Hybrid City; Directed by Lu Liyu, 2022.
Shenyang Imperial Palace, Dadong District, Shenyang
Link: https://youtu.be/jP-R1HQMSME
Because of the epidemic, most of spring is spent at home. I went out in search of green once the community was unblocked, hoping to catch the last end of spring. On my trip to the Imperial Palace, I came across a different sort of green by chance. This unique colour from the Imperial Palace’s roof reminded me of spring. Then, I want to interpret my topic – “rooftop” with the most historical and architectural building in my city.
Shenyang Imperial Palace, also known as Shengjing Imperial Palace, was erected in 1625 by Nurhachi (1559-1626), the first king of the Hun of Jin State (built in 1616), and then expanded by Huangtaiji (1592-1643), Nurhachi’s son and successor, before they reached the hinterland China and formed the Qing Dynasty. Shenyang Imperial Palace is China’s most ancient imperial architectural complex, second only to Beijing’s Forbidden City in terms of historical and artistic worth (Candice, 2022). Glazed tiles are those that have been glazed in a variety of colors and fired at higher temperatures. It is a common construction material in China and colored lead glazes, including as golden yellow, emerald, green, and turquoise, are commonly used and it has long been the pride of construction materials due to its durable components, vibrant colors, and flawless glazing (琉璃瓦的种类琉璃瓦的优点特点, 2022). Interestingly, the rooftops of the Dazheng Hall, Chongzheng Hall and most of the halls in the Imperial Palace, is covered by yellow glazed tiles edged with a green border (Shenyang Imperial Palace, 2022). There are several beliefs concerning green glazed tiles on rooftops, however it is usually accepted that yellow glazed tiles are reserved for the royal family, whereas green glazed tiles are commonly utilized by princes and concubines. As a result, the hue symbolizes the grade. Traditional Chinese architecture uses the “cut edge” motif. In truth, the Shenyang Imperial Palace employed yellow glazed tiles in its early days, but Emperor Qianlong eventually went to Beijing and “downgraded” the Shenyang Forbidden City in this fashion (沈阳故宫屋顶为何用绿剪边黄瓦，而不是用全黄琉璃瓦, 2022).
First, after recording process, I follow the steps below to edit my video (Aldredge, 2022).
- Assembly stage (or a pre-edit)
- Editing stage
- Color correction and grading stage
- Sound editing and design stage
- Formatting and export stage
To keep the initial portion of the shot to the Imperial Palace in Shenyang from being too long, several quick cuts were done to shorten the time and engage the audience through the changing scenery along the journey. The first portion was shot in a car and edited quickly to match the speed of the motion. The next portion was shot entirely on foot. A long shot was employed to follow the notion of clip-matching motion as in the previous section, therefore there were multiple long shots throughout the video, creating a movement contrast with the previous clip (Medium Long Shot: Everything You Need to Know – NFI, 2022). After that, the first-person subjective long shot successfully immerses the spectator (14 Basic Cinematography & Film Techniques for Better Cinematic Shots, 2022). At the same time, some close-ups of buildings are alternated between the long views to keep the long shots from becoming monotonous due to the lack of noticeable changes. When photographing the gate of the Imperial Palace, a tilt shot was used, and I slowly coordinate the careful upward camera movement to top of the gate. It may be used as a wide-angle establishing shot and for gradually exposing more critical details at the end.
Then, after entering the Imperial Palace, I used a series of close-up shots of buildings to bring the audience through a fast tour of the Imperial Palace from a first-person perspective, paving the way to emphasize the importance and prestige of the roof for the duration of the film (Dyksterhouse, 2022). The process of exploring and discovering the rooftop is shown in this subjective long shot, giving the rooftop view a feeling of surprise. The shot here is also a tilt shot. To match the motion imitation throughout the filming, several quick edits were employed to paint the colour of the Imperial Palace roof. The use of quick editing in the process of filming to get the same colour represents the delight of discovering the hard work after many efforts and failures. As I followed the regulation of editing, which is choosing the clips that show the essential action (Aldredge, 2022). The search procedure is abandoned in the video, leaving just the comparison process to refine the footage. Because the exploration and discovery process took several days and the shooting took place in two days, the weather elements were inconsistent, and the style and lighting of the video could not be unified, so after editing the video, I planned to use color correction to optimize the footage so any added visual effects (VFX) blend in as seamlessly as possible in order to accentuate the mood of the video and the desired mood (Color Correcting vs. Color Grading: Understanding Film Coloring, 2022).
Finally, when I found and hung the Imperial Palace color pieces on the tree, I used a long lens and progressively zoomed out towards the end, so that the color card and the leaves were combined. So far, the main purpose of this video is expressed: to bring the fragments of spring hidden in the Imperial Palace to the world.
— Lu, Liyu 3035946291
Reference:
Candice, S., 2022. Shenyang Imperial Palace, Shengjing Imperial Palace. [online] Chinahighlights.com. Available at:
< https://www.chinahighlights.com/shenyang/attraction/shenyang-imperial-palace.htm > [Accessed 5 May 2021].
En.chinaculture.org. 2022. Shenyang Imperial Palace. [online] Available at: <http://en.chinaculture.org/library/2008-02/15/content_34619.htm> [Accessed 13 May 2022].
住范儿. 2022. 琉璃瓦的种类琉璃瓦的优点特点. [online] Available at: <https://www.zhufaner.com/q-rfppydc9u2cpp2.html> [Accessed 14 March 2019].
每日头条. 2022. 沈阳故宫屋顶为何用绿剪边黄瓦，而不是用全黄琉璃瓦. [online] Available at: <https://kknews.cc/other/bmqjy9j.html> [Accessed 25 July 2019].
NFI. 2022. Medium Long Shot: Everything You Need to Know – NFI. [online] Available at: <https://www.nfi.edu/medium-long-shot/>.
42 WEST. 2022. 14 Basic Cinematography & Film Techniques for Better Cinematic Shots. [online] Available at: <https://www.adorama.com/alc/14-basic-cinematography-techniques-for-better-cinematic-shots/#Long-shot> [Accessed 6 May 2022].
Aldredge, J., 2022. The Basics of Film Editing (and How to Edit a Movie). [online] Soundstripe.com. Available at: <https://www.soundstripe.com/blogs/the-basics-of-film-editing> [Accessed 12 January 2022].
Learn About Film. 2022. Basic Editing Principles for Filmmakers – Learn About Film. [online] Available at: <https://www.learnaboutfilm.com/film-language/editing/>.
MasterClass. 2022. Color Correcting vs. Color Grading: Understanding Film Coloring. [online] Available at: <https://www.masterclass.com/articles/color-correcting-vs-color-grading#what-is-color-correcting> [Accessed 16 June 2021].
Dyksterhouse, L., 2022. The close-up shot: Why it’s so important in cinema. [online] Videomaker. Available at: <https://www.videomaker.com/how-to/shooting/the-close-up-shot-why-its-so-important-in-cinema/>.
I feel like you are full of creativity, and I really appreciate the arrangement of plots in your video.
The first-person perspective get me involved in the place you take a shot. The changing skills of close-to shots and long lens makes the frames rather live and gives details to scenes you want to emphasize. Amongst all go the video, my favorite frame is the one that both the modern building and the ancient architecture are shot. I find it really excellent that it shows the traces of time, which I suppose a special feature of a city containing historical construction that others cannot share the similarity to.
Besides, the content is also great. I think the part you ‘paint the spring’ is so creative. You paint it, you find it and prove it is actually the spring. Even though the walls of the palace isolate the history from modernity of the city, the color of spring in it builds a link between the opposite parts in the city. The spring is like a bridge that shows the identical characteristic of such a hybrid city.
Thank you so much! Your comment elevates my video, and I’m excited that you can grasp its many levels through it.
From looking for spring to catching the tail of spring to pulling out the spring you like from the Imperial Palace’s cavernous courtyard, I think the entire video is a creative process that also shows the meaning of the film’s title, hybrid city. Despite being a metropolis, it has “two faces,” combining history and modernity.
Thank you for your comment:)
You had a creative idea and aesthetic visuals. Yet I wonder what your research question is. It seems that you have researched some techniques for the making of the glazed tile but how does it lead to your title of the hybrid city? How does the idea of spring/color of spring lead to your understanding of a hybrid city? It would be great if you could delve deeper into the research.