Link: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1Btq-_Lf011ix5ZtnHHLd5DasnCvPvnOj
Date: 03.25.2019
Partners: Candy Bi, Sebastian Lau, Tyler Roman
Ideas and Concepts:
1> Choice of location and theme
Our project explores a way to narrate Zikawei Observatory and its related sites in Shanghai with a focus on meteorology as a science that connects with many other fields. Zikawei Observatory was the first meteorological observatory in Shanghai established by the French Jesuits. It contains a rich history of the development and expansion of meteorology in Shanghai and in China which we think is worth presenting. Zikawei Observatory is the starting point of scientific meteorological observations in Shanghai, of public weather reports that safeguards navigation and everyday life, and of a global network of observatories for weather data exchange.
The related sites are St. Ignatius Cathedral, Gutzlaff Signal Tower and the Customs Building. Jesuits in the St. Ignatius Cathedral were actively involved in the meteorological observations, which shows the religious and cultural aspects of the history of meteorology in Shanghai. Gutzlaff Signal Tower and the Customs Building were places where Zikawei Observatory delivered its weather report services to navigators and citizens, which shows meteorology’s link to daily life, transportation and economy.
2> A set of rules
We chose to follow the recorded rules used by Henri Le Lec in his meteorological observations in Shanghai, an important figure in the initiative of establishing the Zikawei Observatory. That is to observe the weather every day at 5 am, 9am, 12pm, 4pm and 9pm. We decided to each film at one site and at the five time slots.
While filming, we conducted amateur meteorological observations of the weather and the surroundings. During the observation, we each found an interesting meteorology related topic on the site and wrote our individual thoughts into a creative paragraph.
We, in the present days, situate ourselves in a historical geographical environment. We experience, with modern devices and modern minds, a process which the late scientist went through. In this way, we feel the history, the flux of time and explore the role of meteorology in this geographical environment, in the progress of history as well as in our modern life.
Individual Filming Process:
1> Filming with Canon 6D
The filming process with Canon 6D and a tripod was smooth overall. I had a technical problem of getting a perfect focus in the video mode. I later solved the problem by first adjusting the focus in the photography mode and then switch to the video mode.
Another problem I had was that the Bund became crowded with tourists after 4pm, so I could hardly find a place to set my camera. Therefore, it was hard to film at the best angle. Passers-by kept getting into the frame. I later decided to film what the site provides me – the building, the sky, passers-by and those who stopped to look at me. That gave me inspiration on my own topic.
2> On-site audio recording
The Customs Building is famous for the bell ring “Dong Fang Hong” of its clock tower, so I recorded its bell rings at each time slot. Also, I recorded tourists talking to better illustrate my topic.
3> Individual observation and topic
I went to film the Customs Building at the Bund on Saturday, March 16. The whole day at the Bund showed me an interesting association between the clouds moving across the borders with people traveling from over the world to Shanghai. The flow of tourists on the ground was similar to the flow of clouds above. This finding links to the significance of meteorology in transportation. Global weather data arrive at places before people travel there to ensure the safety of their journey.
Film Editing:
We first decided to place our footage evenly on the frame. But it was confusing for audience who know nothing about the story of Zikawei Observatory. With feedbacks from Professor Ann Chen and our classmates, we highlighted the major footage by making it the largest one and piling other footage on one side, so that the audience would identify the site being talked about. We also decided to make an introduction part to give background information. Thus, the film is separated into two parts.
I made the introduction part by animating old photos I found online and took in Zikawei Observatory. These images are selected to give the audience a visual understanding of the history of Zikawei Observatory and its related sites. I also wrote a script for the introduction which Sebastian revised and Tyler recorded.
Candy and I worked together on the second part of our film. I worked more on the audios of the second part. I edited the audios in Audition. In addition to the voice overs, I selected the on-site recordings that help illustrate the topics. I also carefully adjusted the timing of the audios so that they come in at a suitable time before the narration to create an ambience for each topic.
It was my first time to use Premiere and it was a bit challenging at the beginning. I learnt from online tutorials to use the basic functions.
Problems and Challenges:
1> Concept development
We were initially overwhelmed at the general research I did on the history of Zikawei Observatory. The whole story of Zikawei Observatory provides us with many divergent directions. Since the observatory is most related to meteorology, we decided to narrate this place with a focus on weather.
Yet, it was still difficult to form a concrete and cohesive idea. We couldn’t find much detailed information other than that on Wikipedia. Fortunately, Candy and I got enough information on our visit to Zikawei Observatory.
The individual topics could only be discovered in our observations and there was a risk of awkwardness when connecting individual ideas. In the end, we managed to link them together with the theme of the importance of meteorology in non-scientific fields.
2> Project planning and distribution of work
The theme and the narration we agreed on depend heavily on individual commitment. Therefore, project planning, especially time planning, is more important than we imagined when it comes to practice.
The original idea was each one of us filming all the five time slots at one site, and desirably on the same day. However, due to busy schedules, only Candy and I finished filming all the five slots on the chosen day.
It is better to have all the basic materials ready before film editing. However, due to busy schedules, some of the team members weren’t able to prepare their footage and writings before Sunday. As a result, Candy and I had to started editing before we could preview all the raw materials. It resulted in little time for revision and polishing.
Reflection and Improvement Ideas:
We managed to produce a complete concept and a film, but there are still much left for improvements.
1> A Better Background Introduction
The current background introduction video is not necessary. It’s too long and too fast, and thus is not effective enough in conveying the our message. Professor Chen suggested that we use simple lines of words to briefly present the background story and give our audience more time and space to view and think about our observation part.
2> Better Voice Over Qualities
Since we recorded the voice overs after the videos were assembled, some of us had to speak fast so as to match the audios with the videos. The narrators in a rush were inconsistent with the feeling that the videos need to convey. Also, the audience are not able to take in too much information in such a short time. We need to extend the length of the film and redo the voice overs.
3> A Better Integration of Individual Topics
By making the footage of the person talking the larger, we managed to draw attention to the individual topic being narrated. However, the smaller footage on the right are still distracting and the weather reports at the beginning of each segment convey confusing messages. We might be simplistic in our film in order to express our thoughts clearly. We can eliminate the small footage to connect four topics linearly instead. We can also embed the weather reports into our voice overs so that our audience would not mistake them for the weather conditions of four different sites.
Our theme and concept is broad and complicated, but it does not mean that a complicated film is more capable of presenting our thoughts. We need to leave out unnecessary information and lay more emphasis on the main messages in our individual topics.
Sources and Credits:
https://www.virtualshanghai.net/photos/images
https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%BE%90%E5%AE%B6%E6%B1%87%E8%A7%82%E8%B1%A1%E5%8F%B0
https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%B1%9F%E6%B5%B7%E5%85%B3%E5%A4%A7%E6%A5%BC
https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%A4%96%E6%BB%A9%E4%BF%A1%E5%8F%B7%E5%8F%B0