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Mellow Out the Chaos: Video Finds a Silver Lining in the Hong Kong Hustle

By Stasia Fong 18 November 2014
Crowds, neon signs, traffic, and the hustle and bustle of busy restaurants are normal parts of life in Hong Kong, however, they can be overwhelming. Thankfully, one of our optimistic and talented residents found the silver lining to our city’s sensory overload – and presented it to us in the form of a fantastic video, ‘The Calm Within’. https://vimeo.com/105359961   The Calm Within from Mihir Suvanam on Vimeo. Mihir Suvanam, an expat hailing from Mumbai, India and residing in Hong Kong for about a year, created ‘The Calm Within’ over several commutes between work and home. Shot and edited entirely on an iPhone 5, Suvanam captured Hong Kong as he experienced it. Although Suvanam is currently working in sales at a financial media company, street and travel photography has always been his passion with this video being a rare exploration into videography. Focusing on the chaos of our city, complemented by handheld shots, Suvanam immediately throws the viewer into the streets of our city. “I purposely kept it that way because I wanted the video to have an organic feel to it. I wanted to show what I feel living life in Hong Kong,” Suvanam explained. What helps to make his video special is the great selection of musical accompaniment, plus the black and white shots that capture the calm that many Hong Kongers seek. “There’s so much buzz around me that as a defense mechanism I just switch off sometimes and don't even notice the crowds, the neon signs, the activity, the deals, the suits, the high heels, the chatter, the traffic, the pollution,” Suvanam said. When the Localiiz team thinks of how we escape the chaos of Hong Kong, we immediately jump to days out on junks or hiking in Sai Kung. From Suvanam’s lovely monochromatic video, it’s clear that he has a slightly different methodology to escapism. “Everyone has their ways I believe. Mine is to capture things on my camera. It lets me interact with the chaos instead of becoming a part of it. Hong Kong is multi-faceted. On the one hand you have all the craziness but a short walk up a mountain, or a 50-minute ferry ride and you're above it all, you’re in wilderness in solitude. Hong Kong is whatever you choose it to be.” Sunavam’s method of shooting and editing using his iPhone just shows how far technology has come, and how easy it is for us Hong Kongers to take fantastic videos of our city. With the recent introduction of the iPhone 6, Sunavam tells Localiiiz that he definitely thinks ‘The Calm Within’ would have been even better if shot on it. “The sensor is much better on the 6 plus a wider aperture for night shots. However, someone wise once said that the best camera is the one you have.”

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Born in Singapore and raised in Hong Kong, Stasia Fong is a freelance writer with dreams of breaking into the television industry and executive produce her own television show.

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