Initial Photographic Visual Character Sketch for a Script ”LaoFeng” by Wu You-yi
35mm film photographs, 120 format film photographs.
The script “LaoFeng” is originally written as an archive by Wu You-yi. The idea of making this project happen is proposed as an initial visual character sketch by the media of photography. “LaoFeng” is a story of a lower class northern Chinese family in the late 2000s. The photographs focus on LaoFeng, ZhenFeng, and XiaoQian, who are the three main characters in the script. The story is about a man’s struggle with two women, one of which is his wife, that leads him into a tragic ending. Thus the purpose of making the character sketches of the three is to give the audience some ideas of their characters’ background information. To better depict the late 2000s Chinese lower class family look, asian models were chosen, and the costume for the photograph were carefully selected and inspired by many Chinese movies, plays and fashions during the decade. During the decade, Chinese young people was really firstly introduced to fashion and personalities were shown via fashion. In the photoshoots, there are different styles of shooting, such as documentary photos of the roles, colour and B/W photos with more touch of narratives. The overall style was strongly influenced by So Long My Son by Wang Xiao-shuai and Mountains May Depart by Jia Zhang-ke. Analog film cameras were used also for the purpose of recreating the feeling of the 2000s. To emphasise the feeling of broken memory/foreshadowed tragedy, some of the photos are developed and shot overly exposed. The fingerprint and scratch were also left on print for nostalgic feeling.
LAOFENG is a middle aged man who works as a security guard at an upper-class neighbourhood. He was born and raised in a modest and conservative family from the country. Not happily married to his wife, ZHENGFEN with no kids. His wife is an elementary school teacher who comes from a lower-middle-class family in the same city they live. Their marriage was reciprocal at the beginning because Laofeng wanted a home in the city and his wife wanted the validation that she never got since childhood. But now Laofeng wants something new in his life, a kid perhaps, and that’s one thing among all the things he can’t get from his wife. He can’t figure out what he wants until he meets this young, attractive bridesmaid, XIAOQIAN at his brother’s wedding in his hometown. The girl turns out to be his sister-in-law’s cousin. They have an immediate click at the wedding hall. Laofeng intentionally hides the fact that he’s married to the girl as they start dating in secret. Laofeng seems to find what he wants in this girl, youth, passion, loyalty, and the same modest background. The girl finds a waitress job in the city where Laofeng and his wife live. Laofeng is soon satiated with the girl’s youth as he was with his marriage. Laofeng wants something more, a kid, perhaps. Luckily the girl is in love with him enough to bear a kid for him. However, his wife soon finds out about his affair and divorces him. As a man like him, Laofeng’s self-esteem is brought to its lowest. Laofeng then goes to the girl, but finds only their kid who is still in the cradle. The girl has run off with a broken heart. Now Laofeng is left with what he always wanted -- a kid, perhaps...
