[Field-Homework 3] Contrasting City: Aldrich Bay Park, Sai Wan Ho, Hong Kong Island

Youtube link: https://youtu.be/T0JKp85vquo?si=gncx0_x_D9w5GXpi

The theme of this video is contrasting city. Hong Kong is a place where west and east, past and future, modernity and traditions, concrete and greenery co-exists. All of these elements are very contrasting, but yet harmonious, creating a unique city landscape that no other place can match. 

In this film, I want to highlight the contrast between old and new, and also concrete and greenery. In one end of this spectrum, the fishing vessel and sampans that echoes the old fishing village theme, the use concrete at the entrance and also the use of bamboo as one of its main building materials throughout this park, it created an old Chinese village vibe. But on the other end, the design of the park, the use of steels and glass, and also the high rise buildings in the surrounding, really contrast with the old Chinese vibe. But this is just one of the case, I want to use this film to bring out the fact that the contrast of old and new are everywhere in Hong Kong, like tiled-roof temples merged into the high rises buildings, the feng shui decoration inside those modern buildings, just to name a few.

Another contrast I want to emphasise is concrete and greenery. In the film you can see that the park is basically surrounded by a “concretes forest”. In such a dense, populated city, this piece of land, however, is used to create a park instead of another piece of concrete. The park hence becomes the oasis of that area— an oasis to escape the high pressure, fast paced concretes-land. To put this into larger scale, the contrast of the park and the surrounding is basically the miniature of Hong Kong. This kind of “rough remedy” towards the loss balance of city development and lifestyle yet create an interesting cityscapes— somewhat similar to Manhattan— but more “balanced”. The “delicate” balance of contrast in Hong Kong makes it a very dynamic and diverse city— you can switch how you like to experience your days just like switching a background in your phone, and this is a thing to treasure, cause in the near future, this “delicate balance” will gone, in order to maintain competitiveness—“globalisation”. So this film i wish not only raises your focus on this contrast in the city, admire the beauty of it, but also hope you can enjoy it for the longest of time, before it gets washed away by the torrent of time.

Method:

For the research part, as I grew up in that area, I am very familiar with this park hence the idea of doing this topic. I have done a on site research, where I walk around the park slowly and chat with some people there so as to gather my thoughts on how to make the film. Supplementary information about the park are sourced from the internet, mainly from Architectural Services Departments and Wikipedia. Other than that, I also did some research on how to take good photos and videos in order to produce a better quality picture and video, as well as how to cut video as I have no experience to that. These research were mostly done through youtube videos. A site visit is conducted to capture different stills and video, for the preparation of the film. 

As for the production part, all the filming and photo taking are done by myself. I have taken many wide shoot of the environment of the park as it can emphasise the contrast between urban and green/leisure space. Also, I have taken many shots that focus on the material used in the park, which help me bring out the contrast between old and new. I used the apple default iMovie app to edit this video. And as some part of the film are stills instead of video, I separated some background noise from some of the clips that I take and then duplicated so that the frame of the  stills will also have some background sound, preventing dead air. I also recorded my voice narration using this app, which helps me introduce this place and also helps me to deliver my idea. 

Directed by Ma Ho Kong

Edited by Ma Ho Kong

Ma Ho Kong 3036273392