Category: Collaborative Project Development

Project Description:

GENERATED POWER is a geocinema short film exploring the former Nanshi Power Plant and current Power Station of Art in Shanghai’s Huangpu district. There were many different aspects of this site to consider: its historical significance, its role alleviating inequality, its transition from electrical power to art as an agent of soft power, gentrification, and the model of the post-industrial art gallery and white cube aesthetic. In the end, this proved quite challenging; there were so many different approaches to this narrative, we struggled to find a common thread between all of our ideas.

SmartShanghai describes this museum as an “impressive but cumbersome space, a huge building likened by curator Qui Zhijie to London’s Tate Modern. The PSA may have similar hardware to that legendary institution but it doesn’t have the software – the staffing, budgets, etc – to match.” We wanted to highlight how empty most of this museum is, even during exhibits; if the PSA relies on people to generate power, what is its purpose when this space lies empty?

We visited the location three times after the end of the Shanghai Biennale, when the gallery was in transition. The first time, we collected shots from the front of the building, and the roof, in addition to audio. The second time, we collected footage from the front of the building and distance shots. The third time, I brought a cell phone into the museum and filmed the interior. We also had to collect additional assets, which we took from Youku, surveillance footage live streams, photo archives, etc.

Ultimately, we struggled with the time constraints of this project. While I view our project as a first draft, it would require several more iterations (editing the script and flow of ideas, deepening the analysis) in order to analyze this site as critically as we would have liked. Because we spent a lot of time investigating the history of this site and initially intended to take our project in a slightly different direction, we felt rushed in our analysis of the PSA’s current role. In the end, we felt overwhelmed by the amount of information we had, and I think would have benefited from creating more rules/constraints for ourselves earlier on.

Citations and References:

Consulate General of Switzerland in Shanghai. “Shanghai’s Power and Gas Situation .” Shanghai Flash , no. 1, 2008.

Henriot, Christian. “Regeneration and mobility: the spatial dynamics of industries in wartime Shanghai,” Journal of Historical Geography, vol. 38 issue 2. 2012.

Isenstadt, Sandy, Margaret M. Petty, and Dietrich Neumann. Cities of Light: Two Centuries of Urban Illumination. , 2015. Internet resource.

“Revamped Plant to be Expo Highlight,” China Daily. 2008.

Personal Reflection:

Personally, I encountered a lot of difficulties with this project; I really enjoyed learning about the concept of geocinema but had a hard time visualizing matrix storyboarding, and drawing connections between the many different aspects of this site that we wrote down. We approached this project from several different directions, but decided to just go to the site first, collect assets, and write the storyboard second. This ended up presenting a lot of challenges (since we didn’t have rules/constraints in place when we filmed, and had a lot of different footage to comb through.) In the end, we decided to explore the relevance of the PSA when it is not in use.

I went to collect footage twice, first with Sabrina (to film the outside and rooftop view) and then by myself (to collect footage from inside the empty building). I also combed through surveillance footage looking for construction sites and power plants, screen captured satellite footage, looked for film footage from the inside of Chinese power plants on Youku, wrote the script, and recorded narration. If we had been given more time, I would have liked to edit the script a second time based on Ann’s feedback on Sunday night.

Project Title: Generated Power

Group: Katherine Li, Maike Prewett, Sabrina Goodman

Description: 

GENERATED POWER is a geocinema short film exploring the former Nanshi Power Plant and current Power Station of Art in Shanghai’s Huangpu district. There were many different aspects of this site to consider: its historical significance, its role alleviating inequality, its transition from electrical power to art as an agent of soft power, gentrification, and the model of the post-industrial art gallery and white cube aesthetic. In the end, this proved quite challenging; there were so many different approaches to this narrative, we struggled to find a common thread between all of our ideas.

We visited the location three times after the end of the Shanghai Biennale, when the gallery was in transition. The first time, we collected shots from the front of the building, and the roof, in addition to audio. The second time, we collected footage from the front of the building and distance shots. The third time, I brought a cell phone into the museum and filmed the interior. We also had to collect additional assets, which we took from Youku, surveillance footage live streams, photo archives, etc.

Ultimately, we struggled with the time constraints of this project. While I view our project as a first draft, it would require several more iterations (editing the script and flow of ideas, deepening the analysis) in order to analyze this site as critically as we would have liked. Because we spent a lot of time investigating the history of this site and initially intended to take our project in a slightly different direction, we felt rushed in our analysis of the PSA’s current role. In the end, we felt overwhelmed by the amount of information we had, and I think would have benefited from creating more rules/constraints for ourselves earlier on.

SmartShanghai describes this museum as an “impressive but cumbersome space, a huge building likened by curator Qui Zhijie to London’s Tate Modern. The PSA may have similar hardware to that legendary institution but it doesn’t have the software – the staffing, budgets, etc – to match.” We wanted to highlight how empty most of this museum is, even during exhibits; if the PSA relies on people to generate power, what is its purpose when this space lies empty?

The process of creating a GeoCinema film was quite stressful given the time allotted for this project. Our familiarity with film production in general was limited, as was our technical skill in using video editing software such as Adobe Premiere. In terms of development, it was most difficult to settle on an idea and progress that solidified idea throughout the film. All of these aspects combined made for a hectic production and post-production environment, as we were not especially familiar with the process from the start. The GeoCinema genre itself was quite vague, but I think we eventually found a way for it to translate through the film. While not specifically related to weather, we discuss the concept of power as it evolves through past and present at this one location – the Nanshi Power Plant/ Power Station of Art. Overall I think our project successfully came together in the amount of time we had to complete it.

Link to film: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1imLhXtkBBrVkQRmmQDIdMPmWimZqo-K9/view?usp=sharing

Group Members: Jenny, Candy, Tyler, Sebastian

Description:

Our non-fiction film explores meteorology and it’s significance/impact in the world, from tourism and globalization to gentrification. We also looked at the cultural and historical impact of the Zikawei Observatory as well as other sites included in its network of data collection points. The aim of our non-fiction film was to show how the rather invisible or unnoticed effects of meteorology actually influence our world. We also wanted to represent it as something more than just a field of science, but also as a driving force in various aspects of our life. 

We thought it would be beneficial to look at the history of weather data collection as the impact back then was much more noticeable in regards to meteorology’s effect on the economy. We also looked at a few other sites, the church near the observatory, the Signal Tower and the Customs Building. Both the Signal Tower and Customs Building relied on this web of data collection and distribution in order to reliably receive goods arriving from the sea. The church is situated right next to the Observatory and while initially there was a bit of resistance from the church when the Observatory was being proposed, they eventually helped construct it. 

We chose to represent all of this by copying Henri Le Luc’s method of research when the Observatory proposal was rejected. He took readings at 5am, 9am, 12pm, 4pm, and 9pm of various meteorological observations (such as temperature, wind speed, etc.).  We each took videos of the sites at those times (Tyler and I split up the church and Observatory, Candy and Jenny did the Signal Tower and Customs Building). Jenny also made an intro with historical pictures as we felt like the connection between the sites (and with the economy, gentrification, etc.) wasn’t very obvious. 

Visuals/Style: 

Initially, we wanted to show our footage in quadrants with the weather information over it. I am not sure how the others shot their locations, but I tended to pan from side to side or up and down with my locations. After some feedback, we realized that it was a bit confusing (especially since we were meant to have voiceovers specific to a certain location) so we decided to have the footage that the voiceover was talking about take up a majority of the screen and have the other three locations off to the side. Jenny’s slideshow, in the beginning, showcases historical pictures of the locations as well as the data that they collected. 

Audio:

We each recorded personal voiceovers (around 30 seconds long). They each were relevant to a certain place and idea that was affected by it. For example, I went to the Observatory and talked about gentrification/the economy as the area near the Observatory was being turned into a park. We also found background music for the video. The introductory voiceover gave context to the locations and how they were related. I feel like these were all necessary as the connections between the locations most likely feel very random without context. 

Teamwork:

I feel like we all worked together well. There wasn’t really any fighting or conflict so we were able to get started with collecting material right away. Sometimes it didn’t really feel like we worked together, as we collected materials by ourselves and didn’t really work together on the video editing that much either. In some ways, I think that was good, as we were able to independently contribute to the project without needing other people to be free or requiring someone to tell us what to do. On the other hand, I think the fact that we did our own things meant that we might not have been as efficient as we could’ve been. All things considered, I enjoyed the freedom of being able to go film when I wanted, rather than having to find a time where everyone was free and have to coordinate something. For the film editing, I feel like the situation was similar. We didn’t really work together on it, but kind of worked on it individually with maybe the exception of Jenny who more or less oversaw most of the editing process. 

Reflections:

I feel like I did collect good footage and substantial amounts of B-Roll. However, I felt like I could’ve helped more with video editing. I didn’t really help much with it other than giving ideas and helping with the script, but I never actually touched the video editing software. I suppose I sent in and ordered my footage in time to give Jenny ample time to work on it, but I could have been more proactive with trying to help as I could have sent/wrote my voiceover earlier. On Sunday I helped a bit with finding background music (which might not have been implemented as they had already found music, but were looking for alternatives just in case) and with proofreading and changing the introduction script. 

Geocinema film: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1gl_gM-Ce3hXT8sMFiRyvZZtt8SseeuoL

Group: Ashley Zhu, Carlo Gabriel and Ashley Friedland

Link to reflection: geocinema blogpost

Works Cited

https://unearthed.greenpeace.org/2018/02/12/shanghai-air-pollution-worse-beijing/

Beijing is no longer the most polluted city in China. Now Shanghai has taken that place.

https://earth.google.com/web/@31.1944751,121.4388294,8.97049734a,1961.59524626d,35y,0h,45t,0r/data=ChYaFAoML2cvMTJ4cHd2Mjc0GAIgASgCKAI

Google Earth

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zhoHfiLGbY4

Lakey Inspired- Monroe

https://www.healthandsafetyinshanghai.com/air-pollution-in-shanghai.html

sources of air pollution in Shanghai

http://aqicn.org/city/shanghai/xujiahui/m/

AQI levels of Xujiahui

http://aqicn.org/products/monitoring-stations/

AQI Monitoring stations

Project Description:

For our project, we wanted to investigate the links between air pollution, the economy, and health awareness. We chose Xujiahui as our site due to its active changes in AQI, growing economic activities, and the lack of health awareness surrounding this area. We have photographs, videos, interviews, and AQI screenshots woven together in a three-part video as our final product. The first part is background information on AQI in Shanghai. The second part is an interview with a construction worker, and the third part is a subjective view based on our own observations of the site while filming. The juxtaposition between the construction worker’s knowledge about the current Shanghai construction industry and our observations was the main focal point of the project, and we wanted to highlight the (missing) link between the government and the general public. Our inspiration stems from the field trip we took to Xujiahui with our class. During that trip, we discovered numerous construction sites and noticed the amount of noise it created, as well as the high level of AQI in relation to these construction sites. In creating a narrative, we wanted to use the AQI monitors in the Xujiahui area (which documented the air quality) to serve as our ‘surveillance camera’ in viewing the Xujiahui area through statistics such as varying levels of PM2.5 and PM10. With our video, we hope to raise awareness for the urgent matter of climate change and for our audience to understand the impacts of ongoing economic activities in their homes. Therefore, our project aligns with the concept of geocinema as we portray it in a monitoring fashion through the AQI monitors located in Xujiahui, and connected it with the bigger picture of investigating China’s economic boom in relation to society.

I liked working on this project. I was able to look a bit more into an issue that’s affected me all three years of living in Shanghai.

First, we had settled on the site, but when I showed up to film for the first time, the construction site we planned on had already been finished. I walked around a small area of Xujiahui, documenting different areas I saw as potential for our new site. We found one to focus on, but also grabbed footage from the surrounding area. We were interested in the general public as part of our project, so we moved around the site a little. 

After we had gotten some more initial footage and gotten some feedback from our class, we realized we needed footage of a really badly polluted day. So we went on a day that was forecasted to reach 200(+).  We were able to get some good footage that day, too.

We uploaded all our footage to a Google Drive folder. A rough cut was made, a script and narration were written and recorded, and statistics were found. We slowly added these into the rough cut until it became our final cut. 

Here are some photos from the area: 

Here is the AQI site we used: http://aqicn.org/city/shanghai/xujiahui

Here is our final video: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1gl_gM-Ce3hXT8sMFiRyvZZtt8SseeuoL/view?usp=sharing

Bibliography

“Air Pollution in Shanghai.” Health and Safety In Shanghai, Health and Safety In Shanghai, 16 Jan. 2018, 02:46, www.healthandsafetyinshanghai.com/air-pollution-in-shanghai.html.

World Air Quality Index. “Xujiahui, Shanghai Air Pollution: Real-Time PM2.5 Air Quality Index (AQI).” Real-Time Air Quality Index For More Than 60 Countries in the World, The World Air Quality Project, 2019, aqicn.org/city/shanghai/xujiahui/.