Title: Linked City
Director: LI XIANG
The Theme Of The Video
Italian cartoonist Makkox said, ” balconies were the first social media.” A balcony is a part of a private space lying between the inner space of your house and the public area of the city. The balcony weakens the boundaries between private and public. In this video, I mainly focus on the function of the balcony in connecting personal space and public space and how it provides a new social contact method in the post-pandemic era.
The main logical flow of choosing the places is from a single person’s perspective to the city’s perspective. I select my balcony and the surrounding balconies as my study target. The purpose of selecting the surrounding environment is to discuss the function of the balcony from the perspective of one individual ordinary resident. The city is a combination of individual people. I choose a video clip that shows a group of university students using the balcony to communicate with each other. And when the protagonist watches the video as an outsider, his perspective is the same as the city’s perspective.
The video can be mainly divided into three parts. The first part focus on what we receive from the public space on our balcony. The second part explains how balconies impact the surrounding public area. The last part discusses the balcony’s function of connecting private and public spaces. By linking private and public, it achieves the function of connecting private space. Thus the whole city is linked.
Filming Techniques
The video clips are mainly filmed from a third-person perspective to give the audience a clear view of the whole scene. A narrator is added to the film. The narrator is the protagonist’s own account, and I use it to guide audiences into the role of the protagonist. Following the mind flow of the protagonist, the audience touches on the function balcony plays in our city. I used the first-person perspective to film the scene on my neighbors’ balconies to restore the balcony in the eyes of the protagonist.
In the last scene, I gave the computer screen a close-up from near to far, emphasizing that the main subject of the scene is the content on the computer screen. During the whole filming process, I avoided using fragmented video clips to make my video essay more consistent.
Research and Reflection
The history of the balcony can be traced back to ancient Greece, 2000 years ago. At that time balcony was simply a structure designed for cooling and ventilation. As time elapses, the function of the balcony is gradually diversified. It first serves as the function of social status. During the Renaissance, people focus more on the aesthetic purpose of the balcony. (J.J.Frappa,1917) After that, in the Baroque period, the balcony’s balustrade was decorated particularly complex. Nowadays, owning a balcony is still the symbol of a good life. The report from Chung Yim Yiu shows that a balcony positively affects house property prices. (Chung Yim Yiu, 2004) Due to the limited available space and the increasing population, the balcony ownership rate of Hong Kong residents is still kept at a low level. To satisfy the function of showing social status, it indicates balcony’s another function of connection. Only when the balcony becomes a part of the public space can it reveal the social status of its owner.
Due to the effect of the pandemic, people are restricted in their place, which makes the use of balconies increase. (Dicle Aydin, 2021) Balconies provide a transition zone, allowing people to enjoy the surrounding environment without actually hanging out. It enriches the layers of the city. However, the exposal of private space may cause the destruction of the urban landscape. Many cities released relevant rules to constrain the article displayed on the balcony. How to strike a balance between privacy and the public is still a social issue.
LI XIANG 3035773084
Reference:
《成都临街阳台不得堆放影响市容的物品》https://www.sohu.com/a/72922390_120237
《玉泉区本级权责清单》http://www.yuquan.gov.cn/yfxz/qzqd/jdxz/zjljd/202107/t20210702_999068.html
Matteo Origoni, A brief history of the balcony , from ancient Persia to the COVID-19 pandemic:
https://www.domusweb.it/en/architecture/2020/04/03/a-brief-history-of-the-balcony-from-ancient-persia-to-the-covid-19-pandemic.html
Kwong Wing Chau, Siu Kei Wong, Chung Yim Yiu ,The value of the provision of a balcony in apartments in Hong Kong
https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/02637470410545020/full/pdf?title=the-value-of-the-provision-of-a-balcony-in-apartments-in-hong-kong
Dicle Aydin, Gevher Sayar,Questioning the use of the balcony in apartments during the COVID-19 pandemic process
https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/ARCH-09-2020-0202/full/pdf?title=questioning-the-use-of-the-balcony-in-apartments-during-the-covid-19-pandemic-process
I really appreciate your background music, it is very appropriate in this case. I also like the way you describe the datails of your neighbour’s balcony. It seems that every one of it is featured and it can always evoke my thinking. Your filming techniques in this video inspired me a lot!
I really like the part of your opening introduction that introduces your theme by shooting a very life-like scene: the balcony is a place that connects the different tenants. This introduction is very natural and attractive. And I also like your narration, the proper explanation will make me follow what you want to convey better. The part about using a video from the computer to introduce someone’s balcony is very creative and provides the audience with a completely different perspective.
I really like your idea that balcony serve as the bridge connecting public space and private space. During quarantine, balcony is the only medium which can get contact with outside. Your method of showing your idea is to look at other’s balcony,which just like the movie we talked in the tutorial. Overall, It is an excellent video. A little suggestion for you is that you can check your subtitle after finishing editing the video.
The video adopts a novel shooting method, which follows the perspective of the protagonist. It also gives a more relaxed feeling to the audience. The overall rhythm of the video is well grasped, and it is very life-like.
It seems that you have gathered many ways of seeing and using the balcony. Yet I wonder how you define balcony? In your observations of your neighbors, it seems that it is just a view through their windows instead of their balcony. The balcony is a space that is partly outdoor. Other than that, I appreciate your attempt to understand others’ lives through voyeuring them in your home. How could you further explore the saying, “Balconies were the first social media”?