Reflective Statement

During the process of completing this project, I have gained a lot. In terms of theoretical research, I have a more in-depth understanding of the relationship between uniforms and identity construction, as well as the group of Hong Kong young protesters. In terms of film production, I undertook the task of photography and editing to exercise my multiple abilities. However, due to various reasons, there are still some deficiencies in the results of this project.

In the writing of the thesis: although I tried my best to avoid the influence of my subjective thoughts on the research results because my political position is opposite to that of most Hong Kong adolescents. However, when I analyze the interview content, I can’t completely prevent the intervention of my prejudice and maintain full objectivity, which has more or less influenced the conclusion of the essay.

In the production of the film: the film uses the narrative mode of a stream of consciousness and tells the story of a girl who is assimilated by black birds and gradually retrieves her self-consciousness in the struggle of identity.

A variety of props were used to symbolize the real situation, for example: the black birds refer to the group of protesters, because the protesters under the group-based identity are very similar to the birds in the Hitchcock movie, which cause confusion and damage, and have same black elements in the visual effect; the purple flower props refer to the Bauhinia flower, which has always been a symbol of Hong Kong and is printed on the regional flag of Hong Kong, indicates the connection between the film and the protest in Hong Kong.

Although the shooting equipment, lighting, and props were tested in the preliminary preparation process of shooting. The picture composition and effect of many lenses are inadequate during the formal shooting, due to my photography level is not professional enough.

Moreover, the visual representation of the concept of “uniform” in the film is not obvious enough. My original idea is to show the binding sense of uniforms from two aspects, clothing and props. Ropes and tapes are used to wrap models, and belts and waistcoats are used to decorate clothes. But because there is only one model, the concept of uniform is difficult to be reflected in the actual styling without people wearing the same clothes. Moreover, there is a lack of close-up of the details of clothing in the whole shooting process, which reflects that my shooting plan is deficient.

Finally, in the process of editing, my proficiency in AE special effects software was not enough, therefore, I gave up the use of special effects. For instance, the scene of ignition in the film should have been a flaming fire, but the effect of animated flame lacks a sense of reality so I still used the original image.

Summing up the above, the lack of my own experience in film production makes the film effect slightly immature. Although I undertook a lot of work to exercise my ability in this project, I should do a good job of overall planning and organize a more professional team for the sake of the product. This project has come to an end, but I hope to continue to explore the academic topic of identity in the future study and practice, and constantly learn the knowledge of making fashion films, so as to make progress in the future works.