Video: https://youtu.be/EAhGs2UtPqQ?si=lZN2yc4YkAg0pRCZ
This video aims to discover the history of neon signage in Hong Kong. In the first part of the video, I have showed some of the photos of Nathan Road and Portland Street at 1950s to 1980s, which is the heyday of neon signage in Hong Kong, to introduce the gorgeous image of the street at night when neon signage was still common to the audience so as to compare with the street view nowadays. In the second part of the video, I have showed the street view in Mong Kok nowadays to show that neon signage is already hard to see in Hong Kong. Then, I pointed out the reason for this phenomenon is because of the policies that issued by the government in 2010 to protect public safety by removing unauthorized signage on the street. At end of the video, I talked about the current methods to protect the neon signage in Hong Kong, which is collected by non-profit organization and became exhibit. In the beginning of the video, I putted a video of a building that covered with neon signage in Portland Street because it looks pretty similar to the street view in 1980s. I want to let the audience can have a rough image of the street in Hong Kong that back to the heyday of neon signage, also, it can work as a intro of the first part of the video. After the first part, I putted a time-lapse video of traffic in order to be a metaphor of time fly and link up the two parts of the video, which is about the past and present. In the second part, I putted a video of the street view in Portland Street nowadays to provide a first person view of the street view to the audience in order to let them notice the difference of the street in the past and present.
To collect more firsthand information of neon signage in Hong Kong, I conducted fieldwork in Mong Kok for three times. At the first time, I joined the field trip of this course. We visited the shooting site of the movie ‘Little Cheung’ by Fruit Chan. Follow to Noella, we walked through the Portland Street area. By the description of Noella, I can imagine the street view of Portland Street a few decades ago in my mind. After this field trip, I have a much deeper understanding of Hong Kong in the past. It gave me some different point of view to construct my video essay that I did not think about it before. At the second time, I went back to Portland Street to take some footage for my video essay. Without the restriction of the other participants of the field trip, I can slow my past down and have my observation thoroughly. I have taken many photos of the street view nowadays in order to make comparison to the street view in the heyday of neon signage in my video essay. But I found a serious problem in this field work. It is hard to identify LED signage and neon signage. It may affect the accuracy of my video essay. To overcome this problem, I have conducted some online research of it. I learned that the best way to spot the difference of LED and neon is to observe it with angle. LED lights may appear brighter when viewed head-on, but dimmer when viewed with angle as they are a directional light source. On the other hand, the brightness of neon lights would not change even viewed with different angle because they are a 360-degree light source. Beside visiting Portland Street, I also visited Temple Street and Nathan Road to get more information for my research. After this field work, I found that the remaining neon signage on the street is much lesser than I think before. That encourage me to conduct more research on the protection of neon signage. At the third time, I went back to the Portland Street area. This time I am focusing on shooting some useful and meaningful footage for my video essay. I want to let the audience can have a more comprehensive view about the situation of neon signage in Hong Kong, so I have taken many photos and videos of the street view of Portland Street. At the same time, to represent the street view of the heyday of neon signage, I have found a building that cover with signage and took many photos and videos of it.
Bibliography
Art and Culture. (n.d.). 香港的霓虹燈招牌—過去和現在. https://artsandculture.google.com/story/ogWRMXUKqUGzJg
The Guardian. (2023). Fading glory: the fight to save Hong Kong’s beloved neon signs. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/apr/08/fading-glory-the-fight-to-save-hong-kongs-beloved-neon-signs
TimeOut. (2022). A look into neon signs, the shining legacy of Hong Kong. https://www.timeout.com/hong-kong/art/a-look-into-neon-signs-the-shining-legacy-of-hong-kong
Chan Ka Chun 3036086945
You have effectively used visuals and fieldwork to provide a comprehensive view of neon light. The inclusion of photos from the 1950s to 1980s, depicting the heyday of neon signage, serves as a captivating introduction and allows the audience to compare the past with the present. Yet, understanding the introduction of history must include the old photo, I think that your original footage maybe too little as only include ~30s. Although the neon lights on Portland Street have almost disappeared, some neon signs can still be seen elsewhere. Maybe it would be better to take some shots and let the audience take a closer look.
I like your video design, the overall structure is very clear. Especially the background blurb before the start of each video. The background music is also good for each photo and theme.