Video link: https://youtu.be/wE_0UyJrJb8
Director name: Cheung Chun Yu 3036228385
The theme of this video is “ Two-faced City”. The site of the video is located at Man Wah Complex in Jordan. Since the redevelopment of Man Wah complex was announced recently, the unique lives of people in this old private estate will vanish in the upcoming future. Similar to other old districts, the conditions of Man Wah complex are not very good. Being ravaged by time, the buildings and the space are dilapidated. Especially when compared to the newly developed district, Man Wah complex is relatively “unfriendly” to outsiders. The messy and dirtiness of the street may make pedestrians feel uncomfortable and not want to walk around within the district. At the first glance, Man Wah complex is not much different from other old districts going to be demolished. People may have a poor first image of this district. This is one of the “faces” I want to show in the video. Meanwhile, the situation is completely different when it comes to residents, they are welcomed by the city. People love staying around the streets and enjoying their spare time in these neighborhoods. The neighbor-relationship is Man Wah Complex is harmonious, people know each other well. This is another face of Man Wah Complex I want to show to the audience through my video.
As suggested above, the movie is separated into two parts, the first part is going to study why the city is unfriendly to pedestrians, while the second part is going to investigate the relationships between people in this district. Below will have more clear explanations on the camera angle used in the film.
[00:00-01:29]
The major preference is to show the audience how “old” the district is, so this part of the video mainly demonstrates the poor conditions of the streets, for example, mountains of rubbish, damages on the sealings and dripping issues. Inspired by The Private Eyes (1976), the scene at the beginning shooting at the angle of a mouse shows the city in a completely different way and have a better narration on the stories. Therefore, instead of setting camera angle at eye level of people, I have tried to set the camera angle as the eye levels of dog and mouse.
[00:19-00:28]
This part of the video is showing the street condition by a relatively low angle (level of dogs). One of the intentions is to emphasize the conditions on the ground, so shooting from a lower place seems better. As most of the rubbish and thirst are located on the ground, and not at eye level, it can help the audience know the site better, understanding the “old” of the city.
[00:35-00:48]
This part of the video is a close-up shot to a heap of rubbish. My camera is shooting at the eye level of a mouse, pretending to be a mouse moving around the rubbish mountain. This is helpful to help the audience to know how dirty the environment is.
From my research, low angle shots help make the character look taller and wider in a film. As an outsider who keeps taking photos of the streets, people will feel strange and keep looking at you. When taking footage, I feel that the community doesn’t welcome me, people are judging me. Therefore, I set the camera lower to help create a feeling of being an outsider in this community. Other pedestrians and residents look stronger in the film. It helps the audience understand the uncomfortable feelings within the district.
[01:30-02:30]
Another “face” of the city is demonstrated in this part of the video. By providing scenes on how people live in this district, the warmth of this environment is shown. Unlike the previous part, I mainly shoot the film in first-person perspective by setting the camera at a human’s eye level. From my research, setting the camera angle at people’s eye level can help establish a bond between the audience and the character in the video. Audience will understand the connections and the relationships of this harmonious neighborhood better. They will appreciate these precious human connections preserved in this old district and become more sympathetic to the demolition of Man Wah Complex.
Another intention is to increase the contrast to the previous part of the video. Since two completely different faces are shown in the video, having a larger contrast will deliver my concept better. In Walking in the City, and Spatial Stories by De Certeau, it is suggested that people understand space by journey and fragments. So the field of view will deeply impact our imaginations to a space. Film is also creating a space, so adjusting the field of view (the scene on the screen) will help create different feelings. A larger contrast between unfriendly to the outsiders and the warmth between neighborhoods can be displayed more clearly. Different spaces are created in different parts of the video.
Transitions [00:14-00:18][01:30-01:40]
Traffic lights are adopted as the main elements in the transitions. I used the moment that the lights turn from green to red to show that the city is “unfriendly” to the outsiders, and the moment that the lights turn from red to green to show that the city is “friendly” to the residents.
Besides, a close-up shot towards a hole of an iron gate is adopted as a transition in the video. The iron gate represents the messy and dirtiness of the city which stops people from going in. However, once we try to learn more about these spaces, we will find other faces underneath and understand the warmth of it.
Man Wah Complex has a history of over 50 years. It was built around the 1970s. Therefore, the buildings are ravaged by time and face different kinds of damages throughout the years. Meanwhile, Man Wah has documented many stories of different people in these years and accompanied the growth of many people. It is believed that Man Wah Complex can narrate more stories before the demolition.
References:
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The Private Eyes (1976)