The place that I have selected was my grandma’s working place. Even before I was born, she had been working as a Chinese opera actress for the past 30 years. Never once had I been there, and I was curious as to how here working environment was like, what made her stay for the past 30 years. She told me, “ It is isn’t a job, it was more like an interest, a hobby, its the friends there that made her stay.”
Lo-Fi storyboard
High-Fi storyboard
Scene 1: shows a scene of the main character; my grandma. | close up shot
Scene 2: grandma travelling to work by bus. | Wide angle shot; sound of bus arriving
Scene 3: alighted from the bus. ( butt leaves bus sit ) | Half body shot; sound of bus arriving to a stop
Scene 4: Arrived at workplace, ready to be sited and getting makeup done for her Chinese opera show. ( however workplace is still unknown) | Half body shot; sounds of using make up tools
Scene 5: Putting on makeup Close up shot; sounds of using make up tools, opening and closing of make up kit.
Scene 6: Getting hair done; putting on wig. | close up half body shot
Scene 7: Wearing costume for show that is about to start. | close up half body shot
Scene 8: Preparing to enter the show. | leg shot; close up shot.
Scene 9: Show begins. | Wide angle shot, Chinese opera stage music sound
Scene 10: Performance and interaction between actors. | wide angle/ half body shot, Chinese convocation sound.
Scene 11: Cut scene to audiences. | wide angle shot, sound of audience interacting
Scene 12: Grandma stares back at the camera, smile, as the show ended. | close up shot
This was the initial idea for how the video was going to be shot and the sounds that comes with it. However, when I derived at the shooting venue, the environment and people there changed my perception of my initial idea. The people there ( friends of my grandma ) where a bunch of funny and loud older women. They are not your typical grandma who goes to the market everyday and lead a simple life. They love to dress up, making themselves look pretty, play card games and phones to kill time, smoke, and chit chat among themselves. I notice that they are always laughing snd joking around. And when its time to perform, they are back to a serious mood and execute a professional performance.
With that, I decide to use “sound” to change the context of the video.
Here are some of the sounds recorded at the filming venue. Background sound of people speaking in dialect, sound of vehicle passing by, sound of different tunes made by different instruments , sound of performers conversing and singing. Each recorded sound is similar to one another as background noises were always overlapping one another. Similarly, the sounds are often loud and piercing, which depicts the bold and expressive culture of Chinese opera.
Onsite recorded sounds
Final Video
( The whole video shows a progression of how I grandma spends her time working at her work place. From the time they get ready, to the showcase of the performance ) The sounds used depicts the mood and environment of the people and place there, whether is it about having fun or just pure seriousness.
At the start of the video, you hear the sound of the background sound of the Chinese opera before the performance started.
Shots of people using their phones was shown. The context was changed when I placed clicking sounds ( created and recorded from my keyboard ) in conjunction to the scenes. The clicking sounds lead to the song: “wonder girls famous song – Nobody”, which suggested that the people using their phone were playing the same exact song.
The song “Nobody” , depicts a fun and and lively song ( if you watch the music video of the song, you will notice the main singers dressing up in older fashion style, and performing a live performance. ) This modern pop song changed the context of the video as Chinese opera seems to be a very traditional place. It showcase a glamours and exciting behind the scenes of the performers preparing and getting ready for the show.
As the song stops, it transits into fingers taping sounds as the video zoomed into the audiences. The finger tapping sounds leads to a soundless silent, which represented anticipation, as the performers are about to enter the stage. This creates tension, where people waited eagerly for the show to begin.
As the performance began, sound intensified, loud music of Chinese opera music was heard. This depicts the professional and well brought up performance by actor and actress.
The last scene ended off with a close up shot of my grandma looking into the camera happily in silent. Without the background sound, all there was to focus on was the expression of my grandma’s joyful face, which is easier to relate.
Classroom exercise Part 1 for Project 3.
Rhythm
There is irregularity in the overall movement of my video, however, there is a slight repetition in parts of the scenes. For example, when before the song “Nobody” was played, there is a constant shots of people pressing on their phone showed. When the Chinese opera song was played at the last few scenes of the video, similar shots of performers performing on stage was shown.
Movement
Linear narrative is shown throughout my video, where causality can be easy to track. In my video, there is a direction; it shows the starting preparation before the performance began, to the execution of the performances.
Causality
I felt that there is a clear expectation of the direction of the video as it was being played. The background music build up a sense of anticipation and tension, and the visuals shows the performers getting ready for the main performance which is able to lead the audiences’ mind into what will happen next. However, some people might feel that the expectation is unexpected as they are unaware or have no idea or context in regards to Chinese opera performance.
Duration
I felt that my final video is too short, like it needs a longer time duration to be able to showcase the behind-the scenes act and performance. Now it seems like a trailer.