I was working with Annie and Xin. Our final video can also be found here in addition to our submission (The original file is 593,116 KB.):

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1YAliZcZT35XVYfh235tcyz5S5zKChrip/view?usp=sharing

The proposal is here:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1DMXjeTKpg5KbayI6Ds6v1Tf8ilABUpXnTpsaDANeEFc/edit?usp=sharing

The transcript notes are here:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1t-0rXl0MFlPrGitL5YZjzCRUgVlyqegxNl_WmikKxeA/edit?usp=sharing

We want to depict three different classes/layers of society: the top, the middle, and the bottom. With the narration, we want to describe the contrast implicitly because while we hear fancy description/promotion/… of a decision/policy/… created by the “higher” people, it often comes with an underlying contrast where the “lower” people are neglected. We have been inspired by the idea of the folding city in the sci-fi novel Folding Beijing and want to apply it to the Shanghai city landscape. Later, we have also been inspired by another novel Brave New World, where people are divided into classes. We first searched for locations in Shanghai with the sense of “folding” and cyberpunk (because we want the general aesthetics to be cyberpunk) on the Internet. We also specifically looked for scenes with skyscrapers and old residences. After we narrowed down some locations, I created a Google Mymap so that we knew where we should go.

Therefore, we went to Tianzifang (田子坊) in Xuhui District, Tiantong Road (天潼路) in Hongkou District, and Lujiazui (陆家嘴). At Tianzifang, we shot some footage of the “third layer”. However, when we were shooting at a zebra crossing on a public road, a guard came from the opposite of the road to us and threatened us to delete all the footages we took, saying we would be in trouble if we dare to use them, because they are a procuratorate (something like that) and no shooting was allowed, although there is no law or sign prohibiting it. There was also a female person walking from that place, standing behind us, and swearing at us, but I will not put down the exact words. We were about to call campus safety, but we did not have enough time to deal with random people, and we had to continue to shoot our footage at some other places. Anyway, when we arrived at Lujiazui at night, we were excited to accidentally find not only the same location where the footage of our rough cut was taken but also a balcony on top of the IFC Center perfect for cyberpunk city views.

I was mainly shooting with a GoPro. After we shot everything together, we shared them via Google Drive and roughly edited them respectively, since Google Drive compressed them. After cleaning up the clips, I stabilized them (because the tripod we borrowed was kind of broken, and edited their color temperature, color tone, contrast, shadow, color wheel, and brought up the numbers of orange, cyan, purple, to make them appear cyberpunk. However, it was a challenge to send all the edited footage to one place and combine them because of compression and the size of a Premiere project folder, but I happened to bring my portable disk, so we send footage via it after export, instead of sending the entire project. As for the audio, we explored the robot-like voice at https://www.narakeet.com/. I tried to classify everything into their respective folders, but they still ended up everywhere.

Although I tried to create one of the effects of folding city, it was not working well with our footage, so we decided to go with split screens.

We did not have any finalized storyboards before we went to shoot, but I think it was enjoyable how we figure out some composition ideas as we were shooting.

We mainly used long-shot and time lapse throughout the piece. I think we achieved the aesthetics of cyberpunk, but for future improvement, maybe we could add some close-ups or non-time-lapsed clips and slower narration to slow down the pace a bit.

Lastly, I would like to express my appreciation to Professor Chen for all the help he has provided not only for this project but also everything else. I would also like to appreciate my teammates Annie and Xin for doing this project together. During the busy finals, we overcame the difficulties and finally nailed it. Both the project and the class will be one of my most precious memories at NYU Shanghai.

🌞

Evaine Sun

5.12

Here is the video: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ifmUr9Xa0v5zgIOBYkarE1j3LqT81bCo/view?usp=sharing

and here is how my Adobe PR look like:

The video is about fighting the ender dragon of Minecraft.

I wish I could make the two screens more connected to each other. For example, I originally wanted the dragon to fly from one screen to another screen (from the Lego world to the Minecraft world), but it was difficult…

My reverse storyboard is based on the anime Spy X Family Season 1 Episode 1 from 7’32” to 8’09”: https://www.bilibili.com/bangumi/play/ss41410?

Here is the video: https://drive.google.com/file/d/18L45-D1b7f2r-tc50kqPmMitfhrebwJ-/view?usp=sharing

and here is how my Adobe PR look like:

I feel like I exported my video with the wrong frame size …

My video is called How to Get Up, and I tried to make it with a funny vibe. (I was originally thinking of stop motion animation, but I think it would require more equipments and assistants.) The alarm sound at the start is a robot sound in iPhones and is what I use everyday to get up. I ended it with Duolingo because I always do it right after I get up in case I forget about it later in the day.

For possible future improvement, I would like to make the video clips more clearer and have the cuts right on the beats of the background music.

Here is my redesigned Memory Soundscape: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1GHVMkl-LPq0z7M4B0dSUMgEWEg-AF-P-/view?usp=sharing

Here are my Adobe Audition tracks:

I kept the original paning and sound effects, deleted unnecessary pieces, and reorganized the remaining pieces. I think this version is more “coherent” because I tried to only focuse only my experience with piano and eliminated parts of the other musical instruments. I also adjusted the volume and length of some pieces because they were too soft last time when we played in the studio. I mainly extended the length of the nail hitting string sound and the piano bam sound to make them feel more annoying.

I redesigned my Photo Diptych during the Spring Break. The first one is original, and the second one is photoshopped:

I went to Huangshan during the Spring Break, and it reminded me of my trip to Suzhou in March becasue they both have beautiful traditional residence (although one is Hui style and the other is Su style). I also just finished Suzhou Garden with building blocks, so I decided to let the Photo Diptych be the building block version and real version of Suzhou Garden, both with emphasis on the eaves, the engraved windows/railings, and plants and flowers.

For the photoshopped one, I combined several pictures of Suzhou Garden I took. I’m glad I have more time during the break and I already have a Photo Diptych done (although this one is not a direct improved version of the original Photo Diptych, there is a feeling that I’m not making something from blank) so that I could take my time explore the tools in Photoshop. I mainly used eraser (with adjustments in size and hardness), clone stamp, and photo filter. I enjoyed the process, especially when some parts from two different images happen to blend in with each other. As for the extra bright pagoda under the bamboos, there is a smaller version of it again in the window on the right.

Here are the 36″ one and the 47″ one. (I think WP does not have video preview? The links let you download the files.)

They are both about making matcha latte. The first one is closer to 30 seconds, but with less camera movements. The second one has interesting background sound towards the end, but extra long (because the milk was not as warm to make the mug change color fast). The beginnings are the establishing shots, the middles are the mixing of the ingredients, and the ends are the color changing of the mug.

Ahhh I think I need an assistant next time because holding the camera and trying to make movements within the frame at the same time was so difficult. Without editing, it was also difficult to control the time and the sound.

Here is my final delivery: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1QvEqhuj2-FuLBQSCF0CDGhjOZzTrz-J2/view?usp=sharing

(I uploaded it to Google Drive because .wav format was not allowed here.)

Also, for reference, here are my original notes:

and here is how my Adobe Audition tracks look like:

I eliminated the recordings of flute and suona because after I tried to add them, the piece appear messy because I didn’t really have the space for multiple recordings of them, and they might abruptly pop up for one three seconds. Additionally, most of the main sounds are on the first track, secondary sounds on the second track, and so on.

The memory is about my experience with musical instruments since childhood. I started with the sounds of moving a chair and opening the piano keyboard lid. After that, the sounds of the metronome come in and last until the end. The 1XXXs was what I first learned with the piano in kindergarten, and then I gradually learned more notes and different tempos. After the interlude of the basics of the saxophone and guzheng, (there is a piano bam right after the guzheng because I was always annoyed by the noise created by the nails and guzheng strings) I recorded the whispering sound to simulate the whispering of the audience before I stepped onto the stage for a performance. The metronome goes faster during that session of the piece to indicate that I was nervous before my performance, but I actually relaxed after I started playing. For the part of the performance, I mixed not only the piano but also other musical instruments as well as the whistle of my mom. My dad was not around when I was recording my sounds, but I wanted to appreciate my parents for their support. After the applauses, I put the sounds of turning music sheets, but then the bell sounded. It’s actually the sound in my family to indicate that meals are ready because my grandma was tired of calling every person to eat. I used this “anecdote” because I also wanted to make this “performance” memory seem like a dream. After the experience of annoyance, nervousness, and pleasant, it’s actually what I’m recalling during a daily practice of the musical instruments. When I’m done with a song and about to turn to the next page, the bell rings and brings me back to reality: it’s just a childhood memory, and lunch is ready.

There are also sounds of starting a car engine and traffic because I remember I was always annoyed when I was supposed to get in my dad’s car to go to my musical instruments class (although I always enjoyed the class after those brief periods of annoyance, it’s like you don’t want to go take a shower, but once you are in the shower, you don’t want to get out). I made the piece mainly from my perspective, so the sounds of violin, drum, and ball hitting the ground is what I have been hearing from my younger brother. The reason why the repetitive notes appear to be 356 (EGA) is because there are the first three notes of a song called Leave the Mountains, and it’s the only song that can be played with every musical instruments we have learned, with the restrictions of our skill levels and the ranges each of them has. As for the technical part, I mainly used paning, DeNoise, Amplify, and EQ. However, I found the equalizers difficult to use, especially since I don’t really understand the purpose of each slider and the before-and-after differences are subtle, so I just applied them onto the tracks :o.

Further improvement: make something the “main character” throughout the piece, for example, the piano; make it more emotional/dramatic; make it about a more specific memory. Although other people think my piece is interesting in combining all the musical instruments and creating a memory that was unique to me, I hope I can generalize it a bit more so that everyone can understand more.

What are the precise rules of each of the obstructions?

• First: no single edits may be longer than 12 frames (12 frames, answers, Cuba, no set)
• Second: going to a miserable place (up to Jørgen how he defines miserable), do not show it, Jørgen Leth is the man, meal
• Third: complete freedom or back to Bombay
• Fourth: cartoon
• Fifth: Lars von Trier will make the last obstruction. (lol) Jørgen Leth does nothing except for being the director. Jørgen Leth will read scripts written by Lars von Trier.

 

How does Jørgen cope with the obstructions?

• First: The clip starts with a man smoking a cigar, changes perspective every 12 frames, some close-ups, and then shots of Jørgen, the woman, some papers, some Cuban buildings, and then shots as if the man and the woman look at each other, the man with his mouth (?) and the woman with her eyes, and then the “perfect man” dancing. Narration wise, first some words like man, woman, Cuba, and then sentences of questions and their answers. After that, the woman lies down, the man shaves, then two buildings “look at” each other.
• Second: Jørgen takes off and puts on his jacket, with Bombay people behind the transparent background, then Jørgen shaves, then Jørgen has the meal with elegant opera singing.
• Third: In Brussels, the clip starts with chairs with spotlights at night, and then the man and the woman with the screen split into halves. The narration is in English. Then the man in front of his car and a factory, and comes the woman speaks and smokes in her car. Lastly, a boat sailing in rain.
• Fourth: Jørgen produces a 3D, comic-like cartoon. Sometimes, the lines are simple and the colors are solid. However, at other times, the style becomes a bit surrealistic and even psychedelic. It also refers back to the previous versions.
• Fifth: The clip is mostly in black and white. The narration goes on with shots from the production process of previous movies and conversations between Jørgen Leth and Lars von Trier.

 

What is the effect on the movies he produces?

• First: Some cuts are so sudden and repetitive that feel inappropriate, but in general, the clip has an interesting, lively, stop-motion-animation-like effect.
• Second: Jørgen’s exquisite outfits and meals create a contrast with the local Bombay people.
• Third: The split screen captures the physical and psychological movements of the man and the woman.
• Fourth: The images seem to be flowing, and they resonate well with various placements of texts. The frames seem to be intentionally noticeable.
• Fifth: The third person perspective narration and shooting make the movie feel like a documentary.

 

Other thoughts crossing your mind while watching.

• (the part where they watch The Perfect Human) Watching people from 2001 watching movies from even earlier times, already a sense of age, and then an even stronger sense of age.
• (the part where Jørgen gets up early) How is this movie shooted? Is this a documentary movie? Are Jørgen’s reactions his actual reactions or is he an actor with pre-written scripts? (after watching the fifth movie) I do feel like the entire movie is a documentary movie itself.
• (about the first obstruction) How long is 12 frames? It is like blinking once.
• (the part where Jørgen is in Bombay) The sounds (for example, shaving) seem abrupt compared to “actual” background sounds.
• (the part where Jørgen crosses some scripts on the wall) At least Danish, English, and French. (and the woman in the third movie speaks French)

“Paradoxically, documentary images are so powerful because there is no more unbroken belief in their truth.”

• The certainty of documentaries is being challenged.
• Example
  • A live broadcast in the 2003 US-Iraq war
  • “Due to the low resolution, the only things in sight were green and brown blotches, slowly moving across the screen.”
  • “The aforementioned pictures on CNN also follow this logic: they are no longer about information that could be mediated through simple, intelligible images. Instead, they are all about an admixture of panic and excitement that comes from the feeling of being there. We do not need to see anything concrete to feel the atmosphere of war.”
• Uncertainty Principle of Modern Documentarism
  • “We are surrounded by rough-cut and increasingly abstract documentary images, shaky, dark, or out-of-focus, images that show little else than their own excitement. The more immediate they become, the less there is to see. They evoke a situation of permanent exception and constant crisis, a state of heightened tension and vigilance.”
  • Honestly, I’m not very sure what aspect of the uncertainty of documentaries the author is referring to. Is it that digital contents are modified just like Photoshop-ed images? Or is it that many documentaries are emphasizing certain emotions, feelings, and senses, instead of “real”, objective information?
  • (One reason why I’m confused may be that I’m not sure what the author refers to by “documentary” at the first point, whether he uses “documentary” as an adjective to describe live broadcasting. I instinctively thought live broadcasting is live broadcasting, and documentary is documentaries, the pre-recorded videos with edits.)
• There is a tension between “expression” and “representation” of truth in documentaries.

 

Certain movies and films are based on a true story. How does truth inform fiction? How might fiction inform the truth?

• Whenever a movie says it is based on a true story, it almost always brings a feeling of “being there”, regardless of being aware of how much the true story has been modified. As humans, it may be an instinct to empathize with true stories, especially those that happen to their fellow humans.
• For example, a person with a tragic life may be made into a movie, providing materials for fiction. While fiction is usually considered to be something based on imagination, it always reflects something about truth.
• However, I feel a trend that the boundaries between truth and fiction have become more blurred, or in other words, they have integrated with each other more than I thought traditionally.

 

What is the significance of the authenticity and representation of the truth in the media that you consume on a daily basis? What is the role of a live broadcast?

• In one sentence, I will say the authenticity and representation of the truth in the media I daily consume is significant, although people may tend to choose the information that they want to consume, both intentionally by ignoring certain information and unintentionally by algorithms.
• On the one hand, the authenticity of the information in the media can be challenging, according to the most basic standards of whether something is true or false. However, I found that even if the information in the media is objectively “true”, there can be some implicit effect on people psychologically. For example, when I was in NYC, most of my knowledge about what was happening in China came from the media. I will say the negative social accidents being reported in the media are authentic, but when I feel like there are so many negative social accidents, those may actually be a small amount out of all the social events going on that are not “positive or negative enough” to be reported.
• I have constantly heard about live broadcasting, although I’m not an active live broadcasting participant myself. First, as for live broadcasting in online shopping, I heard that one reason people watch it is that they want to see the “authenticity” of the products, although I think it may not be as true either when a lot of hosts are sponsored and do not bear objectivity. Second, as for live broadcasting in sports games, I want to relate it to attending a concert online versus in person. When I know a game has not ended and there are possibilities, it makes me as excited as if I’m actually participating in it. That may be what makes a person human, being unable to predict futures (compared to the Heptapod) and being immersed in the present. In that sense, live broadcasting becomes a tool for people to gain the “feeling of being there”, whether the contents are only “green and brown blotches”.