Title: Control City- High Speed Rail Station
Credits：Huang Shiyu
Video link：https://youtu.be/pvC5e5QP_Jk
Description of the theme
The video, titled “Ya ‘an High-speed Railway Station during the epidemic,” documents how Ya ‘an managed the operation of the high-speed railway station and ensured people’s safety during the epidemic. In Ya ‘an, where there is no airport, the high-speed railway station has become the most important means of transportation. People use it to travel to farther cities. Due to the remote geographical location of Ya ‘an, Ya ‘an was not seriously affected by the epidemic, but Ya ‘an still did not relax, the high-speed railway station was strictly controlled, so that the “Transmission link of Ya ‘an” can operate normally in the epidemic. This video shows the specific prevention and control process of the high-speed railway station from arrival to boarding, and explores how Ya ‘an controls the epidemic from the aspects of the environment of the high-speed railway station and control work.
Method of research
I did field trips and Internet research before I started shooting. First of all, the actual situation inside the high-speed railway station can only be seen by buying a high-speed railway ticket, so I bought a high-speed railway ticket before shooting, so that I could shoot the scene inside the high-speed railway station and show the specific steps of epidemic prevention and control. In addition, I also have a comprehensive understanding of Ya ‘an high-speed railway station on the Internet, including its specific lines, which cities it passes through, as well as the construction purpose, etc. These are the key points to reflect the characteristics of Ya ‘an as a “control city”.
Video production:
In the video, I chose several important scenes to shoot. The first is the entrance. In the past, there were very few procedures for taking high-speed trains, just ticketing and security procedures. But now, under the control of the government, many new “checkpoints” have been set up at the entrance. I recorded the specific flow of each level through shooting techniques. For example, I used the “push lens”to record the travel code check and temperature measurement before entering the high-speed railway station. This was mainly done by moving the camera forward or zooming in. I gradually pushed the camera to the main character, so that the control measures could be more clearly shown to the audience. In addition to these checkpoints, I also used close-up shot, banner shots and other techniques to show that the whole high-speed railway station is full of security. First, I had a close-up of the scene where the staff of the high-speed railway station all wore protective suits and masks. What’s more, I used banners to shoot and recorded the scene where all the people in the waiting hall were wearing masks. In addition, I kept the original sound of the broadcast of the high-speed railway station emphasizing epidemic prevention and control in the video. I want to reflect the atmosphere of epidemic prevention through the efforts made by the Ya ‘an government. In addition, I also used techniques such as follow shots and shaking shot in the video. I followed the camera with the crowd queuing for ticket check, showing that in the epidemic situation, people still have to continue their lives, and the function of the “Control City” is to ensure people’s normal life at this moment. It also echoes the theme “Control City”, which can bring people a sense of security and a relatively stable life under the disaster.
Reflection
After this shooting, I have a new understanding of Ya ‘an. In my impression, Ya ‘an is a very small and backward city. I have never carefully observed the urban management of Ya ‘an before, and I have not connected myself with the city. However, after this investigation, I found that the city management of Ya ‘an is not backward at all. The streets that are always kept clean, the security guards who are always on guard, and the stations that strictly prevent and control the epidemic even though there is not much passenger flow are all manifestations of the city’s responsibility to its residents. I realized that film is a tool for reflection, that you can discover things that you haven’t noticed before, like the relationship between the city and its residents, and how people’s lives are changing during the pandemic.
Reference
Adorama. (2022).14 Basic Cinematography & Film Techniques for Better Cinematic Shots.https://moodle.hku.hk/mod/page/view.php?id=2445176.
Brizuela, N. G., García-Chan, N., Pulido, H. G., and Gerardo Chowell, G. (2019). Understanding the role of urban design in disease spreading. bioRxiv [Preprint]. 766667. doi: 10.1101/766667
Name：Huang Shiyu
UID：3035854541
Your video is quite comprehensive and reflects on the theme— control city very well. You first introduce the station and the process of entering it under pandemic to show the pandemic control. And you walked around for different objectives to introduce the pandemic control further. Through the little station, we can see the pandemic policy in China. The pandemic control policy in fact reflects the control city. Besides, the music fit your video well.
It’s an innovative idea that you focus on how the high-speed railway station changes people’s lives during the pandemic and give a reflection on the controlled city. And the camera movement is explained well. I noticed that the captions in your video are all in capital letters. It would be better to use some lowercase. In the meantime, some of the notices (e.g., scanning QR code) can be explained in English so that people who don’t know Chinese can understand them well. And I would appreciate it if you could further state the relation between high-speed railway station and control city and more aspects of changing people’s lives.
Your video clearly shows why it is a controlled city. From passes to telling us to wear masks on the broadcast, all the details told people to govern themselves. Through these details, we can see that the Chinese government has rigorous control during pandemics although it is a small station. Also, the background music you used in the video is very consistent with the style of the vedio.
Clear documentation of the various aspects of control in the railway station. However, I was wondering if you could have researched more into how these measures are specific to the railway station. For example, how would pandemic control measures at a railway station be different from other spaces such as a restaurant? Perhaps more direct comparisons or contrasts between the space before the pandemic and during could also allow the audience to better understand the changes.