In the face of the COVID-19 outbreak,we sang praises of the angels in white who braved the risks,the police officers working hard at the frontline,and the outstanding volunteer squads.
What was life like for ordinary people under the threat of the pandemic?
During the pandemic,Wan Daming, a documentary director of MEDOC created a VR documentary titled “One More Minute” jointly with other like-minded filmmakers.
Content producers from across the country recorded the fight against the pandemic in their localities at 10:00 am on February 20, 2020.
This VR documentary was made out of their recordings and was shown at the Venice International Film Festival.
It represented the recognition by the international community of China’s success in fighting the pandemic and contribution to the global anti-pandemic cause.
When the pandemic broke out, everyone panicked and every industry was affected, as work and production were suspended.
Small cultural enterprises like MEDOC, in particular,suffered quite a heavy blow.
At that historical moment,as a documentary producer,I had to do something.
This was a documentary director’s calling.
So, we thought up this project called “One More Minute” and went on with all the production work.
At that time, we collected a lot of materials from all over China and even from other countries.
Among them were VR videos.
Having worked as documentary producers for a long time,we were quite shocked when we first came across VR videos.
There was an extraordinary sense of engagement,which we found to be very rare in our previous experiences with documentaries.
Right at that time,an advanced Chinese VR platform called VEER said that they would love to be a part of it.
They asked us if it would be possible to make a VR film of the same nature.
This was how “One More Minute” came into being.
The video was actually completed “in the cloud.”
When you mobilized over 100 producers across the country,it could be very difficult to make one integrated video.
This was a huge challenge.
However, it was fresh from the oven.
When you watched each video clip and put them together,you got a film that was full of life and value.
Of course, there were difficulties.
It was during the pandemic.
Things like logistics and sources of equipment could be a headache.
Our partners for pre-production and post-production were scattered all over the country.
You simply could not bring them together.
I could not get any help from other channels, either.
One of my deputy directors had been trained in film editing.
So, he taught himself the rest of the things and did the editing.
It took us nearly two months to finish the editing.
It was so, so hard.
But the outcome was good and upbeat.
As for the time, 10 am, February 20, 2020, there was nothing special about it.
It was just something that we agreed on.
What is important is that we hoped to observe people in different places of the country and see if they were pessimistic or optimistic when they were at work from a sectional view.
Were they with their loved ones?
Were they still full of hope for the future?
The fun part was that you got to see a vast array of people and the different states they were in at the same moment on the same day against the backdrop of the pandemic.
When I was collecting these materials, I spent a huge amount of time and went through each one of them.
There was one piece about a young man from Beijing.
He was at Bird’s Nest,a very bleak place at that time, as there was almost no one there.
He shared his stories and feelings.
He was very calm,and yet
the way he spoke pulled your heartstrings.
I was particularly impressed by that clip.
There was another clip that I used at the end of the video as an ending.
When he started playing,I was literally welling up.
At such a nerve-racking moment,when many had lost hope,it was hard to imagine that you would get to see lovers far apart cling together via video and that he would play a tune for his girlfriend.
This was a tune of warmth,feelings,and hope.
That was why it was put at the end of the video.
It was a beautiful ending.
When we started designing this project,I had my concerns.
I was afraid that I would get a lot of materials that were dark and hopeless.
On the contrary,all the 124 video clips I got were warm and encouraging.
They made you feel that life was worth while and that our society and community were promising and upbeat.
Everyone was looking forward to a better life.
But first, we must win this battle against the pandemic.
The key is that,first of all, we must abide by certain rules.
What I have always insisted upon is that no form of freedoms should take precedence over the right to life.
Each of my 124 producers and 124 fellow travelers was making their efforts to live on under these rules.
Some of them stayed at home not because they felt hopeless but because they did not want to be a bother for the government’s prevention efforts.
Some looked hard for an opportunity to work as a volunteer.
Some were at the forefront of the fight against the pandemic themselves.
Some worked as community leaders.
There was a girl who was a college student.
Her father was on duty at a highway checkpoint.
She went to help at that checkpoint, too.
She could actually see her father from a distance.
Although she was away from him and could not greet him,she was proud that she was doing the same thing as her father.
I think this is what life means for the Chinese.
That is why we believe that freedom is nothing without life.
Being the world’s first pandemic-themed VR documentary shortlisted for a competitive feature film festival,with its unique content and its format of joint production,“One More Minute” inspires fresh reflections on the relationship between the audience, the producers, and the media.
From the perspective of the audience,the keynote of the video is far from depressing and everyone senses hope for a brighter future.
Being overwhelmed with fear and panic will never help us get out.
Love and hope are the only and most powerful source of strength in the face of a global disaster.
