[Field-Homework 3] Demolishing City: The Neon Lights

Video Link: https://youtu.be/KmWV_6jI8HA?si=tGELkE01cvqcp-IX

Director: Wang Qinghui -3036265242

Introduction

The radiant glow of streaming neon lights, alongside the colossal, illuminated billboards, combined with the intricate blend of scents, visuals, and sensations, characterize a distinctive form of disorder. These components delineated the emergence of Hong Kong onto the global platform during the latter part of the 20th century, concurrently fostering the inception of a novel genre – Cyberpunk.

The essence of cyberpunk primarily envisions a futuristic setting, characterized by the fusion of rudimentary lifestyles with cutting-edge technology, featuring advanced scientific advancements juxtaposed with a certain level of societal disintegration. Although cyberpunk initially gained traction in the late 1970s, it gained widespread recognition through the popularization of the film Blade Runner (1982) and William Gibson’s novel, Neuromancer, both of which draw inspiration from Hong Kong.

 

The Blaze Neon Lights

Neon culture gradually entered Hong Kong after the Second World War. Due to the special geographical situation, the layout of Hong Kong’s urban area is quite dense and compact, with a high density of buildings coupled with narrow streets. The unique architectural structure also allows a neon sign to extend from the wall to the road, making up a rather hierarchical landscape, and many merchants have made use of neon as a way to advertise their own shops in order to solicit business. Nothing is more symbolic of Hong Kong than the neon signs on the streets.

The visual aesthetic of Hong Kong neon reflects the cyberpunk genre’s emphasis on futuristic, utopian cityscapes characterized by vibrant artificial lighting. However, Hong Kong is the most polluted city in the world. According to Tong (2022), there are more than 146,000 street lights in Hong Kong, most of which are high-pressure sodium lamps and a small number are low- and medium-power LED lamps. Street lights are not the only source of light pollution problems in Hong Kong. To decorate central business districts(CBD) such as Tsim Sha Tsui, Central, Causeway Bay and Mong Kok into vibrant neighborhoods, commercial lighting, large LED billboards, some neon lights and shop signs are commonly used. However, these lights may cause a nuisance to pedestrians and affect the sleep and circadian rhythms of some nearby residents.

Neon signs are not only one of the most representative features of Hong Kong, but also a common memory for locals and tourists. They are also an important way for the world to understand Hong Kong. Some industry insiders lamented that neon lights have always been a part of Hong Kong in the past. The dazzling charm of Hong Kong at night can also be seen through neon lights in many film and television works, and the world has been introduced to Hong Kong.

 

Researching

In the 1990s, with the emergence of light-emitting diodes (LED) and the closure of some old shops in old districts due to high land rents, Hong Kong’s neon sign manufacturing industry gradually declined, and the number of neon sign craftsmen decreased sharply. In addition, because many outdoor sign boards are in disrepair and pose safety risks, the Hong Kong Buildings Department has begun to implement signboard removal orders, making the number of neon lights on Hong Kong streets scarce and deserted.

After 2000, public safety concerns became increasingly acute after incidents of aging signs falling onto pedestrians. In 2010, the Buildings Department promulgated the “Minor Works Control System”, which stipulated that the protruding height of signboards should not exceed 4.2 meters and should be at least 3.5 meters above the ground. Thousands of neon signboards that had stood for decades turned into illegal structures overnight. Since 2014, the government’s Buildings Department has removed nearly 7,000 “dangerous advertising signs,” many of them neon. (Yang, 2022)

 

Producing Methods

Nowadays neon signs are very uncommon in Hong Kong, only in Mongkok, Yau Ma Tei in the Kowloon area. Therefore, I visited these places at night. Most of the footage in the video was shot at night, as Hong Kong at night is bustling and captivating with colorful, warm atmosphere, traditional memories and endless possibilities. Walking around Hong Kong at night is always like being in a Wong Kar Wai film, it feels like a kind of spiritual healing, and you can’t help but pick up your mobile phone to capture the beautiful and bustling night scene.

Montage is a cinematic editing method utilized to condense spatial, temporal, and informational elements through the arrangement of a sequence of brief clips. Through the juxtaposition of various shots, reduction of editing duration, or intertwining of multiple narratives, montage has the capability to effectively communicate a substantial amount of information to viewers within a brief timeframe (Fernando, 2017). Since its inception, montage has been regarded as the main tool for constructing audiovisual narratives and activating the audience’s emotional response.

In the video I made, I stitched together the neon signs I photographed on Portland Street to create a more complete neighborhood. I also referenced scenes from the film Ghost in the Shell(2017), comparing the Hong Kong shown with the Hong Kong set in the film, and in one of the clips it was similar to a scene from the film Little Cheung(1999), so I overlapped them and crossed them to form a cross montage.

 

Conclusion

As more cost-effective alternatives to neon such as LEDs became available, large manufacturers gave way to the few remaining craftsmen. But as directors like Wong Kar-Wai and Ridley Scott immortalized Hong Kong’s unparalleled urban landscape in their films, a new generation of artists, designers and historians are doing their best to keep neon’s glow alive.

These figures shows that the classical Cyberpunk film Ghost in the Shell were shotted in Hong Kong

Word Count: 914

Reference:

Tong, J.C.K. et al., (2022) Light pollution spatial impact assessment in Hong Kong: Measurement and numerical modeling on commercial lights at street level, Science of The Total Environment, 837, p. 155681. doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.155681.

Wai,D., (2023) What is the future of Hong Kong’s neon signs? Government rules, safety concerns causing them to fade. https://www.scmp.com/yp/discover/news/hong-kong/article/3217866/hot-topics-what-future-hong-kongs-neon-signs-government-rules-safety-concerns-causing-them-fade

Fernando, M.M.L. (2017) Editing and montage in international film and video: Theory and technique. New York, NY: Routledge.

Yang, N. (2022) Hong Kong’s neon in new art form, The Young Reporter. Available at: https://tyr-jour.hkbu.edu.hk/2022/12/05/hong-kongs-neon-in-new-art-form/

 

Film Resource:

Little Cheung (1999)

Ghosh in the Shell (2017)