Today was our last class of film for the year and we spent it watching each person's presentation on a music video of their choice. Unfortunately, I was not prepared for this class for two reasons. Firstly, I thought that the presentation was supposed to be on one of the music videos made in class so I assumed I wouldn't be able to begin work on it until after Monday's lesson when we watched them, and also on Monday night I was very busy as I had to go to the Film Premiere of the documentary Sharkwater in Tsim Sha Tsui and didn't get home until late.
Regarding the film Sharkwater, it was amazing and I highly suggest anyone to go watch it. It is a documentary based around the issue of shark finning by a young Canadian called Rob Stewart. I particularly liked the films amazing cinematography and the content and way it was presented. As it was about sharks, a lot of the filming was underwater in amazing clarity, in some frames there were about 30 hammer head sharks swimming around, it was absolutely amazing. The story itself is also amazing. It started with Rob Stewart simply wanting to make an underwater film about sharks in general, until he found out about the seriousness of shark finning and how endagered they were in our world. For example, there are estimated to only be 3,500 great white sharks left in the world. And by 2050, there will be no sharks left at all if nothing is done. I can not express how amazing this film is, it has won 35 awards from all around the world over the past two years.
Regarding the class, the presentations were all very interesting. I particularly liked the music videos with stories behind them, such as the one of Nathaniel's choice - Here comes goodbye. I must admit, I didn't like the actual song, but the music video was very effective in not only incorporating music video conventions but also amazing cinematography and editing with a strong narrative.
I've really enjoyed film this term and have learned a lot about cinematography, editing, and film in general, as I had never taken it before. Although there have been its challenges, overall it's been really enjoyable and am looking forward to working with film in the future!
Friday, June 11, 2010
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Reflection - June 7, 2010
Today we spent the lesson watching all of the group's music videos including our own.
I really enjoyed watching all of the videos and seeing how differently they all turned out in the end. I found it interesting seeing how they approached them and how some people used music video conventions and some didn't.
When we watched our group's video I was feeling most like the IB Leaner Profile - reflective - as I thought about all of the ways we could improve based off of my opinion and the class's. I always knew that our theme was not being covered very well and this was evident when the class was asked who understood what the theme was and no one raised their hand. I think we could have improved by planning out the storyline better so that the theme could have been better developed.
I also think that next time we should think more carefully about the choice of theme and whether we actually think we could incorporate the theme into our music video.
I really enjoyed today's lesson and look forward to watching more music videos in my free time now that I am more familiar with them.
I really enjoyed watching all of the videos and seeing how differently they all turned out in the end. I found it interesting seeing how they approached them and how some people used music video conventions and some didn't.
When we watched our group's video I was feeling most like the IB Leaner Profile - reflective - as I thought about all of the ways we could improve based off of my opinion and the class's. I always knew that our theme was not being covered very well and this was evident when the class was asked who understood what the theme was and no one raised their hand. I think we could have improved by planning out the storyline better so that the theme could have been better developed.
I also think that next time we should think more carefully about the choice of theme and whether we actually think we could incorporate the theme into our music video.
I really enjoyed today's lesson and look forward to watching more music videos in my free time now that I am more familiar with them.
Sunday, June 6, 2010
Reflection - June 4 and 5, 2010
Friday was the last lesson in class that we had to work on our music video and I was also the only group member present in the class. Initially, I was slightly concerned at the absence of all my group members but then I realised it was a really good opportunity for me to get as much done of the music video as possible without anyone arguing and telling me to stop and do other things.
Therefore, the lesson was very successful and I managed to get a lot of work done. I carried on with the storyline we had previously set out. I had trouble sometimes deciding which clip to go next in the sequence for it to make sense, but also to sound good with the music. To solve this, I wrote out another list with a short description of each different scene of footage in order and wrote down if I had a lot of footage of it, if the white person was in the scene, and if Harry was running or walking. Once I did that, it was a lot easier to bring the clips together because I could string the footage together in an order that built up the suspense of the story.
Over the two days, I learned how to change the color of clips. For example, I figured out how to make a clip go black and white, or green, blue, or red. I used this sometimes to make clips look like he was remembering them, rather than them actually happening.
I decided that I had to stay after school on Friday because I was no where near finished and it was due on Monday. I also decided that I needed to come into school on Saturday to get the music video completely finished.
After school and on Saturday, I continued to work on the music video. After working on the first minute and a half on it, I reached sort of a block and I didn't know what to put next, as I felt I had used all of the clips. While I didn't know what to do, Harry and I decided to work on the ending and then build up from there till the clips met. We found doing the ending relatively easy because it is very similar to the first 30 seconds of the music video. We just didn't want it to be exactly the same, so we changed the speed and the order of it slightly to make it look slightly different.
When it came back to filling the gap Harry had to leave and I was left to sort it out for myself. After watching through what I had of the music video so far with the help of Ms Wong, we decided that it needed a clearer political theme. I didn't have time to go filming, so I decided to do this by having him running away on the MTR, and the momentum of the MTR reminding him of all of the small hints of the poster and the white people before he realised. So I had flash backs within the flash back.
Although this editing process was really time consuming, I actually really enjoyed it and feel I have really improved from the last unit on oral history. It was nice doing something more creative for a change, rather than a documentary.
I still think my whole group needs to improve on time management though.
These past few days, I feel I was most like the IB Learner Profiles Thinker and Risk Taker. Because I was encountering many problems, and had to dive right into them and solve them without over thinking it.
Therefore, the lesson was very successful and I managed to get a lot of work done. I carried on with the storyline we had previously set out. I had trouble sometimes deciding which clip to go next in the sequence for it to make sense, but also to sound good with the music. To solve this, I wrote out another list with a short description of each different scene of footage in order and wrote down if I had a lot of footage of it, if the white person was in the scene, and if Harry was running or walking. Once I did that, it was a lot easier to bring the clips together because I could string the footage together in an order that built up the suspense of the story.
Over the two days, I learned how to change the color of clips. For example, I figured out how to make a clip go black and white, or green, blue, or red. I used this sometimes to make clips look like he was remembering them, rather than them actually happening.
I decided that I had to stay after school on Friday because I was no where near finished and it was due on Monday. I also decided that I needed to come into school on Saturday to get the music video completely finished.
After school and on Saturday, I continued to work on the music video. After working on the first minute and a half on it, I reached sort of a block and I didn't know what to put next, as I felt I had used all of the clips. While I didn't know what to do, Harry and I decided to work on the ending and then build up from there till the clips met. We found doing the ending relatively easy because it is very similar to the first 30 seconds of the music video. We just didn't want it to be exactly the same, so we changed the speed and the order of it slightly to make it look slightly different.
When it came back to filling the gap Harry had to leave and I was left to sort it out for myself. After watching through what I had of the music video so far with the help of Ms Wong, we decided that it needed a clearer political theme. I didn't have time to go filming, so I decided to do this by having him running away on the MTR, and the momentum of the MTR reminding him of all of the small hints of the poster and the white people before he realised. So I had flash backs within the flash back.
Although this editing process was really time consuming, I actually really enjoyed it and feel I have really improved from the last unit on oral history. It was nice doing something more creative for a change, rather than a documentary.
I still think my whole group needs to improve on time management though.
These past few days, I feel I was most like the IB Learner Profiles Thinker and Risk Taker. Because I was encountering many problems, and had to dive right into them and solve them without over thinking it.
Reflection - May 25, 2010
Today was our second last day of editing in class, and was also the first day we finally managed to begin editing.
We began the lesson by capturing the footage we had filmed over the weekend. Whilst it was capturing and we couldn't really do anything, we decided to use our time most efficiently by writing down all of the shots we watched so that later on it would be easier later on when we were rearranging our clips to see what we had and in what order.
When it had finally finished capturing, we set straight out on putting the music in and then working on the beginning. We did the beginning relatively quickly and without too much difficulty because we had carefully planned it out prior to the lesson. However, we spent the first five minutes working on the wrong beginning because we had forgotten we'd changed it. This wasted some of our precious time, but it was not such an issue because we are now all familiar with how to use Final Cut Pro, unlike in the first unit.
When arranging the beginning, it was quite difficult to make it really flow. We wanted it to look like Harry was running and then jumped off of a roof top / bridge. It was hard because he did not actually jump off, but we filmed as much as we could to make it look like he could. To make it look the most realistic and best, we played around with the speed in some areas speeding it up or slowing it down. We also often changed the angle of the shot, for example sometimes it would be a front view and sometimes it would be from underneath him or behind him. In the end, I am very happy with the beginning we have, I like how the scene transitions in time with the music, which is quite hard to do but we managed to.
As it was my first day back on Final Cut Pro in quite a while, I learned a few more things and my mind was thoroughly refreshed. I learned that it sometimes would not let you change the speed of a clip if it was on top of another clip on a different layer. I had encountered this problem many times last unit and couldn't understand why and now I do.
I really enjoyed being back editing the project, but I also realize now that we do not have a lot of time to complete the project and I will have to start staying after school sometimes. In order to finish the project by the deadline of June 8, my group will need to improve on decision making skills and sometimes compromising and not always have your idea put forward. Because if we continue to argue over every detail, the film will never get done. I think I will have to start taking charge of the situation because it is getting out of hand and the project otherwise will not be completed or not completed well.
Today I feel I was most like the IB Learner Profile risk taker because it was the first day we could finally begin editing and I didn't have time to really think through my actions, but instead I just had to take a chance and try my best at getting as much as possible done of the music video.
We began the lesson by capturing the footage we had filmed over the weekend. Whilst it was capturing and we couldn't really do anything, we decided to use our time most efficiently by writing down all of the shots we watched so that later on it would be easier later on when we were rearranging our clips to see what we had and in what order.
When it had finally finished capturing, we set straight out on putting the music in and then working on the beginning. We did the beginning relatively quickly and without too much difficulty because we had carefully planned it out prior to the lesson. However, we spent the first five minutes working on the wrong beginning because we had forgotten we'd changed it. This wasted some of our precious time, but it was not such an issue because we are now all familiar with how to use Final Cut Pro, unlike in the first unit.
When arranging the beginning, it was quite difficult to make it really flow. We wanted it to look like Harry was running and then jumped off of a roof top / bridge. It was hard because he did not actually jump off, but we filmed as much as we could to make it look like he could. To make it look the most realistic and best, we played around with the speed in some areas speeding it up or slowing it down. We also often changed the angle of the shot, for example sometimes it would be a front view and sometimes it would be from underneath him or behind him. In the end, I am very happy with the beginning we have, I like how the scene transitions in time with the music, which is quite hard to do but we managed to.
As it was my first day back on Final Cut Pro in quite a while, I learned a few more things and my mind was thoroughly refreshed. I learned that it sometimes would not let you change the speed of a clip if it was on top of another clip on a different layer. I had encountered this problem many times last unit and couldn't understand why and now I do.
I really enjoyed being back editing the project, but I also realize now that we do not have a lot of time to complete the project and I will have to start staying after school sometimes. In order to finish the project by the deadline of June 8, my group will need to improve on decision making skills and sometimes compromising and not always have your idea put forward. Because if we continue to argue over every detail, the film will never get done. I think I will have to start taking charge of the situation because it is getting out of hand and the project otherwise will not be completed or not completed well.
Today I feel I was most like the IB Learner Profile risk taker because it was the first day we could finally begin editing and I didn't have time to really think through my actions, but instead I just had to take a chance and try my best at getting as much as possible done of the music video.
Reflection - May 24, 2010
Today we spent the lesson watching a Hong Kong film the Chungking Express, as the computer systems were being operated on. Whist watching the film, I felt I was most like the IB Learner Profile open-minded, as I watched the film with no real prior knowledge of it, and from it feel that I have learned more about Hong Kong Culture. In this reflection, I will talk about my observations and views on the film Chung King Express by the director Wong Kar-Wai.
I really enjoyed the parts I watched of the Chungking Express. Although, it was in Chinese, I still managed with the subtitles and was able to understand the Mandarin. I found the language barrier did not phase me in terms of enjoying the movie. I thought it was a nice balance between action, romance, and sometimes even a bit of mystery. Either way, it kept my attention and would have loved to see some more of it.
The aspects of the film which I liked the most would have to be the music, setting and the characters. I must admit I am slightly biased when I talk about liking the music because before watching the film, I was told the director is famous for his choice in music. I particularly liked the way he used it in situations that didn't always seem like that would be the right choice in music. I found it interesting how the music completely changed the mood of the scene despite an opposing dialogue. I also liked how the themes of the movie were local to Hong Kong and therefore partly to me. Living in Hong Kong, it's not often I watch movies filmed here so I really enjoyed looking out for places I recognized or general scenes of Hong Kong. I also liked how he used variation in his cinematography, for example sometimes it would be really sunny, or really dark or sometimes the camera would be in motion and very blurry.
However, I found it really confusing how the plot completely jumped to a new story halfway through the film. Unfortunately, I never managed to finish it so never found out what really happened. I may get a copy of it and finish it in the future, but for now I'm finding it really mysterious and it is edging me to want to finish the movie. So in a sense, the director has made it not only a romantic movie its also a suspenseful, mysterious film, making it all the more interesting.
Regarding the characters, there were some I liked and some I did not. I liked the first male actor in the first story of the film, I preferred his character over the second police man character because he seemed like of a real person people could relate to. The other character seemed quite superficial and boring. Another character I found quite annoying, yet interesting was the girl in the second story of the film. She was quirky, and made you want to find out more about her, but her overall character was slightly rude and strange.
Overall, from what I watched of the Chung King Express, I really enjoyed it and am keen to finish it. It's a well made film that gives insight to its viewers of the real Hong Kong , away from its famous, and very un-Hong Kong districts like Central.
However, I found it really confusing how the plot completely jumped to a new story halfway through the film. Unfortunately, I never managed to finish it so never found out what really happened. I may get a copy of it and finish it in the future, but for now I'm finding it really mysterious and it is edging me to want to finish the movie. So in a sense, the director has made it not only a romantic movie its also a suspenseful, mysterious film, making it all the more interesting.
Regarding the characters, there were some I liked and some I did not. I liked the first male actor in the first story of the film, I preferred his character over the second police man character because he seemed like of a real person people could relate to. The other character seemed quite superficial and boring. Another character I found quite annoying, yet interesting was the girl in the second story of the film. She was quirky, and made you want to find out more about her, but her overall character was slightly rude and strange.
Overall, from what I watched of the Chung King Express, I really enjoyed it and am keen to finish it. It's a well made film that gives insight to its viewers of the real Hong Kong , away from its famous, and very un-Hong Kong districts like Central.
Movie Poster
Here's a trailer of the movie, you can instantly hear the interesting music:
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Film Reflection - Monday, May 17, 2010
Today we focused on getting completely prepared to commence filming that week and the coming long weekend. To do so, we tried to think of the best, most comprehensive way to see when everyone was available. I therefore made a calendar, and found out when everyone was free. We also wrote out which times everyone was free at. After doing so, it was very easy to work out a filming schedule. We have planned three filming sessions in the coming week to try and capture all of the footage.
However, we knew that we were not completely ready to go out and start filming yet, so we tackled the next preparation - costume. I then devised a Google document that everyone could access and wrote out everything everyone needed. We then went through the list together and discussed what we already had and what we didn't. I then volunteered to go shopping for the costume that day and they would pay me back. I wanted to get ready as soon as possible so that we would not have any excuses to postpone filming.
As we discussed all of the different shots we had to take, we also noticed that we needed some props - the posters. So then we investigated into the best and quickest way to make a poster of harry saying LOST. Initially, we used a camera and took a picture of him, but then realized we did not have a cable to plug into the computer and we wanted to get it done that lesson. So we investigated into our options and decided to find a picture online in one of his photo albums, we found a very appropriate picture and began to edit it immediately. I think that this is a good example of us beginning to work better as a group and we were really learning how to use our time in the most efficient way possible.
While editing, we realized we had to learn some new skills to find the best way to edit it. We wanted to get rid of the backdrop and just have his face in black and white. We decided the most appropriate way was to use Photo Shop. However, none of us were very familiar with the program, so we all learned how to use it together, trying out the different tools and playing around with the software. I really enjoyed learning how to use photo shop, and I think that it will become very useful in future film or other subject's projects.
We then spent the remaining part of the lesson, going over exactly what we wanted to film so that when we were there filming, we would not waste anytime.
I feel that today's class was a very efficient one in terms of getting ourselves finally organized to begin filming. It was a real milestone in terms of getting the film done. Hopefully, we will continue to work this efficiently when we begin to edit next lesson. However, I still think that we can improve on agreeing things as a group. Sometimes I feel like we don't always give each other the chance to express our ideas and this affects our morale as a group and we get a bit mad at each other. Today, I feel that I was most like the IB Learner Profiles "Knowledgeable" and "Thinker", because today I learned a few things and had to explore all the different ideas and come up with the best way to organize us as a group. Whilst on the other hand, I was a thinker because I had to consider who was available on which days and approach these problems and find the best solution for them.
However, we knew that we were not completely ready to go out and start filming yet, so we tackled the next preparation - costume. I then devised a Google document that everyone could access and wrote out everything everyone needed. We then went through the list together and discussed what we already had and what we didn't. I then volunteered to go shopping for the costume that day and they would pay me back. I wanted to get ready as soon as possible so that we would not have any excuses to postpone filming.
As we discussed all of the different shots we had to take, we also noticed that we needed some props - the posters. So then we investigated into the best and quickest way to make a poster of harry saying LOST. Initially, we used a camera and took a picture of him, but then realized we did not have a cable to plug into the computer and we wanted to get it done that lesson. So we investigated into our options and decided to find a picture online in one of his photo albums, we found a very appropriate picture and began to edit it immediately. I think that this is a good example of us beginning to work better as a group and we were really learning how to use our time in the most efficient way possible.
While editing, we realized we had to learn some new skills to find the best way to edit it. We wanted to get rid of the backdrop and just have his face in black and white. We decided the most appropriate way was to use Photo Shop. However, none of us were very familiar with the program, so we all learned how to use it together, trying out the different tools and playing around with the software. I really enjoyed learning how to use photo shop, and I think that it will become very useful in future film or other subject's projects.
We then spent the remaining part of the lesson, going over exactly what we wanted to film so that when we were there filming, we would not waste anytime.
I feel that today's class was a very efficient one in terms of getting ourselves finally organized to begin filming. It was a real milestone in terms of getting the film done. Hopefully, we will continue to work this efficiently when we begin to edit next lesson. However, I still think that we can improve on agreeing things as a group. Sometimes I feel like we don't always give each other the chance to express our ideas and this affects our morale as a group and we get a bit mad at each other. Today, I feel that I was most like the IB Learner Profiles "Knowledgeable" and "Thinker", because today I learned a few things and had to explore all the different ideas and come up with the best way to organize us as a group. Whilst on the other hand, I was a thinker because I had to consider who was available on which days and approach these problems and find the best solution for them.
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Film Reflection - May 10, 2010
Unfortunately, today we lost the first period of the lesson to watching films from the previous unit. It was very interesting and I enjoyed it a lot however this did mean we didn’t get too spend as much time as hoped on the current film project. Harry was absent today, so it was just Zoe, Sophia and I.
We spent the lesson rewriting the storyboard slightly so that we could start doing the script properly, as we all felt after the previous lesson this is what we really needed to work out. Today was a very successful lesson in terms of that, we all communicated our ideas really well and collaborated them together to form a much better, more comprehensible story line. It really has improved it and has given us much more motivation to work on the script properly and efficiently, now that we know exactly what we are doing.
We find it difficult, however, to write down our ideas in sequential order without losing the flow of our thoughts and matching them to the music. To improve, I think we should maybe write it out in bullet points really quickly so that we can get all of our ideas out without forgetting them and then put them into proper script like format.
I feel our group really needs to learn how to work more efficiently, because we are already falling behind the other groups unfortunately. Overall, we have to impove at working faster as well.
Today, I feel I was most like the IB Learner Profile “thinker” again because we are still in the creative stage and are trying to think critically and creatively to approach the music video and plan and film it.
We spent the lesson rewriting the storyboard slightly so that we could start doing the script properly, as we all felt after the previous lesson this is what we really needed to work out. Today was a very successful lesson in terms of that, we all communicated our ideas really well and collaborated them together to form a much better, more comprehensible story line. It really has improved it and has given us much more motivation to work on the script properly and efficiently, now that we know exactly what we are doing.
We find it difficult, however, to write down our ideas in sequential order without losing the flow of our thoughts and matching them to the music. To improve, I think we should maybe write it out in bullet points really quickly so that we can get all of our ideas out without forgetting them and then put them into proper script like format.
I feel our group really needs to learn how to work more efficiently, because we are already falling behind the other groups unfortunately. Overall, we have to impove at working faster as well.
Today, I feel I was most like the IB Learner Profile “thinker” again because we are still in the creative stage and are trying to think critically and creatively to approach the music video and plan and film it.
Film Reflection - May 7, 2010
Today was a double lesson where one group member (Zoe) was absent. Despite this, we still wanted to try and achieve as much as we could within the 90 minutes. We decided to dedicate this time to writing the script and then start the storyboard so that we could start filming as soon as possible.
As we sat down to write the script, we felt that we didn't really have a good idea of what exactly was going to happen in the music video scene to scene, but we did feel that the timing and rhythm of the footage with the music would be very important. So, we used this time to listen to the song and annotate when and where different verses were sung and when and where there was no lyrics etc and what the lyrics were if there were any. This really helped us understand how we were going to set up the song and write the script and it will also help us a lot in the future.
Then we set out to start writing out different shots we want to take. As we did so we were getting ideas out, but I feel that we are just babbling and don’t really have a good enough set plot that everyone understands. I feel that in order for our film to be successful we really need a plot that everyone understands.
The problem is that our group all have ideas but can’t communicate them well to the rest of the group and we are having trouble collaborating our ideas together which is why we don’t have a plot yet. That is something our group still has to work on - understanding each other's thoughts. In the next lesson, I think it is important that we have a plot we all agree on before working on the script again.
Today, I feel I was most like the IB Leaner Profile Thinker because I was helping write the script which is quite hard to do with my group and I was trying to creatively express ideas and themes without being too literal. I feel that our whole group needs to work on being more like the IB Learner Profile Communicator.
As we sat down to write the script, we felt that we didn't really have a good idea of what exactly was going to happen in the music video scene to scene, but we did feel that the timing and rhythm of the footage with the music would be very important. So, we used this time to listen to the song and annotate when and where different verses were sung and when and where there was no lyrics etc and what the lyrics were if there were any. This really helped us understand how we were going to set up the song and write the script and it will also help us a lot in the future.
Then we set out to start writing out different shots we want to take. As we did so we were getting ideas out, but I feel that we are just babbling and don’t really have a good enough set plot that everyone understands. I feel that in order for our film to be successful we really need a plot that everyone understands.
The problem is that our group all have ideas but can’t communicate them well to the rest of the group and we are having trouble collaborating our ideas together which is why we don’t have a plot yet. That is something our group still has to work on - understanding each other's thoughts. In the next lesson, I think it is important that we have a plot we all agree on before working on the script again.
Today, I feel I was most like the IB Leaner Profile Thinker because I was helping write the script which is quite hard to do with my group and I was trying to creatively express ideas and themes without being too literal. I feel that our whole group needs to work on being more like the IB Learner Profile Communicator.
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Film Reflection - April 29, 2010
Since the last lesson, which is the lesson where we had a lot of trouble deciding on a song, we have come up with a solution to our agreement problem. Last night, we held a conference call and discussed our reasonings for our ideas and finally resolved on deciding to Harry's idea for a music video on politics.
So today, since we are already running a bit behind the rest of our class due to our slow decision making, we went straight to work on writing up a shot list. We all started to share our ideas for different scenes and wrote them down in the order that they came to mind rather than in sequential order as we figured we could decide that later, but first get all of our ideas out. After about 20 minutes of writing down all of our ideas, we started to notice how repetitive our scenes were getting in terms of location, shots, acting and theme. Therefore, I said that we needed to come up with a proper outline of the narritive structure of the music video.
So I wrote down on a piece of paper - conflict, rising action, climax, falling action, resolution. And I said that we needed to fill this in so that we at least knew what the story was and would therefore be thinking up the right types of themes. That is when we came up with this idea of "white-masked" people and a good plot behind it. We then discussed endings, as we want an interesting, unexpected ending and we have come up with several ideas. I really enjoyed this creative part of the process, although I feel our group generally needs to work on being more open-minded and appreciative of other people's ideas.We have an issue of continuously interrupting each other, and this needs to stop too.
Today, I learned more about how to make a music video and how it you don't realize how much thought and creativity needs to be put in to create a story in such a small period of time with as little dialogue as possible. I still think our group needs to work on being more open-minded, but I feel I, personally, was a lot ore open-minded, more "principled" from the IB learner profile.
I am very excited to begin filming, but before the next lesson, my group and I may need to meet up once more to catch up so that we can have a ready to hand in script of our film by the next lesson in a week's time.
So today, since we are already running a bit behind the rest of our class due to our slow decision making, we went straight to work on writing up a shot list. We all started to share our ideas for different scenes and wrote them down in the order that they came to mind rather than in sequential order as we figured we could decide that later, but first get all of our ideas out. After about 20 minutes of writing down all of our ideas, we started to notice how repetitive our scenes were getting in terms of location, shots, acting and theme. Therefore, I said that we needed to come up with a proper outline of the narritive structure of the music video.
So I wrote down on a piece of paper - conflict, rising action, climax, falling action, resolution. And I said that we needed to fill this in so that we at least knew what the story was and would therefore be thinking up the right types of themes. That is when we came up with this idea of "white-masked" people and a good plot behind it. We then discussed endings, as we want an interesting, unexpected ending and we have come up with several ideas. I really enjoyed this creative part of the process, although I feel our group generally needs to work on being more open-minded and appreciative of other people's ideas.We have an issue of continuously interrupting each other, and this needs to stop too.
Today, I learned more about how to make a music video and how it you don't realize how much thought and creativity needs to be put in to create a story in such a small period of time with as little dialogue as possible. I still think our group needs to work on being more open-minded, but I feel I, personally, was a lot ore open-minded, more "principled" from the IB learner profile.
I am very excited to begin filming, but before the next lesson, my group and I may need to meet up once more to catch up so that we can have a ready to hand in script of our film by the next lesson in a week's time.
Film Reflection – April 27, 2010
Today was not a very successful lesson at all. We began the class by everyone sharing their ideas for the music video, and then we were going to discuss them and choose one idea we liked the best and begin writing the shot list. Harry presented his idea of doing a music video on politics, whilst Zoe, Sophia and I presented an idea on the environment. However, we could not agree on a song. For the entire lesson, we were trying to come up with a solution to make both parties happy but could not figure out a way. We knew that by the end of the lesson, that we would have to come up with a solution at least, as we had already spent 4 single lessons trying to choose a song. By this stage, we were simply wasting time.
Unfortunately, we had still not come to a decision by 12:30, and thus had to pick it out of a hat. When we picked it out of the hat, the environment-themed idea won, and Harry demanded a change of group.
The two songs were Wonderful by Gary Go and Mr Writer by the Stereophonics
From this lesson, we have now learned more about each others personalities and who works well together and who doesn't. I feel that in order for us to work successfully as a group, we will need to come up with an entirely new idea that all of us can agree on. However due to time restraints, this will need to be done before the start of the next lesson, so we can dive straight into our idea in that class. If we still do not manage to come up with a new song by then, we will have to go ahead with the environment idea. I feel it would be a real shame if everyone in the group could not agree on a song.
I also feel that part of the reason that Harry's idea was not being so warmly welcomed, is that he was struggling to present his ideas in a comprehensible manner. This is another possible solution, to have Harry present this idea to us three girls before the next lesson and see if he can convince us to choose his idea.
Overall, I learned more about the importance of leadership in a group and how someone needs to take charge here or nothing is going to get done in our group, as we are all natural leaders. Our group needs to work on finding a solution to us being able to work well together without someone being largely unhappy and uninspired about what we are working towards.
Today I feel that the whole group needs to work to being more of an “open-minded” (from the IB learner profile) group member in order for our group to succeed.
Unfortunately, we had still not come to a decision by 12:30, and thus had to pick it out of a hat. When we picked it out of the hat, the environment-themed idea won, and Harry demanded a change of group.
The two songs were Wonderful by Gary Go and Mr Writer by the Stereophonics
From this lesson, we have now learned more about each others personalities and who works well together and who doesn't. I feel that in order for us to work successfully as a group, we will need to come up with an entirely new idea that all of us can agree on. However due to time restraints, this will need to be done before the start of the next lesson, so we can dive straight into our idea in that class. If we still do not manage to come up with a new song by then, we will have to go ahead with the environment idea. I feel it would be a real shame if everyone in the group could not agree on a song.
I also feel that part of the reason that Harry's idea was not being so warmly welcomed, is that he was struggling to present his ideas in a comprehensible manner. This is another possible solution, to have Harry present this idea to us three girls before the next lesson and see if he can convince us to choose his idea.
Overall, I learned more about the importance of leadership in a group and how someone needs to take charge here or nothing is going to get done in our group, as we are all natural leaders. Our group needs to work on finding a solution to us being able to work well together without someone being largely unhappy and uninspired about what we are working towards.
Today I feel that the whole group needs to work to being more of an “open-minded” (from the IB learner profile) group member in order for our group to succeed.
Monday, April 26, 2010
Reflection - Monday April 26, 2010
Today we continued to research into the new unit of Music Videos. We organized ourselves into groups of four and my group consists of Harry Salnikow, Zoe Horlacher and Sophia Nagar. I think I will work well with this group this term as we all usually find it quite easy to agree on things out of class, and hopefully this will continue within class. We found out that we will be creating a music video on one of the themes from the previous unit:
I found it surprisingly difficult to find songs that were appropriate to make a music video that were about fashion or the environment. I wasn't sure if I should look for a song where the lyrics all talk about fashion, or if I should choose a song with a rhythm and beat that evokes excitement and the mood of fashion. So I looked in online forums for some people's suggestions on fashion related songs and came up with many songs that were all either called fashion, or the lyrics were all fashion. They were appropriate but I felt they were very direct, and would not allow for an interesting abstract film that would evoke the atmosphere of fashion, rather than spelling it out. To try and help myself, I looked at the rubric for this unit, and saw that it was looking for things like lighting and camera techniques and editing so I then decided to stop thinking about the lyrics, but rather songs that allowed for an interesting use of these tools. I feel that an upbeat song would allow this, so now I am going to focus more on upbeat songs for fashion.
I did not have much time to research into environment as well, but now that I have an idea on how to research appropriate songs and what i should be looking for, it will not take me as long. Today I feel that I was the IB Learner Profile "inquirer" because I was still being introduced into a new unit and new area of film. I am still quite unfamiliar with music videos and how they work so completing this work has aroused my curiosity and encouraged me to investigate into the different aspects of music videos, while enjoying myself.
- education
- environment
- food
- music
- entertainment
- politics
- fashion
- built environment
- colonization
- race relationships
I found it surprisingly difficult to find songs that were appropriate to make a music video that were about fashion or the environment. I wasn't sure if I should look for a song where the lyrics all talk about fashion, or if I should choose a song with a rhythm and beat that evokes excitement and the mood of fashion. So I looked in online forums for some people's suggestions on fashion related songs and came up with many songs that were all either called fashion, or the lyrics were all fashion. They were appropriate but I felt they were very direct, and would not allow for an interesting abstract film that would evoke the atmosphere of fashion, rather than spelling it out. To try and help myself, I looked at the rubric for this unit, and saw that it was looking for things like lighting and camera techniques and editing so I then decided to stop thinking about the lyrics, but rather songs that allowed for an interesting use of these tools. I feel that an upbeat song would allow this, so now I am going to focus more on upbeat songs for fashion.
I did not have much time to research into environment as well, but now that I have an idea on how to research appropriate songs and what i should be looking for, it will not take me as long. Today I feel that I was the IB Learner Profile "inquirer" because I was still being introduced into a new unit and new area of film. I am still quite unfamiliar with music videos and how they work so completing this work has aroused my curiosity and encouraged me to investigate into the different aspects of music videos, while enjoying myself.
Sunday, April 25, 2010
Music Video Introduction Assignment
For this assignment, we were told to do an analysis on music videos in terms of its narrative structure, cinematography and editing. I worked on this in a pair with Harry.
Here is an analysis of Life In Technicolor II by Coldplay:
1. Narrative Structure
The music video opens with village fete in an English town and everyone is coming together to watch a puppet show. It opens with no music or direct relationship to coldplay or any music. As the puppet show opens, it is of two little men playing a xylophone type instrument and slowly it turns into a Coldplay concert where all of the singers are puppets. The build up is very effective, as slowly the lights dim, and as the audience is more captured and as the music builds up, slowly the stage extends out. Fireworks emerge and the faces of the audience change in astonishment too. It ends with a toy helicopter emerging into the room, and the puppets go onto the helicopter and fly out of a window, breaking it.
2. Cinematography
Rarely are long shots used in this video partially because of the small space of the room but is also not very appropriate for this content. The camera shots often do close ups on both the lead singer and a particular face of the audience, this nicely captures the relationship between the audience and players and how it evolves as the song progresses. The lighting also noticeably dims as the video progresses, as it becomes more of a concert and less of the puppet show. At the climax, there are fireworks with flashing lights and this really captivates the audience into awe. In terms of camera angles, it is mostly from the front on excluding towards the end where the atmosphere is at its height. This is when you become part of the audience and are looking up at the lead singer, making him look powerful, influential. When the lead singer does a crowd surf, the angle is from the birds eye view, but is still really front on since he is face up.
3. Editing
At the beginning of the video, the film barely focuses on any scene going on in the room. Always jumping from conversation to conversation, the children laughing, the current puppet show etc. This conveys the message of how nobody is focused on one thing in the room. Whereas by the end of the video, the shots barely ever leave the stage, but instead just jump fron angle to angle, frame to frame, conveying how everyone's eyes are entranced and focused on the concert. Despite this, there is still the general pattern of never remaining on one shot, as it tries to capture every aspect of the atmosphere and what is going on in the room. What is really effective in terms of the editing, is the sequence in which they have put the shots. The jumping from the stage to the different expressions of audience members and how they change is very interesting to watch.
Here is an analysis of Life In Technicolor II by Coldplay:
1. Narrative Structure
The music video opens with village fete in an English town and everyone is coming together to watch a puppet show. It opens with no music or direct relationship to coldplay or any music. As the puppet show opens, it is of two little men playing a xylophone type instrument and slowly it turns into a Coldplay concert where all of the singers are puppets. The build up is very effective, as slowly the lights dim, and as the audience is more captured and as the music builds up, slowly the stage extends out. Fireworks emerge and the faces of the audience change in astonishment too. It ends with a toy helicopter emerging into the room, and the puppets go onto the helicopter and fly out of a window, breaking it.
2. Cinematography
Rarely are long shots used in this video partially because of the small space of the room but is also not very appropriate for this content. The camera shots often do close ups on both the lead singer and a particular face of the audience, this nicely captures the relationship between the audience and players and how it evolves as the song progresses. The lighting also noticeably dims as the video progresses, as it becomes more of a concert and less of the puppet show. At the climax, there are fireworks with flashing lights and this really captivates the audience into awe. In terms of camera angles, it is mostly from the front on excluding towards the end where the atmosphere is at its height. This is when you become part of the audience and are looking up at the lead singer, making him look powerful, influential. When the lead singer does a crowd surf, the angle is from the birds eye view, but is still really front on since he is face up.
3. Editing
At the beginning of the video, the film barely focuses on any scene going on in the room. Always jumping from conversation to conversation, the children laughing, the current puppet show etc. This conveys the message of how nobody is focused on one thing in the room. Whereas by the end of the video, the shots barely ever leave the stage, but instead just jump fron angle to angle, frame to frame, conveying how everyone's eyes are entranced and focused on the concert. Despite this, there is still the general pattern of never remaining on one shot, as it tries to capture every aspect of the atmosphere and what is going on in the room. What is really effective in terms of the editing, is the sequence in which they have put the shots. The jumping from the stage to the different expressions of audience members and how they change is very interesting to watch.
Film Reflection - 23 April, 2010
Today was the first lesson of a new unit on Music Videos. We were not told about it in great detail as the teacher was absent, but we still began on it nonetheless. We were told to analyze some music videos in terms of narrative structure, cinematography and editing.
I worked in a pair with Harry, and we found it quite difficult to find a suitable music video that we felt we could write about. We wanted to find one that wasn’t just of the band playing music, because that can be quite boring sometimes and doesn’t bring out the meaning of the song. In the end, we chose to analyze Life in Technicolor by Coldplay and Your Touch by The Black Keys. We chose these two because they were both fun to watch and had a good use of cinematography, narrative structure and editing.
Initially, I wasn’t entirely sure of what “narrative structure” was so I googled it and found out it “the structural framework that underlies the order and manner in which a narrative is presented to a reader, listener, or viewer.” I really enjoyed analyzing the music videos because not only are they really fun to watch, but I had no idea so much was put into a music videos to convey the message of the song.
I didn’t manage to finish analyzing both of the music videos and will finish it for homework. This assignment has helped me realize just how much attention to detail can be important in filming, and how it is those little things that spark emotions and thoughts into viewers subconsciously. I feel that today I was most like the IB Learner Profile “inquirer” because I was being introduced into a new unit, and this sparked my curiosity and made me want to research more into film making and music videos.
I worked in a pair with Harry, and we found it quite difficult to find a suitable music video that we felt we could write about. We wanted to find one that wasn’t just of the band playing music, because that can be quite boring sometimes and doesn’t bring out the meaning of the song. In the end, we chose to analyze Life in Technicolor by Coldplay and Your Touch by The Black Keys. We chose these two because they were both fun to watch and had a good use of cinematography, narrative structure and editing.
Initially, I wasn’t entirely sure of what “narrative structure” was so I googled it and found out it “the structural framework that underlies the order and manner in which a narrative is presented to a reader, listener, or viewer.” I really enjoyed analyzing the music videos because not only are they really fun to watch, but I had no idea so much was put into a music videos to convey the message of the song.
I didn’t manage to finish analyzing both of the music videos and will finish it for homework. This assignment has helped me realize just how much attention to detail can be important in filming, and how it is those little things that spark emotions and thoughts into viewers subconsciously. I feel that today I was most like the IB Learner Profile “inquirer” because I was being introduced into a new unit, and this sparked my curiosity and made me want to research more into film making and music videos.
Film Reflection - Tuesday 13 April, 2010
By today, everyone had finished their films and so we spent the day beginning to watch the films of the different groups within the class. Today was really enjoyable and interesting as we watched all of the different ways students approached the project, and who they chose to interview and so on. Our film was the first one film we watched as a class, and when watching all of the different films, I felt I was most like the IB Learner Profile “reflective”.
When we were watching all of the films, we knew that we were also preparing for an essay to be handed in in two weeks. I had previously decided I was going to do an analysis on someone else’s film so I didn’t need to take notes on my film, but I couldn’t help noticing all the little details we missed.
Due to the lack of time, we had never actually had the opportunity to watch through our entire film in one go and noticed so many mistakes. For example, in the second interview on Fashion Past, we failed to notice that we didn’t caption one of the questions, and we could hear Zoe asking the question out loud. This really brought down the quality of our film and stuck out so much as it was the only question inconsistent to the rest. We also noticed smaller things we were aware of such as the boom mic sometimes being in the frame, and this is something I really have to learn to prevent in the future. I also noticed how the interviewee for Fashion Past was not necessarily the best choice because she was obviously more informed on the Present and would always manipulate our questions to talk about the present. This is also an example of how we should have thought through our questions more. Overall though, I was pretty happy with our film and with the only possible adjustment being adding captions to one of the questions, I would be very happy with our film.
I really enjoyed watching the other films too and noticed all different types of mistakes such as location choice where sometimes the background noise is so disrupting. I sometimes found it challenging to capture all of the points I was noticing on paper, and sometimes would be so focused on the cinematography of the film that I would not be listening to the interviews them self. When I analyze one of the films in depth, I will have to re-watch it a few times so that I can also analyze it on content.
When we were watching all of the films, we knew that we were also preparing for an essay to be handed in in two weeks. I had previously decided I was going to do an analysis on someone else’s film so I didn’t need to take notes on my film, but I couldn’t help noticing all the little details we missed.
Due to the lack of time, we had never actually had the opportunity to watch through our entire film in one go and noticed so many mistakes. For example, in the second interview on Fashion Past, we failed to notice that we didn’t caption one of the questions, and we could hear Zoe asking the question out loud. This really brought down the quality of our film and stuck out so much as it was the only question inconsistent to the rest. We also noticed smaller things we were aware of such as the boom mic sometimes being in the frame, and this is something I really have to learn to prevent in the future. I also noticed how the interviewee for Fashion Past was not necessarily the best choice because she was obviously more informed on the Present and would always manipulate our questions to talk about the present. This is also an example of how we should have thought through our questions more. Overall though, I was pretty happy with our film and with the only possible adjustment being adding captions to one of the questions, I would be very happy with our film.
I really enjoyed watching the other films too and noticed all different types of mistakes such as location choice where sometimes the background noise is so disrupting. I sometimes found it challenging to capture all of the points I was noticing on paper, and sometimes would be so focused on the cinematography of the film that I would not be listening to the interviews them self. When I analyze one of the films in depth, I will have to re-watch it a few times so that I can also analyze it on content.
Film Reflection - Monday 12 April, 2010
Before today’s lesson, my group and I had been coming in after school as much as we could to work on the film and had managed to complete a rough draft of all of the editing. We ran into many problems such as their being audio delay or some of our film being ‘unconnected’ and many more. However through all of these problems, most of the group, including me, are all feeling very competent in Final Cut Pro and are very familiar with a lot of its simple functions. We now had inserted captions to all of the questions, included relevant visual aid in media ranging from photos to film footage to youtube clips, cut out all irrelevant information and created a nice beginning to the film introducing what would be discussed.
We were told at the beginning of the lesson, that due to a number of films not being entirely finished that we would be given this double period to finish everything up and be exporting by the end of the lesson. We took this opportunity to try and watch through the whole film to fix any small things up and also to add in the credits at the end. We focused particularly on the last interview because that was the longest and also the one we had spent the least amount of time on. It was very challenging to get through everything today because we were really tight on time, a lot of the time we had to skip through long periods of footage that we felt were okay. After spending the first period or so doing this, we then shifted our focus to adding in the credits.
When doing the credits, we had fortunately already made a list of all the URLs from the pictures we used off the internet. Then we decided to use the scrolling text type of text to present that section of the credits. But before that we wanted to credit all of the interviewees and who did what in the different interviews i.e. cameraman, interviewer, audio manager etc. This took us a while because we wanted to use three different text boxes that we could position to create a nice set up. As the time ran out towards the end of the lesson, we were still trying to create the credits which was surprisingly time consuming. It was so time consuming because with final cut pro, if you don’t use ‘enters’ the text is one big long line rather than wrapping itself to fit the frame. Since there were so many URLs, this took us a really long time and therefore had to go slightly into lunch to just finish it off.
Today we worked very efficiently and although we faced many challenges, we got through so much managing to complete our project and export it by the deadline. I feel that today I was most like the IB Learner Profile “thinker” because we had a lot of things to do in an hour and a half, and we had to do it in the most efficient way possible and at the best quality we could possibly do it at.
We were told at the beginning of the lesson, that due to a number of films not being entirely finished that we would be given this double period to finish everything up and be exporting by the end of the lesson. We took this opportunity to try and watch through the whole film to fix any small things up and also to add in the credits at the end. We focused particularly on the last interview because that was the longest and also the one we had spent the least amount of time on. It was very challenging to get through everything today because we were really tight on time, a lot of the time we had to skip through long periods of footage that we felt were okay. After spending the first period or so doing this, we then shifted our focus to adding in the credits.
When doing the credits, we had fortunately already made a list of all the URLs from the pictures we used off the internet. Then we decided to use the scrolling text type of text to present that section of the credits. But before that we wanted to credit all of the interviewees and who did what in the different interviews i.e. cameraman, interviewer, audio manager etc. This took us a while because we wanted to use three different text boxes that we could position to create a nice set up. As the time ran out towards the end of the lesson, we were still trying to create the credits which was surprisingly time consuming. It was so time consuming because with final cut pro, if you don’t use ‘enters’ the text is one big long line rather than wrapping itself to fit the frame. Since there were so many URLs, this took us a really long time and therefore had to go slightly into lunch to just finish it off.
Today we worked very efficiently and although we faced many challenges, we got through so much managing to complete our project and export it by the deadline. I feel that today I was most like the IB Learner Profile “thinker” because we had a lot of things to do in an hour and a half, and we had to do it in the most efficient way possible and at the best quality we could possibly do it at.
Reflection - Tuesday 23 March, 2010
Today when we entered class, everyone assumed that it would be the last opportunity we would have to work on our film in class, getting ready to show the people from HK Heritage Group on the Monday we would get back after break. Although today was the last lesson, we would still have a week at school to work on it in our own time. Today we focused on finishing the cutting of mistakes, unnecessary or irrelevant clips and so on. Luckily that did not take too long, and then we shifted our focus to learn how to use captions.
Due to us running out of time we decided that instead of figuring out how to insert captions, we asked a classmate straight away. We understood the concept relatively quickly, and the more we played with it the more we understood it. For example, we figured out how to position it in different areas of the screen and how there are different forms of captions. Initially, we had decided we were just going to use captions to introduce the interview topics and interviewees name, date, time etc. But after inserting those and seeing how professional it looked, we decided we wanted every question to be muted and have a caption instead. After trying this out on one question, we imediately knew it was much more professional and helped the film flow more, with moments of silence to allow viewers to think. We then decided to do this for every single question, we all knew this was going to be very time consuming, but felt it would make the film much more effective and we all decided to commit out of class time to get this completed.
Whilst learning how to insert the captions, which was quite challenging at first. We also learned how to insert transitions in different forms for both video and audio. This also helped the film flow much smoother and blend nicely together. In between captions and visuals, we also inserted some visuals from both pictures from the internet and from video footage that we took. We found this quite challenging because we had to learn how separate the video and audio so that we could hear the speaker talking, but see pictures instead with a black background. Eventually after trying to figure this out ourselves by creating different layers and such we were told we could simply use the function “apple-L” to separate the audio from the video. This saved us so much time and is an example of how we can improve in finding more effective ways to use Final Cut Pro to save time and work more efficiently.
Today I feel that I was a “risk-taker” from the IB Learner Profile, because we were still feeling quite unfamiliar with the software but knew we didn’t have a lot of time left and thus had to just try a lot of things that could ruin our video footage. We were constantly just trying new things and hoping we were not making any grave mistakes. Taking these risks meant we saved a lot of time in the sense that we got straight to the problem, rather than dawdling around finding different ways to solve it and then choose one. However, there is still a lot to do and my group and I will need to come in a lot out of class time to finish by the Monday we get back from Easter.
Monday, March 22, 2010
Reflection - March 22, 2010
Today's class was quite a wake up call as soon as we found out that tomorrow would be our last opportunity to work on the film in class. We all decided that it was time to step up and try even harder to understand how to use Final Cut Pro. Unfortunately, we had not gotten organized in the previous week to come in and capture the rest of our footage and so we had to spend the first 20 minutes of the lesson capturing that.
We wanted to take advantage of this time though, so despite the lack of volume, we took notes on which visual should go with which interview. We also went through our brainstormed visuals and crossed off any unnecessary ones.
As a group, we sometimes found it difficult to decide what to eliminate and what not to so we had to come up with a system where when there was a conflict, we would listen to the content of the visual and see it it's necessary or not.
Today there was a big jump in our editing stage. We managed to to cut out any mistakes and extra takes and started to rearrange the order of the takes to make it as logical as possible for viewers to get a nice flow. While doing this, we all found it a bit of a struggle to learn how to use the different tools and transitions. In the next lesson or in lunch breaks, we are all keen to learn how to insert captions into film to enhance it and make it more comprehendible to viewers, but we hear this is quite difficult and slightly above our skill level, so this is something we will do only if we have time.
Today, I particularly enjoyed the feeling that we were finally getting somewhere in terms of editing and are nearly done, even if it was challenging I definitely feel that I'm improved massively today.
I feel that today I was particularly a thinker, as I was analyzing all of the films and really thinking about what will work and won't work in an efficient manner to finish the project on time.
We wanted to take advantage of this time though, so despite the lack of volume, we took notes on which visual should go with which interview. We also went through our brainstormed visuals and crossed off any unnecessary ones.
As a group, we sometimes found it difficult to decide what to eliminate and what not to so we had to come up with a system where when there was a conflict, we would listen to the content of the visual and see it it's necessary or not.
Today there was a big jump in our editing stage. We managed to to cut out any mistakes and extra takes and started to rearrange the order of the takes to make it as logical as possible for viewers to get a nice flow. While doing this, we all found it a bit of a struggle to learn how to use the different tools and transitions. In the next lesson or in lunch breaks, we are all keen to learn how to insert captions into film to enhance it and make it more comprehendible to viewers, but we hear this is quite difficult and slightly above our skill level, so this is something we will do only if we have time.
Today, I particularly enjoyed the feeling that we were finally getting somewhere in terms of editing and are nearly done, even if it was challenging I definitely feel that I'm improved massively today.
I feel that today I was particularly a thinker, as I was analyzing all of the films and really thinking about what will work and won't work in an efficient manner to finish the project on time.
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Reflection - March 9, 2010
Today we continued on from yesterday's lesson in terms of editing and looking for visuals. I was also introduced to filming scripts for the first time.
In order to find the right visuals for the film project, my group members and I watched all four of the interviews and took notes on anything that could be a possible visual in the film. We ended up taking too many notes down, so then began to narrow them down. We found the decision making particularly difficult as to what we should include and what we shouldn't, and still manage to have good periods of time where you see the speaker and not just visuals. As a group, we managed to cross off as many unnecessary visuals as possible.
Then we started to write up the scripts. This section is when we realized this was actually going to take a while to complete. We had not realized when simply coming up with ideas, how much thought would have to be put into the different scenes we may act out. We managed to complete a few shots' scripts and planned on going out and filming them.
As a group, we are still finding the editing very difficult and extremely confusing because none of us are very familiar with Final Cut Pro, but we have continued to persevere and are slowly making progress in our editing skills. We will keep practicing using the software, and will hopefully improve soon.
At the moment, it seems as if our group is working well together, with technology related issues giving us trouble. We may need to speed up our working speed slightly, for us to have a good complete product by the deadline.
In order to find the right visuals for the film project, my group members and I watched all four of the interviews and took notes on anything that could be a possible visual in the film. We ended up taking too many notes down, so then began to narrow them down. We found the decision making particularly difficult as to what we should include and what we shouldn't, and still manage to have good periods of time where you see the speaker and not just visuals. As a group, we managed to cross off as many unnecessary visuals as possible.
Then we started to write up the scripts. This section is when we realized this was actually going to take a while to complete. We had not realized when simply coming up with ideas, how much thought would have to be put into the different scenes we may act out. We managed to complete a few shots' scripts and planned on going out and filming them.
As a group, we are still finding the editing very difficult and extremely confusing because none of us are very familiar with Final Cut Pro, but we have continued to persevere and are slowly making progress in our editing skills. We will keep practicing using the software, and will hopefully improve soon.
At the moment, it seems as if our group is working well together, with technology related issues giving us trouble. We may need to speed up our working speed slightly, for us to have a good complete product by the deadline.
Monday, March 8, 2010
Reflection - March 8, 2010
Today was the first day of actual editing of the footage with all group members present, so it was a much more successful lesson in terms of progressing in our film and the development of our ideas. We split into two, so that Harry and I focused on coming up with visuals for the film, whilst Zoe and Jade focused on editing the footage.
At first, Harry and I had interpreted "visuals" slightly incorrectly, and were looking only for pictures and then Ms Wong reminded us that visuals could also include media such as YouTube clips. In my previous research, I had already found many youtube clips that would be suitable for this project. I immediately went onto those clips to find some suitable footage relevant to the built environment and fashion in Hong Kong. Harry and I took screenshots of particular sections of the videos we found interesting which you can see on my post named VISUALS. Although all you can see in the post is pictures, in the actual film, we would want to include the actual footage.
Whilst looking at all of these other people's media, we started to come up with ideas of our own that we could go out and capture on film that were relevant to what our interviewees mentioned in their interviews. For example, we thought about how we could go to an actual Kate Spade shop ourselves, and film the shop and the types of people going into it. We could also get footage of the harbour reclamation in Central for another one of our interviews.
I particularly enjoyed today's lesson, especially in comparison to the last because I really enjoy learning about Hong Kong history and so looking at pictures and videos of Hong Kong in the 1930s was more of a reward for me than work. I think that today was a successful lesson because we came up with many productive ideas that could greatly enhance our film and we are definitely heading in the right direction in terms of getting a nice balance of visuals and the footage of the interviews into our films.
At first, Harry and I had interpreted "visuals" slightly incorrectly, and were looking only for pictures and then Ms Wong reminded us that visuals could also include media such as YouTube clips. In my previous research, I had already found many youtube clips that would be suitable for this project. I immediately went onto those clips to find some suitable footage relevant to the built environment and fashion in Hong Kong. Harry and I took screenshots of particular sections of the videos we found interesting which you can see on my post named VISUALS. Although all you can see in the post is pictures, in the actual film, we would want to include the actual footage.
Whilst looking at all of these other people's media, we started to come up with ideas of our own that we could go out and capture on film that were relevant to what our interviewees mentioned in their interviews. For example, we thought about how we could go to an actual Kate Spade shop ourselves, and film the shop and the types of people going into it. We could also get footage of the harbour reclamation in Central for another one of our interviews.
I particularly enjoyed today's lesson, especially in comparison to the last because I really enjoy learning about Hong Kong history and so looking at pictures and videos of Hong Kong in the 1930s was more of a reward for me than work. I think that today was a successful lesson because we came up with many productive ideas that could greatly enhance our film and we are definitely heading in the right direction in terms of getting a nice balance of visuals and the footage of the interviews into our films.
Reflection - March 5, 2010
Today was filled with many challenges and difficulties but I also learned a lot about capturing film onto a computer and how the media lab works at CIS. Unfortunately, Harry and Zoe, two of my group members were absent for this lesson generally making the lesson more difficult and confusing.
Jade and I had planned for this double lesson to capture all of the film off of the tape and then begin to edit even. However due to my previous absences, I had missed the lesson where students were taught how to use Final Cut Pro and log and capture the film. Jade said she had missed that lesson too, so the lesson did not start off too well. I then went to my friend, Sophia, for some help as she seemed to know what she was doing somewhat. We connected the firewire to the camera, had everything set up, opened Final Cut Pro. And then we realized we had not found the footage of the three interviews we had completed that week. Neither knowing how to use the camera, nor being the one who had supposedly rewinded the tape before we started to film, I really did not know what I was doing. Jade and I spent 45 minutes, simply trying to find the footage on the tape. Eventually we found it after rewinding and fast forwarding through the tape at least three times.
We then began to capture, by trying to press the capture now button, but Final Cut Pro then froze, and the spinning dial appeared on the screen. Being patient, we waited for a few moments to see if the software was only lagging, but soon decided it was not going to recover. We then proceeded to force quit the application only to find that wasn't working either, so we had to restart the computer. This problem continued to happen several times and after restarting the computer for the third time we decided to step up and ask for some more help. Mr. Chiang then helped us to clear up some space on the scratch drive and made sure all of the settings were correct on Final Cut Pro for it to work.
Once everything was all cleared up, we clicked capture again but the computer simply froze again and we had to go to class and I decided I would have to come back at lunch to clear things up and start capturing in preparation for the next lesson when we could start filming.
When I came back at lunch, everything worked much better, I set it up on a new computer and left it all capturing successfully. I came back after school to check on it and tidy away the equipment, but found the computer had frozen again, but luckily most of the footage was already captured.
Overall, today was very difficult, with many problems and challenges which were time-consuming to overcome, but it is important that I learn how to use Final Cut Pro and how to capture film and so on and the best way to learn is through making mistakes. Next time, I will make sure I set up all of the settings correctly to prevent any problems and make sure I give the computer lots of time to process the information. I will also be more careful when filming to rewind the tape to the beginning.
Sunday, March 7, 2010
VISUALS
The Built Environment:
Past
Past
http://www.ibiblio.org/hkpa/Scenic/ftp/hk1972a.jpg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hIHTrmz4hTI&feature=player_embedded#
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hIHTrmz4hTI&feature=player_embedded#
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hIHTrmz4hTI&feature=player_embedded
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hIHTrmz4hTI&feature=player_embedded#
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hIHTrmz4hTI&feature=player_embedded#
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hIHTrmz4hTI&feature=player_embedded#
Present
http://www.freewebs.com/vm4hk/victoria-peak-hong-kong-big.jpg
http://www.hkcec.com/about-hkcec/image-gallery/construction-milestone
http://static.panoramio.com/photos/original/5243448.jpg
Fashion
Past
This video is useful for both the Built Environment and Fashion past. There is not a lot of footage of fashion in Hong Kong so this video is particularly useful towards the end.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RJ1b-2YHFbo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RJ1b-2YHFbo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RJ1b-2YHFbo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hIHTrmz4hTI&feature=player_embedded#
Present
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHu-xUDD3BydGWUpy8RacPsq4Tr7O6Ppd3juI9AUBa-STf3Cxu3xChcEN_MizbM1SY2KPs44em3_QmVgLDDM8Q-BIziE79gE-Hm8IGUIuEAVgly6IHwsGpjRz_0IvTFulwyjvp1pLF9Hg/s1600/IMG_4236.JPG
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/49/Ifc_Zara_20071110.jpg
http://www.tonguechic.com/assets/0001/6819/Kate_Spade1.JPG
Thursday, March 4, 2010
February 23, 2010 - Reflection
Today was my first lesson back after missing two so it was slightly challenging seeing as I was now a bit behind the rest of the class. But I managed and overall, enjoyed today's lesson and learned a lot about cinematography, especially, for the first time.
I found watching the Quantum of Solace trailer in class particularly fun and interesting today because I had never realized just how much thought had been put into a clip as short as 3 minutes long. When I watched the trailer for the first time, I did not notice too much as I found it all a bit overwhelming, so I was quite confused and didn't have much to contribute when the class read out their answers of homework from the previous lesson which I was absent for. I found their responses interesting in how they varied, but did not understand completely what they were talking about.
Watching the presentation afterwards helped me so much. This, I think, was the most challenging part of the lesson for me because I have never taken film before whereas I know a lot of the students have already and were familiar with many of the terms we covered. As Ms Wong swiftly guided us through the presentation, I listened and found it all very interesting as I picked up bits of the trailer in my head that had used some of these tools. When we were told of all the different effects on the watchers of the use of the tools such as a low angle making someone look more superior, I found it so interesting how it was so true and how easily the conscious mind didn't notice it. I also enjoyed learning about the other angles and shots and their effects on the films and watchers.
As we continued on to learn about the different lightings, and the film gauges, and different lenses, and film stock I was getting a bit lost. It was a lot of information to take in and even more so, this being my first time in the subject. I concentrated, but found the different angles and shots sometimes difficult to differentiate as we went through different images and talked of which tools were used. It's not that I don't understand it but I think I need more time to get familiar with the terms and can do so by going over the presentation myself in my own time which I have done and already I am beginning to understand cinematography and all of its tools a lot better.
After the presentation when we watched the Quantum of Solace Trailer for the second time, it was astonishing to me how much more I noticed, although of course not everything. I particularly liked the use of the different shots of when James Bond was talking to the man in the café and how the camera would move in closer to the talking pair as they got nearer and nearer to the answer of the initial suspenseful question with a series of action filled scenes in between. We discussed this section of the trailer in class, and I'll admit it took me a few times to watch it before I noticed it.
It is these kind of clever techniques that I would want to incorporate into my film depending on its purpose to make it more interesting, and a better film overall.
I really enjoyed today's lesson, finding it very interesting, fun and I learned a lot of new information on films, although it was quite challenging.
NOTE:
At the end of this lesson, we got divided into groups for the film project. I am in a group with Zoe, Harry and Jade. We need to interview two people on the built environment and fashion.
I found watching the Quantum of Solace trailer in class particularly fun and interesting today because I had never realized just how much thought had been put into a clip as short as 3 minutes long. When I watched the trailer for the first time, I did not notice too much as I found it all a bit overwhelming, so I was quite confused and didn't have much to contribute when the class read out their answers of homework from the previous lesson which I was absent for. I found their responses interesting in how they varied, but did not understand completely what they were talking about.
Watching the presentation afterwards helped me so much. This, I think, was the most challenging part of the lesson for me because I have never taken film before whereas I know a lot of the students have already and were familiar with many of the terms we covered. As Ms Wong swiftly guided us through the presentation, I listened and found it all very interesting as I picked up bits of the trailer in my head that had used some of these tools. When we were told of all the different effects on the watchers of the use of the tools such as a low angle making someone look more superior, I found it so interesting how it was so true and how easily the conscious mind didn't notice it. I also enjoyed learning about the other angles and shots and their effects on the films and watchers.
As we continued on to learn about the different lightings, and the film gauges, and different lenses, and film stock I was getting a bit lost. It was a lot of information to take in and even more so, this being my first time in the subject. I concentrated, but found the different angles and shots sometimes difficult to differentiate as we went through different images and talked of which tools were used. It's not that I don't understand it but I think I need more time to get familiar with the terms and can do so by going over the presentation myself in my own time which I have done and already I am beginning to understand cinematography and all of its tools a lot better.
After the presentation when we watched the Quantum of Solace Trailer for the second time, it was astonishing to me how much more I noticed, although of course not everything. I particularly liked the use of the different shots of when James Bond was talking to the man in the café and how the camera would move in closer to the talking pair as they got nearer and nearer to the answer of the initial suspenseful question with a series of action filled scenes in between. We discussed this section of the trailer in class, and I'll admit it took me a few times to watch it before I noticed it.
It is these kind of clever techniques that I would want to incorporate into my film depending on its purpose to make it more interesting, and a better film overall.
I really enjoyed today's lesson, finding it very interesting, fun and I learned a lot of new information on films, although it was quite challenging.
NOTE:
At the end of this lesson, we got divided into groups for the film project. I am in a group with Zoe, Harry and Jade. We need to interview two people on the built environment and fashion.
February 22, 2010 - Quantum of Solace Trailer
Unfortunately, I was absent on this day as well, but here is the homework we were meant to complete for that class:
Watch this trailer for 'Quantum of Solace' and write one paragraph on:
1) HOW did this trailer make you feel?;
It made me feel curious, interested and a bit nervous. I wanted to watch more and find out more about what was happening and why. It was very suspenseful and they never developed an idea, but instead were always switching between them, so I wanted to finish off those scenes they had cut short. It also made me feel quite excited with the music and the rhythm of the video and made me feel even a bit more energetic and keen to watch the film.
2) WHAT tools did the filmmakers use to make you feel this way?
They used a great varieties of tools to make me feel this way. One that particularly stood out to me was the effect the music had on the rhythm and speed of the trailer, and how they would switch scenes to the rhythm of the music keeping you on the edge of your seat. The music was exciting, loud and suspenseful.
I also think the way that they used all of the different camera angles and how they were always switching between them made it interesting as you were constantly looking from everywhere into the film and never got bored of one scene. They also used a variety of scenes expressing the different themes that would be explored in the film such as action, adventure, crime, romance; this is also makes the film more appealing to a wider audience. I also think that how they were always cutting the dialogue short and never telling you the answers also made me feel that I want to watch it and excited to find out.
3) HOW do you think the filmmakers used CINEMATIC LANGUAGE in this trailer?
The filmmakers used a lot of cinematic language in this trailer. They used it to give it variety, set a tone and make it interesting and dynamic, making it appealing for viewers to go out and watch it. When watching the trailer, I noticed they used a great variety of angles and different size shots, portraying who the characters are and which ones are important, strong, superior. The shots helped to create the suspenseful atmosphere sometimes coming in closer to conversations or having an extremely wide shot to show the area. They also used a variety of lighting to create scenes where it is suspenseful and dark and then switch to a bright sunny day, expressing how a variety of different scenes are in the movie.
4) Do you think this trailer is effective? Why?
Yes, I think this trailer is effective because it not only is gripping, but it also shows you in 3 minutes what you should be expecting - action, adventure, a bit of romance. It shows that is a high budget film with many special effects but still has a great suspenseful plot with the dialogue. It also shows the location of the film and the characters, whilst keeping watchers holding on to their seats just wanting to know what happens next.
Watch this trailer for 'Quantum of Solace' and write one paragraph on:
1) HOW did this trailer make you feel?;
It made me feel curious, interested and a bit nervous. I wanted to watch more and find out more about what was happening and why. It was very suspenseful and they never developed an idea, but instead were always switching between them, so I wanted to finish off those scenes they had cut short. It also made me feel quite excited with the music and the rhythm of the video and made me feel even a bit more energetic and keen to watch the film.
2) WHAT tools did the filmmakers use to make you feel this way?
They used a great varieties of tools to make me feel this way. One that particularly stood out to me was the effect the music had on the rhythm and speed of the trailer, and how they would switch scenes to the rhythm of the music keeping you on the edge of your seat. The music was exciting, loud and suspenseful.
I also think the way that they used all of the different camera angles and how they were always switching between them made it interesting as you were constantly looking from everywhere into the film and never got bored of one scene. They also used a variety of scenes expressing the different themes that would be explored in the film such as action, adventure, crime, romance; this is also makes the film more appealing to a wider audience. I also think that how they were always cutting the dialogue short and never telling you the answers also made me feel that I want to watch it and excited to find out.
3) HOW do you think the filmmakers used CINEMATIC LANGUAGE in this trailer?
The filmmakers used a lot of cinematic language in this trailer. They used it to give it variety, set a tone and make it interesting and dynamic, making it appealing for viewers to go out and watch it. When watching the trailer, I noticed they used a great variety of angles and different size shots, portraying who the characters are and which ones are important, strong, superior. The shots helped to create the suspenseful atmosphere sometimes coming in closer to conversations or having an extremely wide shot to show the area. They also used a variety of lighting to create scenes where it is suspenseful and dark and then switch to a bright sunny day, expressing how a variety of different scenes are in the movie.
4) Do you think this trailer is effective? Why?
Yes, I think this trailer is effective because it not only is gripping, but it also shows you in 3 minutes what you should be expecting - action, adventure, a bit of romance. It shows that is a high budget film with many special effects but still has a great suspenseful plot with the dialogue. It also shows the location of the film and the characters, whilst keeping watchers holding on to their seats just wanting to know what happens next.
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
February 11, 2010 - 20 Questions on Hong Kong
I was absent for this lesson, so I am not able to reflect on that particular lesson but here are my responses to the questions which were discussed during that lesson:
1)What are some significant changes in your daily life?
I have not noticed many significant changes in my daily life other than personal changes such as moving schools, going into secondary school and so on. In terms of Hong Kong, I have noticed many changes in terms of the harbour front and how it is constantly changing as I have grown up. My views have been obstructed through land reclamation.
2)How long have you been in Hong Kong?
I was born in Hong Kong and have always lived here and nowhere else, I am now 15 years old.
3)What are the basic needs of your life?
3)What are the basic needs of your life?
Being a human being, I need a place to sleep at night, 3 meals a day, clothing, water and the obvious. To be more particular with me, the basic needs of my life would be education (going to school everyday), those mentioned earlier, support from my family, a balance of work and fun.
4) Are there social classes and what are the differences?
4) Are there social classes and what are the differences?
Upper Class - rich and wealthy + educated overseas
Middle Class - working couples, educated, own their own home, dual income, both spouses working, combination of local and overseas educated
Lower Class - uneducated, chauffeur, amah, factory workers, employees of the goods and service industries
5)How do people react to the 'One Country, Two Systems' concept?
5)How do people react to the 'One Country, Two Systems' concept?
Overall, I don't think people have a big problem with being apart of China, but the 'two systems' concept is failing Hong Kong as a city and people are really beginning to notice this in the recent years, especially. It is ineffective, and dysfunctional and just a big mess. Some say all the government do is have restrictions and oppose anything suggested. I think many of the people who lived through the colonial days especially, are noticing the difference and the ineffectiveness of it and it is very frustrating for them.
6)How did the British colonization affect your life and were there any differences to the traditional Hong Kong way of life?
6)How did the British colonization affect your life and were there any differences to the traditional Hong Kong way of life?
I do not personally remember living through the British Colonial days although I did for the first three years of my life. It has most definitely impacted my life though in terms of the number of english speaking people in the city, some of the few buildings remaining and how it made Hong Kong an international city through the harbour while China was going through its internal problems.
7)How much time do you spend with your family?
7)How much time do you spend with your family?
I spend a lot of time with my family in comparison to a lot of my friends. I eat dinner with them most days of the week excluding when they have occasional dinner parties. My mum drives me and my sister to school every morning, and we always spend Sundays together and sometimes Saturdays too. We spend all of our holidays together and barely get sent off to camps. I visit my extended family in Australia every Christmas and during the summer holidays and sometimes at Easter as well.
8) Do you prefer Hong Kong in the past or the present?
8) Do you prefer Hong Kong in the past or the present?
I often dream of living in Hong Kong in the past. I would love so much to be able to explore Hong Kong in its colonial days, back when all of the buildings were the beautiful colonial style buildings, and there were rickshaws and more street vendors and markets. When the water and air was clear and you could always see out over the Kowloon hills from Hong Kong Island, and when Repulse Bay was clean and did not have all of the awful concrete infrastructure on it but rather the Repulse Bay hotel, changing stalls and so on.
Here is a great youtube clip on Hong Kong in the 1930s:
9) What was a trip to the cinema like in the 1980s when the film industry was booming? What is cinema experience like today?
Here is a great youtube clip on Hong Kong in the 1930s:
9) What was a trip to the cinema like in the 1980s when the film industry was booming? What is cinema experience like today?
In the 1980s in Hong Kong, the cinemas were usually single screen, very crowded, people would talk, shout, speak on mobile phones as they were able to watch the movie and read the subtitles in Chinese. The overall quality was good, but the sound was not always good. Many poor quality cheaply made advertisements would be shown before the film opened. Because there were not that many screens, there was limited choice available and movies were shown in HOng KOng several months and sometimes almost a year after their initial release overseas. There was more of a local audience than expat. The films were shown on projectors, they were not digital but the screens were big. The rooms were bigger than cinemas today even. The cinemas were all quite dirty and cockroach invested, the exception being the palace cinema in Causeway Bay.
Compared to today, where there is a much greater and variety of choice available in Hong Kong with almost all cinemas being multi screen complexes. Cinemas tend to be smaller in number of seats with digital sound and video. Tickets are more expensive today and are sold differently. Today you can book online, on your TV, by phone whilst in the past, it was manual and hand-writeen and you had to personally go to a ticket booth and queue up (only choice). The quality of the environment is much better now - clean theaters, clean toilets, movie releases can be same as in USA, Europe etc. Because can now be sent digitally, not on reels of tape. Cinemas today are in shopping complex whereas before were freestanding single buildings. The first multi screen cinemas appeared in the late 80s in places such as Pacific Place.
10) How do you feel about the decrease in size of the harbour?
10) How do you feel about the decrease in size of the harbour?
I understand that is the main source of commerce for Hong Kong Land and development of the city, but I think they need to take a step back and look at the long term effects of this. The harbour is Hong Kong's main asset. If we continue to make it smaller and smaller it will become less and less significant and will soon become a tiny river. I think the government should stop reclaiming land or at least reduce the rate of it until they come up with an alternative solution.
11) When did air quality start becoming such a big issue in Hong Kong?
11) When did air quality start becoming such a big issue in Hong Kong?
It started in the late 80s, early 90s during the administration of government Chris Patten. Due to the explosion of factories in the Pearl River Delta and the increase in the population of Hong Kong and the vehicular traffic.
12) Hong Kong is rapidly developing, with the Macau bridge and the high speed railway. How does this affect your daily life?
As Hong Kong continues to go through all of this change, I am living in a more and more modern developing city. It affects my life in terms of I am able to be exposed to many forms of new technologies and see how the world is developing. But on the other hand, we are losing touch with traditions of Hong Kong and its culture and heritage which is important to the city. I think the government should be careful not to go too far with this and end up losing Hong Kong in the process.
13) What sort of transportation do you use to travel around Hong Kong?
13) What sort of transportation do you use to travel around Hong Kong?
I live in Pokfulam, which unfortunately is not close to any MTR station and does not have a huge variety of buses passing by. But when I can, I take the minibus or citybus into central, and from there I usually take the MTR to get to anywhere urban in Hong Kong. I prefer the MTR the best because it is simple, fast, you skip the traffic, and you can get almost anywhere so quickly.
14) Has the rapid development of Hong Kong affected you in any way?
14) Has the rapid development of Hong Kong affected you in any way?
It has definitely affected me in many ways. These include the increase in air pollution, population, density, number of buildings, land reclamation etc. Land reclamation is one that I can personally relate to because I can remember when I was little, I used to be able to sit on my balcony and look over and see the Lamma Channel and ships passing by and a little fishing village. But then the government reclaimed all of the land, got rid of the village and built the Cyberport. My Dad tells me even before this, there used to be a small golf driving range in the valley behind the village. I never got the chance to experience Hong Kong as it used to be with little family owned shops, masses of street markets, fishing villages and so on all around me.
15) Are people in Hong Kong generally satisfied with the government?
15) Are people in Hong Kong generally satisfied with the government?
I don't think the people in Hong Kong are satisfied with the government at all. Whenever I hear people talk about the government, they are always complaining of how hopeless and backwards it all is. They talk of how all they are doing is going around in circles with pointless restrictions opposing everything whilst worrying what other people in the government will think of their decisions. They are all running around in circles doing nothing to solve Hong Kong's problems.
16) What do you think life was like for the cage people?
16) What do you think life was like for the cage people?
Cage people are extremely poor old single without family people. They are one step above homeless people, because they at least had shelter, but did not have room or toilet. They put all of these people in these rooms of bunk beds and each was a metal cage where they slept and had all their possessions. It was especially prevalent in the late 70s, early 80s as a result of an influx of refugees and a shortage of public housing. Life for them would have been lonely, miserable, a fight for survival.
17) What do you like to do in your free time?
17) What do you like to do in your free time?
I love going out and exploring Hong Kong's streets if I am in the area. Recently, I've gone into Causeway Bay or Central and into smaller back streets and looked in all of the small boutique shops and some of the local traditional shops. I also like to go boating to Lamma, but get dropped off at the fishing village where the restaurants are and hike to the beach and visit temples along the way. I also love to read, and draw and generally create things. I have a scrapbook which I often update in my free time as well.
18) How did culture develop under British rule?
18) How did culture develop under British rule?
Culture definitely changed during the British rule. It changed from being a small fishing community on a big rock to a bustling colony filled with an international population of merchants. The British introduced Western religion - churches, cathedrals, religious schools, Introduction of Western cuisine, music, literature, libraries, fashion, architecture. Basically under British, Hong Kong became a more Western styled city.
19) How did the Japanese occupation affect you?
19) How did the Japanese occupation affect you?
The Japanese occupation effected me in the long term rather than the short term. It was after the end of the Japanese occupation, when the question of power arose in Hong Kong. Chiang-Kai-Shek assumed he would be ruling the whole of China. And 3 years earlier, U.S. President Roosevelt said it was time that Hong Kong's Colony should end and it should join back to China. However this did not happen and Britain came back quickly and got the power back. Somewhat due to this pressure of them coming near the end of their rule, they became much more flexible with their policies on where the locals could have access to. They removed the restriction of the Chinese not being allowed on some beaches and not being allowed to own land on the Peak. This was the start of Hong Kong opening up and becoming the city it is today. This has affected me in terms of this bringing the end of the colony closer and into the current state it is today.
20) If there are three things you can change about Hong Kong, what would they be?
20) If there are three things you can change about Hong Kong, what would they be?
I would want to make it much cleaner in terms of both the air and sea because I love outdoor activities and particularly swimming in the sea and visiting beaches. Photos of Hong Kong's water in the past astonishes me and it bothers me that it has worsened so much in the last few decades. The air is also disappointing because it brings down the standard of Hong Kong and is making it a dangerous place to live in. I would also want the government to stop destroying heritage sites in Hong Kong such as Graham Street's Wet Market which is currently on the verge of being knocked down to create more high rise buildings. And lastly, I would want the government to take more care in terms of simple infrastructure and making them not only functional (current state) but also have some taste and quality. For example, Hong Kong is one of the only cities in the world where it has ugly silver bars on every footpath preventing people from running onto the road. It is unnecessary and making Hong Kong an ugly city.
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