Overhead bridge – Stranded City
Synopsis, method of research, documentation
As one of the most densely populated cities in the world, the fast-paced lifestyle and urbanized hustle and bustle flood the city in a 3D way, not only the daily commuting on the street but “lifted up” in the air travelling through myriads of overhead bridges. There are more than 700 hundred overhead footbridges in Hong Kong. In fact, these extensive and anfractuous labyrinths of elevated pedestrian walkways connect MTR stations, business centres, harbours, dwelling houses into a massive, stranded maze. It has become commonplace for citizens to walk a kilometre or more from point A to point B without interfering with vehicular traffic.
Overhead bridge in this video metaphorically represents the sense of “connection” and “being stranded amidst COVID”. Hurried figures treat bridges as linkage from “here” and “there”. They rarely stop and take the chance to appreciate a unique perspective of the streets and the city below. Only during weekends, these public tunnels transform into gathering places for domestic helpers.
Unlike indoor spaces such as dormitories or shopping mall, overhead bridges do not express substantial transformation or changes during COVID. Hence I focus more on its intangible front. I first researched the metaphors of the bridge in movies. A protagonist rarely just cross a bridge to get to the other side but instead, the process of “crossing” signifies some change: a transition to a new phase of life, connected with loved ones or even locus of death. In this video, the bridge signals a sense of “in-between”, of “here” and “there”, drawing an analogy as we are stranded in the midst of COVID: the ground is a normal life, yet we are stuck in the air wondering where is the end. Then I browsed through the Location Library of HK Film Services Office to determine the site which best presents the sense of “stranded”.
I chose two sites for the video. The Central Elevated Walkway represents the normal and busy life before the pandemic. The bridge is clean, modernized, crowded, spacious and bright. The causeway bay circle pedestrian walkway, by contrast, being dim, messy, depressed, with barely people visiting, signals an everlasting loop of the virus. The circular bridges represent no “here” nor “there”, but the psychological suspension and eagerness to get back on the ground and normal life.
However, by looking around and looking up into the sky, the traffic volume, passengers around the circle bridge are vividly moving forward. We are indeed stranded on the bridge, we do not know when the pandemic will end nor we know how we can get back on the ground, but the time is ticking and life is everything moving forward. Only when we stop being panic about the “stranded” situation can we truly find inner tranquility in the restless time.
The making of video
One main technique frequently used in video production is acceleration. The scenes of massive people crossing over the bridge are accelerated to present mobility and bustle and hustle in modern city life. I also use quick switching scene, instead of full-length shot to present the environment of and around and bridges, in order to provide a more comprehensive and dynamic perception.
Reflection
My strongest feeling is when I looked into the history and design philosophy of the causewaybay pedestrian walkway. The bridge engraves several milestone events in Hong Kong history. Though due to the well-developed transportation, people rarely visit this outdated bridge, the boisterous underneath traffic and deserted and quiet staircase represent a very Hong Kong kind of irony, just like the concern for COVID while getting accustomed to it. I find such a paradoxical mood similar to Abbas’s description that Hong Kong is caught between two coloniality and plunges into drastic socio-economic change, a desperate desire emerges to grasp a sense of belonging. I feel such an “in-between”, stranded struggling metaphor can be illustrated from multifaceted aspects of HK people’s life.
Sze Lui 3035799337
References
Ackbar Abbas, “Building on Disappearance: Hong Kong Architecture and the City,” Public Culture 6 (1994):445; 448.
Feature Story. City Life. (n.d.). http://hkcitylife.com/index.php?route=product%2Fproduct&path=105_269_271&product_id=2121.
Historic Bridge Foundation. (n.d.). https://historicbridgefoundation.com/bridges-in-film/.
Time(inception) Hans Zimmer
Welcome to Film Services Office – Location Library. (n.d.). https://www.fso-createhk.gov.hk/en/locations_search_details.php?File_No=01533&search_type=1.
I enjoyed how you narrate the bridges as liminal spaces through the metaphor! You demonstrated a good connection between the space and the metaphor. Along with a well-structured narrative, the colour toning, various angles and speeds, helped with the tension building throughout your video essay. Your argument – how we are now traversing yet another bridge in life through the pandemic – was delivered in a very clear manner. Appreciate the information richness and density that you managed to condense within a two-minute video. To make it even better, I would suggest you add another layer of research to your text, use it to expand and extend your narrative. You could share your logic of inquiries, or unexpected findings, to your audience in the essay. Furthermore, in your reflection, you could also look back and evaluate your creative process. Is there anything that you would have done differently? What has been the most unexpected things you encountered during the production? And so on. All and all, well done!
I appreciate how you shape your video ambience with the heavy soundtrack from “Interstellar”, which echoes your theme of “stranded city”. Your locale is delicately chosen as it is at the Hong Kong financial hub’c centre but showing the deficiencies of the city like homeless people, pandemic and financial whammy. The contrast has fully revealed within a small space, making the theme stand out brightly. Furthermore, the narration is mesmerising as the calm and clear narration make the viewers easy to understand your points.