We have undertaken an ambitious project to create a 360-degree short film accompanied by ambisonic environmental sound. The location of our choice is the bustling region of Mong Kok, Hong Kong, known for its vibrant nightlife and crowded streets. Our intention is to capture the essence and the evolving dynamics of Mong Kok from evening till the early dawn hours. We are particularly interested in delineating the differences that emerge as the night deepens.

The project is divided into four distinct phases, each corresponding to a different time slot throughout the night. Equipped with a 360-degree camera and an ambisonic sound recorder, we journeyed through the vibrant heart of Mong Kok, navigating the crowded Mong Kok Market and strolling along Guanghua Street and Soy Street.

Our primary objective was to document the changing habits of people as the night progresses, capturing the transformation in the sonic environment over time. The 360-degree camera served as an essential tool to visually encapsulate these changes,
providing an immersive sensory experience that unites visual and auditory perceptions. Inspired by the movie “Tenet”, we experimented with the concept of time manipulation in our project. We attempted to rewind the middle part of our film, intending to present a different perspective on the same sequence of events. Additionally, we tried to increase the speed of
the film, aiming to create special effects that would allow the audience to absorb more information in a shorter span of time.

However, we discovered that accelerating the film’s speed distorted the sound effects, making them seem strange and preventing us from utilising the ambisonic sound effectively. Thus, we decided to simply rewind the film, creating a loop that symbolically traps the audience in that specific segment of the journey.

During the post-production process, we observed that handheld recording can introduce some noise, which could potentially disrupt the overall audio-visual experience. To rectify this, we balanced the EQ of the entire sound effect, striving to deliver a more harmonious and pleasing auditory experience to our audience.

Interestingly, we noticed an unusual phenomenon in Mong Kok. As it neared dawn and shops started to close, the crowd size paradoxically increased rather than decreased. This observation shed light on the unique nocturnal dynamics of Mong Kok, making our project even more intriguing