Floor Plan:
Video:
Script:
Cat: Hello, my name is Cherry, and I’m the boss of this house, nonono, not this man, is me.
(enter title –Her—What’s in the cat’s mind?)
Cat: Lately, there has been an epidemic outbreak of a terrible disease.
(zoom in tv)
Cat: Hmm.. What’s the name? what’s the name again?
(tv showing coronavirus)
Cat: Oh Yeah, the coronavirus thing. Many humans die, pretty sad.
(Human opens door)
Cat: A lot of habits of humans are changed. They seldom go out.
Cat:Even when they go out, they wear this ugly, powerful ‘weapon’.
(human washing hands, peaking angel to toilet)
Cat: You see, this lazy girl is paying attention to her personal hygiene. Hmm, this virus is truly a big deal.
Cat: oookkkk! Now here’s a real big deal. Since these humans work from home, they spend more time occupying my sofa, my bed! My chair!
(human dance in front of the cat, blocking her from watching tv)
Cat: You block my TV!! They are invading my house. And obviously this! is a genuine crisis!!!!
Cat: But…my humans are actually nice and rational.
Cat: I know many of my friends were abandoned during this difficult time as their owners lost jobs and were economically incapable to take care of them, or even some believe that pets spread viruses.
Cat: My humans never do these horrible things to me. They are gooood.
(Human struggles to put mask on cat)
Cat: Can I take my words back?
Cat: The atmosphere is more heartwarming recently. My humans spend more time with each other.
Cat: And most importantly, there are more smiles in this house. I love smiles.
Cat: Well, I guess though this novel virus is bad, it still brings something positive. Humans are changing owing to this crisis. Like more adoption since the abandoned pets increased, and the ban of eating cats and dogs. Once humans can get through the coronavirus, the world can become a better place.
Description:
My video is presented in forms of allegory. The main character in my video is a cat, whose thoughts will be unveiled through the narration. Expressing the cat’s opinions on the coronavirus crisis, the video adopts the cat’s perspective in both filming angels and content. The main message of the video is to show how humans change in this coronavirus, as well as raising the awareness of animal rights. There have been more abandoned pets after the virus outbreak (Lockett, 2020). The epidemic virus does not only harm humans but also brings problems to the animals, and people should know about it. However, at the end of the video, positive news on how humans reflect and amend are included, yielding a hopeful ending.
Reference
Bangkok Post Public Company Limited. (n.d.). Shenzhen bans eating of cats and dogs after coronavirus. Retrieved from https://www.bangkokpost.com/world/1891715/shenzhen-bans-eating-of-cats-and-dogs-after-coronavirus
Ellis, E. G. (n.d.). Thanks to Sheltering in Place, Animal Shelters Are Empty. Retrieved from https://www.wired.com/story/coronavirus-pet-adoption-boom/
Erskine, C. (2020, April 2). The latest shortage? Dogs and cats, as folks foster and adopt pets during quarantine. Retrieved from https://news.yahoo.com/latest-shortage-dogs-cats-folks-100016508.html
Humane Society International, Afp, & Getty Images. (2020, February 4). Thousands of abandoned pets could starve to death amid coronavirus crisis. Retrieved from https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/coronavirus-thousands-abandoned-pet-dogs-21425449
Lockett, J. (2020, March 15). Cats and dogs abandoned in Wuhan at the start of coronavirus outbreak now starving or being killed off. Retrieved from https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/11177256/cats-and-dogs-wuhan-executed/
Pets in Middle East abandoned over coronavirus fears. (2020, April 13). Retrieved from https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-middle-east-52234128/pets-in-middle-east-abandoned-over-coronavirus-fears
Sue Surkes (2020, March 29), More pets abandoned, and more adopted, since coronavirus outbreak. Retrieved from https://www.timesofisrael.com/more-pets-abandoned-and-more-adopted-since-coronavirus-outbreak/
Chan Hiu Yan (3035716244)
Interesting idea to show how the sight of a cat will be when COVID-19 appears. The shooting angle is mostly the first eyesight, this is very proper for showing the sight of the cat, as the low angle shooting is totally different from our eyesight in our daily lives, I feel funny when watching your video. And the keynote of the story is not sad or nervous, this is different from other videos talking about COVID-19, and I think this kind of story is more attractive to me.
Hi! Hiu Yan~I really appreciate your creativity in choosing a special, novel, and interesting perspective to look at the COVID-19. I love it so much! I can see that you precisely considered and imagined the emotions and thoughts of a cat towards the COVID-19 and presented the mindset of the cat in a vivid way. Moreover, you also refer to the current condition of increasing pet adoption rate and the ban of animal-eating that raises people’s attention to the latest issue related to the animal. I also noticed your efforts in changing the camera positions so as to imitate the vision of the cat. The overall impression of the video is heart-warming and positive. Well done! The cat is really cute which makes me melted.
Hello! I think it is really creative of you to film the essay from the cat’s point of view. This is a very unusual angle and intrigued me. Unlike human beings, cats always stay at home even before the outbreak of coronavirus, thus from a cat’s angle, I think you convey how the home has changed after the outbreak of coronavirus. I also like the another issue u choose to present in your essay about the infection and adoption of pets. Since your main character is a cat, it is interesting to see what the other stakeholders, other than human beings think of these issues. Since the essay is short, I think it would be great if you focus more on the pets-coronavirus related issue since they are very specific to your main character. Anyways, I still like your choice of character and issue.
What an interesting take on the COVID-19 isolation experience! Love it! I appreciated your use of the first-person perspective of your cat, it brings a fresh angle about this whole situation! The use of simple language and a lively and quirky tone during the narration adds to your positive perspective, I can understand your thoughts about it. Pets are often ignored or forgotten during these trying times and your video shines a light on it. By creating an entertaining narrative, I think you have won over the audience to your side, pets shouldn’t be abandoned and should be protected. I would make some slight changes to your video, maybe include lower angled shots and camera movements to mimic a cat’s perspective better. I would also create more of a narrative in the cats daily routine (e.g. breakfast or nap time) and see how they are affected since humans are always at home. Overall great video! Keep up the good work!
P.S. I burst out laughing when I saw your cat’s paw on the mouse.
I also don’t think that your video title reflects the content. Maybe call it something quirky, like Pawrantine? Just a thought.
It’s fun to look from the cat’s perspective, cat seems to be curious as large blink eyes, also the ‘let me alone’ characteristics .
You have presented her a vivid and sometimes ignoring character, through ‘ugly’ but i’m not quite sure why you describe it as weapon?
Through her eyes, reflect some changes of personal habitat, washing hands, people become closer, is a good thing, generate a energetic emotion toward life in the crisis. Families do get together, and have to face the hardship together, that’s a good thing . The thing is I don’t think cats could understand words, but that’s not a big issue.
Perhaps the film all about the interior, is any thing that through her eyes would see something different in the exterior world, through windows or corridor , than the computer or TV?
Anyway, your video is entertaining, funny scripts, people facial expression and interactions. lol wish you’d stay healthy throughout the pandemic.
As an allegorical piece that questions changes in human behaviour and attitude towards domestic pets and the issue of animal rights/abuse, this video submission a good beginning point to explore these ideas. Appreciate the experimentation with camera and editing techniques, especially attempting shooting from POV of the cat. In terms of content, your video has the potential to develop into a stronger narrative with the same thesis – that examines more in-depth the changes in attitude towards animal rights/abuse within the domestic space. It was also not too clear in the video that raising awareness of animal rights was one of the focus. Furthermore, what is currently lacking from your allegory is an insightful commentary on the interior space. This is crucial as it relates to our course topic of “architecture” and film. Currently, aside from being shot from the interior of a home it is not made clear how your video relates to the course. It would be helpful to see in your writing also, considerations of the space. You may bring in texts from the course reading as references for this.
As for references, please double-check before final submission. There are a few mistakes that could have been avoided, including:
(1) Citing the original publication source: Bangkok Post (original source is REUTERS); Yahoo news (original source is LA Times)
(2) The Mirror and The Sun are both tabloid newspaper companies and should not be mistaken as reliable news. More creditable sources would be Reuters, BBC, Financial Times, New York Times, SCMP, etc.
(3) Your cited BBC and Times of Israel articles focus on the Middle East, a curious geographical scope considering you are located in Hong Kong. Why did you look into this area?
(4) The Wired online article does have a date and is stated on the website. Please correct this on your citation.