False Windows | 2024
Single channel animated film, 2'02''

collective memory of
Longtang Community
West Nanjing Road, Shanghai

🧠
How can digital storytelling preserve the invisible connections between individuals and society?

Since Shanghai's opening as a port in 1843, Longtang—a unique hybrid of Eastern and Western residential buildings—has become a crucial component of this emerging metropolis. When modern housing planning collided with local lifestyles, a distinctive community began to evolve, crystallizing in both the physical spaces and interpersonal connections that define Longtang. These connections seem to be even more precious under the ongoing process of urban revitalization.

False Windows , through the lens of an architectural element, is an animated film that guides the audience to glimpse the vibrant life within the Longtang community. By collaborating with local neighbors near West Nanjing Road and incorporating real-world collections into virtual storytelling, the film represents and reveals the unseen connections that bind us together, calling for the reviving of neighborly network in the increasingly fragmented society.

Director:
Xinran Wu,
Amanda Yingcharoen,
Chun Hong Li

Environment Artist:
Xinran Wu

Character Design:
Amanda Yingcharoen,
Chun Hong Li

Sound FX:
Chun Hong Li

Special Thanks to:
Gabriela Bilá,
Kaiho Yu,
Haotian Zhang
City Science Group @ MIT Media Lab

Window, a lens into Longtang daily life

photogrammetry series,
Ruikang Lane,
Hongkou District,
Shanghai,
2018-2019

ಸನಸನಸ ಸನಸನಸ

Collaborative participation of local neighbors
with AI-assisted animation

Public space in
public space
after lunch break

Ruikang Lane,
Hongkou District,
Shanghai,
2020

ಸನಸನಸ ಸನಸನಸ

Present in exhibition
Atlas of the Unseen

BloopBloop, Jiang'an District,
Shanghai, 2024.8

Curated by
Hongkong University ×
Tongji University ×
City Science Group @ MIT Media Lab