[Video Essay] Subdivided City

Title: [Field-Homwork]Subdivided City

Director:Huang Xin 3035771294

Theme and Subject matter

The alleyways are spaces that are hidden inside or buildings. Such short and narrow worlds are not easy to notice. Apart from those well-known apartments in Hong Kong, alleyways also reflect the subdivided feature of Hong Kong. It divided a small block into different parts, and it exists as a hidden world in the block. Inside the alleyways, Hong Kong is not as international and developed as it looks like from the outside since it is incredibly crowded and filled with wasted oil and garbage. What’s more, under the pandemic, people also act differently inside and outside alleyways. As it is hidden from the outside world, pedestrians can take off their masks inside the alleyway, making the alleyway not have been impacted by the pandemic.

Research

There are many alleyways in Hong Kong, and it is hard to choose one. However, considering the relation of the essay to Covid-19, it is necessary to choose an alleyway where people walk through and live a typical Hong Kong lifestyle. After all these considerations, I chose an alleyway beside an MTR station in Wan Chai. The place is filled with pedestrians, and a small shop is at one of the alleyway entrances. People walk in a hurry and wearing masks. However, at the entrance, people coming out of the alleyway are always without masks and put them on again as they walk out. This observation helped me find out that alleyway, which is with no people inside at most times and are most likely not impacted by the pandemic transformed into a shelter under the pandemic, is no more only a space that divided buildings, but also a place divided people’s life under the pandemic. So I stayed inside the alleyway for an hour and observed the environment and what people do inside them.

Documentation and making of the video

The alleyway is an incredibly narrow, crowded, and noisy place, so I decided to film the place by recording how I walk through the alleyway—starting from the outside of the block from different levels and angles and showing audiences how the outside world is like. Then move to the inside world. First showed the environment of the different three parts of the alleyway, which correspond to the three parts in the outside world. Then tried to show people’s life inside the alleyway and understand why they choose to spend time in such a crowded, dirty and noisy place. Finally, the camera is walking out of the alleyway. People in the streets are walking fast and all wearing masks, which contrasts with people inside the alleyway.

Many stills are also used to describe the details, alleyway apart from the main one and the whole city.

Objectives and Reflections

The video described a place that is hidden and not usually noticed in our daily lives. Through the walking motion, the video tries to make audiences feel like they are inside the alleyway.

The video tries to show the subdivided feature of Hong Kong through the description of the division of space and life. The video also uses a structure of storytelling, which is expected to help audiences catch up with my thoughts.

Script

What a block looks like in Wan chai

Filled with banks and shops

Offices

Restaurants

Though it seems crowded looking from the streets, there is even another world hidden inside these buildings. Within an alleyway of about 50m long, the world is subdivided into three different areas and numerous small units.

With all the air conditioners clustered, the alleyway is an incredibly crowded, noisy place.

Meanwhile, as all the rusty back doors of restaurants located, wasted oil and lampblack filled the whole place. All those offices place their trash can in the alleyway.

Shops place their used Carton beside their backdoors, and wild pigeons spread their wings from the doorstep

Inside the block, this hidden world is like a worse reflection of the outside world but there are also people choosing to spend their time in the alleyway, which may because the hidden feature makes this world unique.

The owner of the shop is freed from the walking crowds and took a nap in the afternoon.

Diners take off their masks and have a smoke after having had their meal.

Pigeons and people working in the offices together hide from the outside world, have a rest in the city of Hong Kong.

Walking out of the alleyway, people put on their masks again, busy Hong Kong, and pedestrians are still running. Through the journey of a 50 meters’ alleyway, it can be seen that how diverse the city is, and how a block is divided into three parts and how the alleyway that divided them is subdivided.

Such many alleyways not only divided the space of the city but also divided the life of people under the pandemic, as people are freed from the crowds and the fast pace of this busy subdivided city of Hong Kong.

Story board

References

Lockshyn, A. (2017, August 2). Hong Kong Alleyways. Medium. https://medium.com/high-tech-low-life/hong-kong-alleyways-9aa5411b0aa1