[Video Essay] Control City

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Title: Control city

Given site: housing estate

video link:https://youtu.be/rM8LneHHUNM

The city I studied is my hometown, Chang Chun, the capital city of Jilin province in northeast China. Chang Chun has been suffering from Covid-19 since early March. Since then, the entire city has been locked down for the first time, and all residents are not allowed to go out of their housing estates. This particular situation gives me a chance to study Chang Chun during the pandemic era from the perspective of the housing estate where I am living. My housing estate was built in 2000 containing approximately 2500 residents. There are adequate infrastructures in the housing estate, such as slides and swings, a basketball court, and a grocery store. 

In this video, the theme I want to show is “life can be controlled, but not our love for life.” According to this theme, my video has two parts: one shows people’s lives are controlled, and the other reveals people’s love for life no matter what situation they are experiencing. On the one hand, our daily life is heavily influenced during a lockdown: children are not allowed to play on slides and swings; residents are not allowed to walk around downstairs; at the same time, all people are forced to do the nucleic acid tests nearly every day. To show this “control” of residents’ life, I include components such as swings with no one playing on, several empty streets, and going downstairs to do nucleic acid tests repeatedly in the first part of the video. On the other hand, life still goes on. For example, even though all supermarkets and shopping malls are closed, people can still find particular shopping ways during this pandemic situation. I include this scene in the second part of the video, where foods are put in several boxes lining a specific region. People are separated by safe distance, waiting in extremely long lines to pick up goods. Besides, I include the scene when night arrives, and the sun rises, which shows that life is still going on no matter how tough the situation and hope will eventually come. To sum up, this video is not only aimed at documenting the housing estate that has been locked down, but it also shows people’s love for life, which encourages the audience, especially those struggling with their lives, to find the beauty of their own lives. 

I used first-hand observing and interviewing methods when conducting the research. Besides, I also researched online for relevant references. It is my personal experience to be locked down in my housing estate. Every scene in the first part of my video is what I have experienced since early March. Apart from first-hand observation, I interviewed my neighbors about their feelings during the pandemic. To my surprise, though they complained about the inconvenience of being locked down, most of them are still trying to live their everyday life. They are always trying their best to reduce the adverse effects of covid on them. Their attitudes towards the situation inspire the idea of my second part of the video: no matter what circumstances people encounter, they can always find a way to make their lives back track. 

When producing the video, I used methods of comparing and contrasting and adjusting the color of frames. Besides, I also incorporate some photographic skills, including time-lapse photography, speeding up, and speeding down. At the beginning of the video, I compared two photographs of the same place to show the long duration we have been locked down: one was photographed after snowing, and the other was photographed in spring. After each nucleic acid test scene, I embedded contrasts footages to show that the degree of control increased as time passed. Firstly, residents are not permitted to play on infrastructures like swings anymore, and then they are even not allowed to walk around the streets in the housing estate. The frames change from colorful to dim ones, revealing the differences in the same place before and after control. The second part begins with playing the piano, and I perform the background music for this part. I chose this melody because I felt like being immersed in stars and hope when I first listened to it. This feeling corresponds to what I want to express in the second part. Speeding-up skill is used in the scene when people are lining up to buy food to show the long line. Furthermore, speeding-down skill is used in the scene where a man is running. This skill creates a romantic feeling that the man is running to the night. 

This is the first time I have tried to make a video by myself and the first time I have used filmmaking software. I did not know what to do and where to start initially, but when I thoroughly forced myself to think about what I wanted to express in the video, I finally came up with some ideas. I cannot say this was an entirely enjoyable process, but the most meaningful thing is that I have learned many skills when producing the videos, such as photographing, editing, and adding scripts. Besides, the process dramatically enhances my problem-solving and critical-thinking skills.

Lin Ruqi  UID: 3035951739

3 thoughts on “[Video Essay] Control City”

  1. JingfengNie  says:

    I also love the melody of your music, can really feel the stars and hope, what a great musical performance! I understand your content, because I also have friends who live in the mainland. Under the epidemic, the city’s life is controlled on the one hand, and on the other hand, it cannot stop people’s love for life, which reminds me of the sentence “Even if you are already in a quagmire, Still looking up at the sea of stars.” I think there are many very real life details in your video, whether it is the impact of the epidemic on the way people get along or people’s response to the epidemic. You define the subject very clearly, so your film is very organized. You will bring out the theme through various contrasts. I also like your footage of the men in black running, and with the surrounding scenery, it makes me feel like I’m in the scene and feel that life is beautiful. The last shot of the two children is also very good and life-like.

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  2. NatalieGusawir  says:

    I love the scene that you are walking on the stairs. The loud stepping sound shows how people are losing their patience when we are living with covid for too long. And when you are repeatedly using that screen it shows how people’s life is repeating during covid time. I also like the way you changed the mood of your film that is brings hope to people who are still fighting with covid. The use of music and colour tone has definitely helped to create the contrast between the first part and second part of your video.

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  3. Tsz HamCheung  says:

    I really liked the pacing and background sound effects throughout the video. I went through a similar quarantine during the fifth wave of the epidemic in Hong Kong. After watching your video, it really resonated with me. For example, the repetitive queuing procedure in the first half of the video and the contrast of the neighborhood from bustling to quiet were experienced over and over again for almost six months. Not only that, but in terms of sound, your quick footsteps in the film embody the feeling of people being nervous in the midst of an epidemic. Last but not least, the piano sound and the sports scenes at the end of the film are full of hope which highlight the whole video!

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