Title: Disappearing City
DaEun Lee
BGM: Everywhere at the end of time
Floor Plan:
Transcript:
a) Theme
The main theme of the video is disappearing meaning of campus/classroom. In the time of pandemic, majority of universities are forced to be closed and e-learning is the main source of university experiences for students. However, due to the lengthening period of shutdown, students start to forget their experiences at the campus. Especially for freshmen there are numerous things that they have never experienced or even never been to the campus yet. While we are provided with full time online lectures, the true meaning of classes slowly disappears. Campus/classrooms are the place where education is provided, knowledge is created and new relationships begin. They provide exclusive experience and sense of belonging as well as motivation for students. On the other hand, disconnected from the place that has a significant meaning as a part of university, students slowly starts to forget where we are: we are students of HKU and study in HKU but at our own space. Than what is going on in the campuses that are not in use? Does it return to its original state? Just a block of building? If a place (or building) gets abandoned for a while, its meaning disappears and it returns to a space. The disappearance of its meaning would also mean disappearance of history that existed within that building. This video conveys the fear of disappearing our memory of campus/classes due to school shutdowns.
b) Method of research, documentation and making of the video.
The research for this project was conducted through using various articles. I first started to gather some data about how universities are coping with the pandemic then looked up for personal experiences from students. In addition to these researches, I also took into consideration reading assignments that I read and tried to substitute into my specific scenario. Then, I searched for a specific technique to convey the main theme of the short film using what we have learnt in the lecture to intensify the effect: chiaroscuro. Finally I created a virtual set construction in order to create scenes.
c) Objectives and reflections.
The main goal of this short video is to remind us all that architecture itself does not have a meaning but space and time defines it. In the time of pandemic, as we shifted from offline classes to online platforms, those became our new ‘campus’ while the original place is forgotten and slowly loses its meaning. However the experience that these buildings provide us is more than valuable and this is why I decided to project shutdowns as a horrifying experience.
As a person who have never been to a campus, it was quite hard to make a video with a given topic (university/campus). However, through talking about a topic that I personally experience too, it became easier to understand what I want to present through the medium of film. Overall, it was a very new and challenging experience to have but I enjoyed the process since it definitely did deepen my knowledge.
References:
Abbas, M. A. (1997). Hong Kong: Culture and the politics of disappearance (pp. 63- 90). Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press.
“10 Biggest Disadvantages of E-Learning: E-Student.” E, April 11, 2021. https://e-student.org/disadvantages-of-e-learning/.
21, Chloe LaneUpdated March, and Written byChloe LaneA Content Writer for TopUniversities.com. “Life as a First Year Student During COVID-19.” Top Universities. Accessed May 17, 2021. https://www.topuniversities.com/student-info/health-support/life-first-year-student-during-covid-19.
Bolatov, Aidos K., Telman Z. Seisembekov, Altynay Zh. Askarova, Raushan K. Baikanova, Dariga S. Smailova, and Elisa Fabbro. “Online-Learning Due to COVID-19 Improved Mental Health Among Medical Students.” Medical Science Educator. Springer US, November 18, 2020. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40670-020-01165-y.
Writers, Staff. “The College Freshman Experience During COVID-19: BestColleges.” BestColleges.com. BestColleges.com, November 2, 2020. https://www.bestcolleges.com/blog/covid-19-student-interview/.
Image citations: at the end of the video
DaEun Lee, 3035829522
Commenting on – creativity and content
At a glance this is certainly one of the more aggressively creative videos produced. I really enjoyed your grim personal take on your unfortunate inability to spend time/experience the University campus. Considering your circumstances the location assignment must have been tough to get started on initially but the overcoming of the challenge to produce something meaningfully personal about your “experience” with the campus was really cool to see and read about.
Visual design and contents
i really like the look of the classroom. the music and the color of the classroom gives me a horror feeling. and i really agree with you that the pandemic makes us slowly forget about that the meaning of having a real campus instead of zoom. while the disappearance of attending the actual school does not mean the learning purpose of a college disappear, at this hard time we all try so hard to get back to the campus because f2f teaching is so much better and zoom often feels horrible because we never see each other’s faces. great presentation overall
I enjoy the extremely experimental video. All aspects are addressed and displayed with insightful depth. It demonstrates a good understanding of and the ability to apply and synthesise research, concepts and key issues relating to a well-identified topic. You were able to clearly identify the most critical aspects of the theme/place and present a well-articulated analysis and original interpretation of the topic. The suspense and atmospheric creation are very successful; it is highly innovative in regard to methodologies and use of research and/or fieldwork materials. You also maintained an excellent control of techniques and organisation of the form/content and narration. The dystopic sound effects are provoking which led viewers to reflect upon the increasing obsolescence of the campus / classroom post-pandemic. The written articulation are of satisfactory academic standard, and well integrated into the overall presentation.