[Workshop 2] Q&A with Miggy Cheng – Q1
From Hoi Shan Kwong : how much are the actors themselves involved with the design of their costumes? I imagine the costumes have to be compatible with the character’s habits, mannerisms etc.
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Category: 2021 Blog
[Lecture 9] Group 4
Breakout Room 4 Chosen Film – Tomb Raider The last few seconds of the clip portrays a stark contrast in a global city between the developed and less developed parts by having the foreground be the fish market while containing a backdrop of the Hong Kong skyscrapers. The clip also begins with a pan over central and its skyscrapers but then cuts to Lara Croft on a taxi stepping out onto a completely different environment. A contrast between the modern and traditional. We also noted that the way the taxi is being driven is indicative of the environment its in
Reading Response – Ackbar Abbas
In the extract from Ackbar Abbas’s Global Cities, the author described cities with hyperbolised impressions as “exorbitant cities”. These cities have transformed from their original form into a completely unrecognisable identity, “representable only as the cinematic city”. Using Hong Kong as an example, Abbas discusses how the city is depicted in Western blockbuster movies. In the movies he discussed, directors used Hong Kong’s distinct skyscrapers and landscape to build a modern, exotic visual image in the audience’s minds, while suppressing the true Hong Kong beneath. More recent examples such as King Kong vs Godzilla, or going back to the old Batman also shows
[Reading Response] Ackbar Abbas
Abbas used “exorbitant city” to describe the cities whose impression is exaggerated, even deviated from original identity, being “representable only as the cinematic city”. While Hong Kong frequently appears in big-budget Hollywood movies, protraying luxurious skyscrapers and urban landscapes to generate exotic visual appeal, the real Hong Kong is supplanted. There seems a paradox between emphasizing on a city’s characteristics, and disappearance of authentic identity in global cinematic gaze. I agree with Abbas that such an exorbitant city is “phantasmagoric”, and “labyrinthine”, in the sense that hyperbolic exhaustion on the city has distorted its genuineness, living true identity invisible and
Reading Response: Ackbar Abbas
by Matsumoto Ami 3035831305 The Global Cities: Cinema, architecture and urbanism in a digital age by Abbas, a great example of using an interdisciplinary approach including films to dissect and analyse the phenomenon of global cities. The author picked the famous film in each majority urban city including Hong Kong to examine how globalization may affect our physiological and physical urban experience. Using films as an entry point is a wise choice since the architecture is a storyboard that keeps changing over the years and the film is the expression of the director’s understanding that captures the momentary setting. Referring
[Reading Response: Ackbar Abbas]
The image of Hong Kong used to be that of the only global city with both Eastern and Western features. However, with its changing relationship with the Britain and China’s rapid globalisation, Hong Kong is beginning to take on the characteristics of a generic city. As mentioned by the author, it is the “image of the city” that makes the city invisible, not legible. Hong Kong today seems to be a movie city, people use images to show the character of its past, like lanterns, old trademark and rickshaws. Hong Kong is keeping changing now, but in the same time, signs which contain
[READING RESPONSE] ACKBAR ABBAS
Every city is trying to build as many landmarks as they could to represent its image with a view to making the city more memorable. Yet, it leads to many Generic Cities, losing their identity, culture and history while becoming more exorbitant in reality. Why do Asian cities have the tendency to homogenization despite their cultural richness, especially for China with a long history? Perhaps Ironically, the cities are learnt through cinematic image. People are trying to recreate the characters and qualities of the city through film but at the same time, undermining the visibility of their cities. This correlates
[Reading Response: Ackbar Abbas]
“If more and more people get characteristic,the world will be full of general city.”City are trying to have some tags on, Besides,I think there are also some other reasons for general city. Firstly,in today’s fast business world, “Time is money and efficiency is life.”We all pursue efficiency maximization,so if a work-well urban or building built,it will spread to everywhere quickly.And this is also not work without the second reason—-information circulates fast and nearly no fence.Thirdly,as globalization,people’s aesthetic becomes similar,too.And that is why some European architecture appear in modern China.Forthly,it is difficult to develop quickly while keeping the diversity,the various architechure