Every Few Hours or So (Final)

Every Few Hours or So from Calvin Yeung on Vimeo.

This short film explores the details and complexities in which we go about our everyday routines, and the speed and efficiency that repetition has developed. The film was created using a series of photographs, blended together to feign motion. Keeping with a black & white format, the film focuses on the textures, movements, shapes and rhythm of the tea making process while keeping a consistent aesthetic appeal through the countdown. The use of still images instead of conventional video adds a filter of sorts between the initial reality and final output, giving a viewer an unique and fresh perspective on the otherwise unnoteworthy activity. When the process is matched with the descending numbers in the countdown, the activity is infused with a sense of rhythm, speed and urgency, again referring back to the swiftness and impulsive movement that familiar, routine processes are subject to. The numbers themselves are physically included in the process and not digitally injected, showing themselves to the viewer at the appropriate moment. This helps connect the anticipation built by the numbers with the tea making process itself, which is usually thought of as a slow and relaxed activity. The end of the countdown includes a sound byte of a spoon being stirred in a cup, indicating the completion and end of the process.

Special Thanks to Arthur Wong and Echo Loo for filming assistance.