Capturing the city/spatializing the captured: An animated documentary of Hong Kong

Abstract

The incredible density and the ever-moving round-the clock public transport constitute the vibrant character of Hong Kong. In this totally consumptive city where the turnover rate is unbelievably fast, people have no time and no room to think. Compactness is no longer a function of lack of space but has become a system of its own. Static representation is no longer sufficient to document a city like HK in which every single parameter is animatable. Various computer animation techniques were explored to spatialize the raw footage of the city. These exercises sought to capture the ambiance rather than the physical constructs of the city. "Studios" generated in computer were stacked to form a tower in which the experiences and events of the city were encapsulated. The fixity and objectness of the tower (architecture) is effaced through visually animating the surfaces. Tower was also the metaphor of the compactness of the city