The analysis of work We Meet Here for Cantonese Opera

We Meet Here for Cantonese Opera is the project title of the final work of my visual ethnographic research. The project aimed to discover the relationship of members in the local Hong Kong Cantonese opera group and my mother's articulation to the Cantonese Opera Club. My research project make use of video cameras to do visual documentation of the club. The final product is a DVD showing the ethnographic videos that I have collected. It is not the same as the ethnographic film making of the anthropologists make use of cameras to be their research tool and the out come is a traditional ethnographic documentary film. Video clips is not only from the documentation of the Cantonese opera club weekly meeting, but also interviews and found footage about the Cantonese opera itself. In the work, I have categorized the video clips into different categories. The categorization system is according to the nature of the clip. For example, interviews are categorized into a single category. Other clips are according to the system that divided the events of the Cantonese opera into three big types, the learning, practicing and the show. The content of interviews come across the events in the observational video clips. I make it an archive mode of presenting the video clips and make things as open as I can. It is not a structured ethnographic video but have a strong sense of archive, things are categorized and have a system of linkages. The nonstructural system of presentation of videos make the work more open for the audience to go through the materials. There are also description about the clips in my work. I treat it as the narration of the history narrative of Cantonese opera club. As I am shooting and make documentation of the Cantonese opera club, I am a history maker of the history of Cantonese opera club in 2007, Hong Kong. I want to make a historical documentation and produce knowledge through being in the club. Therefore, I borrowed the approach of the museums. Museums always make use of the text to describe about the objects and thing displayed in the exhibition hall. The approach of museums is to make the object and things as material evidence to backup the narrative.

In my work, there is also narrative about the Cantonese opera club, but the video clips is not only act as the evidence. The video clips in my work played a role to construct the narrative rather than to backup. The video clips are not passive but have interaction with the narrative. Because the nature of video clips itself is a kind of narratives, those clips documents the actions of people and events. The clips also provided visual materials for us to analyze and discover more. Because of the optical unconscious, likely every time we can discover new things in the clips. So, it is not for the closure of discussion on Cantonese opera club but to open the discussion about it. Therefore, the narrative of the work aimed to open the discussion but not to give final conclusion.

When I was working on the work, I have a strong feeling that I am making the history for the Cantonese opera club. Things come to my mind is that I can just make a ethnographic video and construct a complete narrative for it. I think that I am just exploiting the subject. The final outcome will be I am the first one to make video about the Cantonese opera club. Through the event, none of the subjects will be empowered and their voice still will not be heard through a closed conclusion documentary. I have a strong feeling that I have a mission to make the work be a space for the Cantonese opera club to present itself even it is through my representation. This kind of feeling comes from my prediction on Cantonese opera club according to my findings. I think the development of Cantonese opera club will be decline about 15 years later. Because most of the members of Cantonese opera club are middle aged and elderlies, after 15 years later, they passed away and the middle aged generation 15 years later are not listeners of Cantonese opera. Finally, Cantonese opera club will not have new members anymore. So, I need to make things detailed and systematic for people to dig inside. Therefore archive, I think, is more useful for the people who would like to study Cantonese opera club later.

In the research, I discovered the relationship of the members in the Cantonese opera club. Through the interview of my mom and her friends, the relationship between the members(students) in the club are close. They share their experience with each other and make friends with each other. In the video clips of the meeting time, we can see that they are sharing their daily life experience with each other and also, they share fruit and snacks during the meeting. They respect each other because they are partners in the opera singing. In the interview, they show their concern about their partners' feeling. They would not like to sing badly, because they need to pay for the musicians. The teacher of the Cantonese opera club is the organizer of the club. The teacher organize the meeting and conduct classes. She earns money from teaching and organizing the club. She is full time working for the club. The musicians in the club are not as close as other members in the club. Musicians are just employed to play music for the practice section. They do not have much communication with other members because they need to work through out the meeting. Sometime, they talk with other members of the club during their break.

I conducted a long interview with my mother, but the clips I put in the final work are just the part that she talks about her experience of joining the club. Because of she didn't want to show the clips of she talks about the reason of joining the Cantonese opera club, I decided not to show in the final product. Therefore the part of her articulation to Cantonese opera club cannot accomplish well. But, we can still know more about her from the framing. I decided to conduct the interview at home and the framing shows the sitting home and the kitchen of our family. The details can tell our home is in a small apartment. Both the sitting room and kitchen are small and haven't much space. Our family is also traditional with Chinese style worship place for our ancestors. The interview is a self narration mode of interview. I raised a question to let her express to herself and see what I can get from it. The result shows that she really like to sing Cantonese opera and when she talk about the process, she thanks other members in the club many times. She have good relationship with others in the club. Her interview is also useful for the study of the relationships between different members and contributors of the club.

The work We Meet Here for Cantonese Opera I leave the audience to interpret the materials and make their own analysis on Cantonese opera club. I finally accomplish the work with a open ended discussion on the material. Although the part that I would like to find out the articulation of my mom cannot be accomplish, my mom's interview can be also a good material to discover that member's background, the experience to join the club and the relationship between the members. I made the form mat to be an archive, is to make the project an endless project. Cantonese opera club have a lot of things that we can discover, through the shooting and collecting of field footage or found footage, the layers of content will be more rich, therefore, I take the decision to make it an archive of footage rather than a structured ethnographic film.

1 page brief on final project

Ethnographic research on a Hong Kong Cantonese opera club

Joining a local Cantonese opera club is a quite popular culture activities to the age group of 40 – 70 years old HK people. Both working class people and bourgeois would like to join the cantonese opera club. In my research, I would like to study the relationship between the founder(tutor), members(students)and other related parties such as musicians and other helpers. As my mother was a former member of one of the clubs, I would like to start my research on my mother first. Then, derive and expand the discussion to my study field----the club itself. Hope I can find out the underlying features developed the articulation between my mother and the club in the final stage to research.

Futher more, the studies of Cantonese opera are quite many, however the study of the people's relationship in a local Cantonese opera club is quite rare. Starting from my own personal concern and also the practical situation of the Cantonese opera club's studies, I decided to focus my research on the Cantonese opera club.

Initially, I would like to make the project in to a vedio work that may be a ethnographic film.

Desktop View

Objects on the desktop:

1. books
2. paper notes
3. banknotes
4. head banner in Japanese style
5. Little red book(Quotation of Chairman Mao)
6. folders
7. 2 harmonicas
8. calculators
9. DVDs
10. CDs
11. mobile phones
12. DV tapes
13. wallet
14. models and dolls
15. a pen
16. photographs
17. medicines
18. guitar picks
19. earphone

Categorization

A. Purpose

Academic uses: Book and notes, calculator, folders, DV tapes

Entertainment uses: DVDs and CDs, earphone

Personal uses: wallet, mobile phone, medicines, banknotes

Musical training: guitar picks, harmonicas

Memorial and appreciation: photographs, head banner in Japanese style

Political Reference: Little red book

B. Frequency of use

Most frequent use: book and notes, folders, calculator, DVDs, earphones, medicine, banknotes, mobile phone, wallet

Less frequent use: guitar picks, harmonicas, little red book

Seldom use: photographs, head banner in Japanese style, DV tapes.

C. Allocation

There is no organized allocation of objects actually. However, the position of objects can be use a time line to illustrate. The first phrase: When the desk was newly bought, I decided to put all the stuffs on the 2 sides, books on the right, CDs and DVDs on the left. It was a setting to convince myself. At that time, I actually think that I will work there. The second phrase: I bought and get many things; I started to put some models and dolls, photographs etc. for memorial and appreciation. The desktop started to be messy and I failed to work with my desk, because, I changed to work on computer and my computer is not placed on my desktop but on the windowsill. The final phrase: My desktop become messy and the centre of the desktop used to be placing the things that I frequent use and finally the work function of the desktop failed to achieve.

D. Spatial Complexity

The most complicated area of my desktop is the centre, I put more and more things on it, different layers of things developed. For example, books at the bottom, notes on the books and wallet/banknotes/folders on the notes.

Function of the desk

My desk is already totally for a purpose of storage. A storage temporary storage area . Those things are most my frequent use belongings. No one in my family have intention to clear up my desk or use my desk. The desk is totally belongs to me. Therefore, for my own convince, I turned my desktop totally be a storage area just like the top of a cupboard.

Findings

Desktop originally supposed to be the person’s working place. However, in my case, it is totally different. Because of my sovereignty on my desk, I can change it to be the form which is most convince to me. It is totally my personal space that I won’t share with others. My desk became my own storage area and I just leave it messy. It reflects my personality of subversive and self-oriented.

Family photo frame analysis

Frame: Family photo

Who are the members in this family?

In this family, there are 3 members, the mother, the father and their son.

How is their position in the photo?

The mother is sitting in the centre of the photo, and both the son and father are standing at the back of the chair that the mother is sitting. The son is also standing at the left of the father.

How is your analysis?

In traditional Chinese families, mother can never be the main character of the family. However, in this photo, the mother is sitting in the centre and the father and the son is standing on the side. The father and the son seem to be serving and protecting the mother just like her guard. Of course, in many families, the father and the mature son are both the protector of the family. Therefore, we can still find out some evidence in this photo to show the traditional practice of this family. Also, this photo shows the relationship of the family members in it. They are not too imitative in their gestures. But their position showed the father and the son have a strong intention to protect and serve the family. Their relationship is not focused on the human emotions but the support of each other, the protection of each other.

The photo shows the faces of the family members. Audience can easily recognize they are from the same family. The three members look like each other very much. So, the audience can easily get the idea of family photo. Their gestures and facial expressions are not too cool and not too imitate, therefore, the photo showed the “official” relationship of this family. The photo also showed the size and characteristics of this family. This family is nuclear families just have three members. Usually, in HK families, there are only few members and known as nuclear families after the economic bloom of 1980s.

Frame: Cantonese opera club show memorial

Who is in the photo?

The performer, her husband and son.

Where the photo was took?

At the backstage of the performance venue.

How is your analysis?

The photo has an intention to show the performer was the main character. She sit in the centre of the photograph. The photo showed the performance of the performer is important to her family members. All the family members came to the venue to support her. The performer dressed up not causal, this shows the performance is important to her too. The photo also shows the environment. It is the backstage of the theater, it is obvious for the audience to notice the photograph is a memorial of the show.

The site of audiencing

This photo is shown in the obvious position in the flat of the family. It is already an official family representation. The display intention of this photo is to let the audience can easily to understand and get the idea of this family. Such as the family size, the members and also the relationship of the members. Moreover, the photo has a function that showing to the audience that the mother is a performer. After the audience know about the situation, the owner of this photograph (the mother) can start her story telling on her experience of singing Cantonese opera.

Written Report on talking heads

Written Report on talking heads

1. What is your interview about?

My interview is about names of my interviewees. Their Chinese name, not English name or nick name. I would like to know about how much they know about their name, do they like their name and also any interesting things about their name in their own personal history.

2. Why would you like to conduct an interview (research) on the name of your interviewees?

I myself always have a feeling that in different kinds of social practice, our name is always in a condition with out much care. We also do not have an active attitude towards our names, we do not think much on our name, and we usually take it as just a simple calling. Therefore the interview would like to catch the immediate response of the interviewees when they were asked about their names.

3. What is the language of your interview? Including the replies of the interviewee and also your questioning language?

The interview conducted in Chinese (Cantonese), both the interviewer and the interviewee use the language of Cantonese to communicate with each other.

4. Is Cantonese the mother tongue of both the interviewer and interviewee?

Yes. Therefore the interviewer and the interviewee have no language understanding problem in communication during the interview.

5. What questions you have prepared for the interview?

I have prepared an outline for my interviewees to talk about their names. The outline basically is: a) What is your full Chinese name? b) Do you know the meaning of your name? c) Do you know why you have this name? d) Do you like your name? Why? e) Any interesting things or things you would like to tell the interviewer about your name in your own personal history?

6.Who are your interviewees?

My interviewees are 3 female university students studying in School of Creative Media in City University of Hong Kong. They are: Tracy Tse, Siu Ying, Ting.

7. In the interview, besides of the content , what have you found in their behaviour?

The followings are some common behaviours of them: a) afraid of forgetting the outline of the interview. b) no intention to look at the camera when thinking. c) when they are nervous they tried to laugh. d) they have intention to ask the interviewer questions when they are in the performance.

8.So, any significance behaviour of each of them?

Tracy Tse tried to stop the camera recording when she feel uncomfortable that she have nothing to talk any more.

Siu Ying is the most frequent to ask “any more to talk?”

Ting is the most active infront of the camera. She have many facial expression and she have strong intention to tell the tales.

9.What have you found in the content of the interview?

a) The interviewees all come from families that have brother or sisters. Therefore their names have a strong connection with their brother or sisters. b) All of their name have a good meaning to their parents. c) Their names are choose by their parents directly. d) 2 of them like their names and one of them doesn't. e) They have an intention to emphasise the influence of their families.

Conclusion

In the interview, the researcher discovered interviewees are so passive in front of the camera ad always would like to seek for help from the interviewer. Sometimes, the interviewees would like to try to make use of the camera to express themselves when the were placed in a passive place. For example, Ting would like to tried to make use of the camera and interview as a space to complain about her parents. Also, one topic of interview can leads to many issues. In this interview, obviously is an interview about names, but issues about family power, authority of parents, discourse of Chinese characters meaning come out. The founding of the interviews is very useful for researcher working on these issues.

Response Paper of the 24 hours project

Circle One

I have learned mainly about the subject and the camera's influence on the subject, also the interaction between the camera and the subject. The subject told that she felt like acting compare with her normal life which didn't have camera involved in her daily life as there is a camera. Besides, In the event, the response of the people who supposed to have interaction with the subject is a bit ought because of the presence of the researchers.

As a 2^nd reader of the visual ethnography event, as a researcher, I can recall the things that happened that day in the field with the subject. Some of the events that happened on that day, I myself cannot remember well, and the images helped me to remember the event. The recored material function as a memo pad to help the researcher to organize his/her memories.

I can also discover some details and little behavior of the subject through the recored materials. In the field recording time, some times the researcher focused on different things attractive and missed some details such as the subject stop taking notes in the lecture after a period of time.

The researcher can also discover deeply about the happenings in the space which the subject involved in through the images recorded. For example, camera can record the details of the things in the living room that researchers cannot have enough time to mark down the detail in black and white in the field.

As a 3^rd reader, I can study about the repeating and routine of the subject's everyday life.

With the presence of the camera learned more about the personality of the subject, such as the researcher learned more about the behavior which behave in front of camera. However, the researcher learned less about the behavior of the subject which present beyond the camera. As the subject told the researcher that she felt unnatural in front of the camera. She has lesser intention to do something she would like to do in front of the camera.

Circle 2
The organization strategy is non-parallel. It focused on categorization of the events of the everyday life of the subject. The everyday life divided into 4 categories. School life, sleep, something needed to do and free leisure time. It also have a dominant feature, in sound and images, the lecture.

The alternative is a single channel video, but we still keep the categorization feature. Make the 4 channel separate and together with the help of inter cut texts.
The limitation is the power of the dominant feature will degrade.

The limitation of our approach is the dominant feature of the ethnography would depend on the researchers' interpretation. Together with the 4 channel presentation, audience may miss out some effect the visual images. Also, the researcher leads the view of audience lack of encouragement of active viewing

Circle 3

The every day means repeating, something repeating happens. In the research, it means practice of lifestyle. Which is something that the we keep on repeating to do in our normal life.

We would like to tell the audience that there is a hierarchy in the everyday life. There must be something occupy most of our time and effort in our daily life.