Visual Metaphor Proposal
I. Project Title: Vision
II. Team Members: Huiwei Wen & Dianyu Lin
III. Concept | Storyline:
1). Who are you going to interview? Or What is the piece (article, poem, story) for the narrative voice over?
In the voice-over part of the video, we’d like to interview people around us in Shanghai, about their experiences and feelings during the lockdown. And by composing their voices, we’re reproducing the process of starting and heating a discussion, until it’s wiped out under censorship.
2). What’s the story about?
The project is centered around the topic of surveillance. By promoting the project, we’d like to reflect on our lives under strict surveillance, especially when conflicts intensified after the pandemic outbreak in Shanghai.
3). Which part of the story are you going to focus on?
We’ll focus specifically on how people’s voices are moderated and guided under surveillance. By doing so, we want to explore the boundary of surveillance and free speech in the video.
4). What kind of style/aesthetics are you going to pursue?
Regarding the sensitivity of the topic, we may want to edit the video objectively, and the color tune for the video might be colder.
IV. Execution Plan:
1). What equipment are you going to use when shooting the movie? (cell phone, DSLR camera, sound recorder, stabilizer..)
Shooting with Canon EOS 6D. If the schedule is reasonable there is my friend’s Sony A7M4. Recording with the phone.
2). Which locations will it be shot at? When is it? Day time/night/unknown? Why?
Most should be shot in the dorms, as the residents of T2 are not yet allowed to leave the building. After being allowed to go out we may shoot some exterior scenes. Considering the change in storyline and atmosphere, there should be both daytime shots and nighttime ones.
3). What are some challenges you might encounter and how will you prepare?
The lighting is probably the biggest problem because the dormitory environment is not very suitable for shooting and we don’t have lighting equipment. We will search online for ways to create ambient light in non-professional conditions and set the camera parameters. Also, since we don’t have a tripod or stabilizer, we will try to avoid moving the camera. We will shoot fixed shots and achieve good results through post editing.
4). How will you collaborate? How will you divide work? (Gantt Chart)
Since Annika have the camera and the mechanical eye and is not allowed to leave the building at the moment, she will be mainly responsible for the filming part. We will work together to interview friends to collect audio clips. Lydia will be in charge of the audio production part. Finally, the two of us will edit the video together.
V. Storyboard Draft
VI. Gantt Chart*
| Task | Owner | Start Date | Due Date | Duration | PCT of Task Complete |
| Make a mechanical eye | Annika | 4.28 | 4.29 | 2 days | 5% |
| Shooting raw video footage | Annika | 4.30 | 5.3 | 4 days | 25% |
| Interview | Annika&Lydia | 4.28 | 4.30 | 3 days | 35% |
| Produce the audio | Lydia | 5.1 | 5.4 | 4 days | 55% |
| Video rough cut | Annika&Lydia | 5.4 | 5.8 | 5 days | 80% |
| Final modification | Annika&Lydia | 5.9 | 5.12 | 4 days | 100% |