Platz in der Stadt
A film by Franziska Steiner & Hannah Payet
Dieses Projekt wurde gemeinsam mit Hannah Payet im Rahmen des Kurses "Video Networks Continued" am Institut IDCE der HGK Basel, FHNW im 2022 erarbeitet. Der Kurs wurde geleitet von Stefanie Bräuer und Piet Esch. Vielen Dank für die Projektbetreuung und das wertvolle Feedback.
Concept
Overcrowding has been a recurring reality in the city of Basel, Switzerland. In many ways over the last 50 years, the city of Basel has become increasingly popular with the escalation of buildings, vehicles, roads, industries, and people moving in. Although a positive attribute to a thriving canton, there are the downsides, hence the term ‘overcrowding’ best describes the concept of the short film. ‘Platz in der Stadt’ aims to highlight the abrasive nature of overcrowding in Basel, utilising footage from the 1970s displaying Basel voters discussing the future of Basel. Further, the film portrays another perspective of overcrowding. As a city gains more people and tourists, the demand for housing increases. Hence, the use of a building at Mostackerstrasse in Basel which is being renovated due to its antique infrastructure. It is apparent that the building is simply being refurbished and maintained at an adequate standard, though this does mean that the price to rent will go higher, leaving the current residents to vacate a find another space in the already overcrowded and overpriced city of Basel.
Production Process
The following recording equipment were used; a video 40 LDH, a monitor, a Fujifilm X-t2 camera, and an iPhone SE camera.
Introduction
The format of the film will take a documentary-type of approach. The beginning of the film displays an intro-segment taken from ‘Video Genossenschaft Basel,’ further, the globe will zoom in (estimating the location of Switzerland) and present the title of the film, ‘Platz in der Stadt.’ Finally, the segment will follow with the ‘Toilet Guy’ greeting the audience and introducing the events in Basel.
Overcrowding
The film abruptly cuts to the busy streets of 1972 Basel, ‘Der Gesamtplan Basel’. The chosen footage highlights that Basel is thriving, more people are quickly moving into the city, though on the other hand, the dialogue follows with the more people the more vehicles such as trams and cars will need to be produced to accommodate the increase in population. The footage is edited in a way that several clips are overlapping each other, to enhance the increasing busyness and denseness of the city, aiming to be anxiety inducing. The segment ends with an experimental piece of footage taken using the flashlight of a smartphone camera and shining it against the camera lens of a video 40 LDH. This footage is used as a ‘buffer’ in between segments that is interchangeable amongst the different segments of the film.
Predictions of the Future
The film shifts to footage taken from ‘Der Gesamtplan Basel,’ where Basel voters were asked different questions about their expectations for the future of Basel. The beginning of the segment starts with some footage of buildings during 1970s Basel and one piece of footage of the ‘Lallekonig’ sticking out their tongue which was shot using an iPhone SE camera as an overlap. The footage of the Basel voters was cut along with a separate interview hosting Nadja, Franziska’s previous neighbour, who talked about her experience in Basel and living situation. These cuts show contrast between the old and the present perspective of overcrowding in Basel. The segment also shows the use of separate cameras which also deepens the concept in terms of the use of analogue and digital technology.
Interview
The final segment of the film displays an interview hosting Nadja describing her experience living at Mostackerstrasse. The segment follows Nadja’s dialogue along with showing footage of the exterior and interior of the apartment building taken using a video 40 LDH and a Fujifilm X-t2 camera. In some cases, the experimentation process resulted in some ‘mistakes,’ such as glitches, which were used to transition between segments and to remind the viewer that the footage is not completely stable in a way that it allows these mistakes to happen. This aspect worked in our favour as it can also show the ‘glitching’ between the old and present footage of Basel and the contrast between using analogue and digital cameras. Further, the film ends with footage that was shot in the present, resuming back to the current state of overcrowding in Basel, which is that there is nothing much to be done other than appreciate what is given and being flexible for the unpredictable future.
