
Trancart, François-Xavier. “Artwork Analysis: Nighthawks by Edward Hopper – Artsper Magazine.” Artsper Magazine, https://www.facebook.com/Artsper/, 2 July 2019, https://blog.artsper.com/en/a-closer-look/artwork-analysis-nighthawks-by-edward-hopper/.
universalmusichk. 張國榮 Leslie Cheung -《春夏秋冬 A Balloon’s Journey》MV. YouTube, 11 Sept. 2020, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iU1mnIMlcZk.
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The song is aptly chosen for the video! Apart from evoking nostalgia, its lyrics that sing of reminiscing the past without being overly sorrowful matches with the video’s attempt at showcasing neighbourhood warmth at store fronts. The two elements compliment each other well, and I really like how you edited the video to the beats of the song, which makes for a pleasant viewing experience.
Another standout feature of your video is its cinematography. There were a lot of great shots which showed your effort in storyboarding the video. The most memorable shot for me would be the dolly shot you have highlighted in your essay, where the camera travels backwards to illustrate how passersby get a glimpse of happy moments occurring within the shaved ice restaurant, while balancing their external gaze with the interior action taking place. It shows your knowledge on filmmaking, and a passion for your video project!
A suggestion for improvement would be to slightly slow down the introductory shots that pan across the streets to illustrate the diversity of shop fronts on display. At this speed, it was a little difficult for me to make out the type of stores captured on video, and those few seconds felt slightly dizzying as I attempted to make out the names or appearance of these stores.
Nevertheless, I believe your video achieved everything that it aimed to do, so great job! 🙂
I enjoyed your video montage of the ground level street condition of Hong Kong. Your footages show the diversity of shopfront conditions and the dynamics of its usage. More elaboration of how these shopfront allows for “bonding” of the neighborhood will help strenghten your argument. To further focus your project, you can look into the different street furnitures and how it serves the “bonding” of the neighborhood (with trees, benches etc.) vs how it negates bonding (with barricades, fences etc.).