[Video Essay] Disappearing City

Description

When I encounter the theme of MTR passages, my thought immediately drifts to the concept of the liminal space, the space in between, in transition. These are the places people pass by so often that their sole purpose is to be passed through. Nobody pays attention to a waiting room, a staircase, a corridor, or a metro platform. But the liminal space concept is precisely studying the rational part of these architectural spaces, now without any existence of lifeforms, and attempting to bring out the irrational feelings of melancholy, claustrophobia, or nostalgia these spaces give us.

I found this idea of liminal space within the metro a particular match with the concept of disappearing cities, where modernity has caused the identity of cities to become homogenized, diluted, and broken down. All modern cities now seem to follow the same formula of expansion and urban sprawl. The modern metro system, especially in Hong Kong, shares similar attributes of expansion and homogenous designs.

Thus, there were 2 things I wanted to explore in the video, 1) after we strip away the color, can these spaces still be separated from one another, or has their uniqueness really disappeared into obscurity, and 2) after pulling out the existence of people in these footages, as if humanity has already perished, from the perspective of these metro spaces, what meanings of existence are left?

These passage spaces that no one bats an eye on have served us without complaint for decades. Millenia later, will they feel lonely, or still remember the once existence of humanity at all?

Method

Research

I gathered information about the Liminal Space concept online. As it is not a scientifically proven phenomenon, but rather a niche internet topic, where people commonly feel a sense of uneasiness when looking at images of this style, I had to use my own interpretation to conjure up a definition of this concept.

Filming

I filmed about 10 different MTR stations at the time of the first train, so as to minimize commuters present in these spaces and get a shot of empty spaces usually packed with people (like the Central station platform). The entire process of gathering footage took 4 days.

Editing

I was very selective with the footage or image I wanted to feature, I especially picked the ones I thought to be either 1) aesthetically pleasing regarding the composition or the lighting, or 2) especially aesthetically unpleasant in a way that brings a sense of discomfort to me. The latter can be due to the weird angle of the shot, unconventional subject (e.g. recycling bins near the entrance gates), or the floor taking up a large portion of the image, creating a feeling of oppression.

The video was split into three sections: 1) before entering the metro station, where all is bright, open, and colorful; 2) a sudden, almost disjoint descent into the metro liminal space, with black-and-white and high contrast visuals to distinctly separate itself from the scenery above ground-level; and 3) a shift of style, bringing back color but putting the emphasis on building uneasiness (or even an unsettling vibe) through low contrast and a faded film grain effect. 

To maximize the impact these visuals bring to the audience and hopefully truly be able to convey the sense of the liminal space, I intentionally adopted a restrained minimalist editing style. Jarring cuts from one image to the other were used occasionally to throw the audience off, preventing them from becoming accustomed and less sensitive too quickly. 

Narration

I mimicked the style of popular film video essay Youtubers like nerdwriter1 in terms of the way of conveying an idea, the wording choices, and the intonation. The ability to portray certain emotions through a pathos approach was emphasized. To further build on the strangeness and unsettling feeling at around 1:35, I murmured “have we been here before?” and applied a voice changer effect to emulate the distance echoes sometimes heard in one’s nightmares.

Music

I chose The Caretaker’s auditory experiments uploaded to Youtube for the majority of background music. He is famous for creating soundscapes with heavy edits and distortions of 20-century ballroom music to the extent they are incomprehensible, extremely fragmented, and highly repetitive in an attempt to investigate the consciousness and memories of people, which I found incredibly suitable for the context of my video.

*All footages, images, and narration are original content

Ka Hang, Liu 3035939781