storyboard
TRANSCRIPT
“Storyboard”—Recipe for Asian Dolls: A Video Reproduction of Theresa Hak Kyung Cha’s “Recipe” and the Destabilized Asian Body Images 1. Title Screen
“Recipe for Asian Dolls: A Video Reproduction of ‘Recipe’ and the Destabilized Asian Body”
(The title will be superimposed onto the picture.)
2. Identifying desired Asianness and femininity in popular Asian look “home and
abroad” by juxtaposing and exemplifying images acquired in both cultural contexts. (Also considering using an open source song that portrays Western ideal of Asian females as background music if there is any available.)
(Chinese American/Westernized Version)
(Chinese Version)
3. Introducing the Asian desire of the white look
(The last image on the right serves as a transition between representations of image and desire. The first image that is going to be show in the next sequence implies the same function.)
4. Illustrating the Asian Asian beauty—the widely accepted doll-‐look in many Asian countries as the standard of female attraction. Emphasizing the non-‐Asian elements in those body images, including blond hair, big eyes, and upright nose bridge. 1) Comparison and contrast: reality and desire.
2) “The Asian dolls”
5. Text screen:
“Recipe—Round Eyes” (which is the opening of the poem)
6. Text screen: “Ingredients: scissors, Scotch magic transparent tape, eyeliner—water based,
black. Optional: false eyelashes.” (the first section of the poem.)
8. As the text screen fade out, illustration enters after each section
9. Text screen:
“Cleanse face thoroughly. For best results, powder entire face, including eyelids. (lighter shades suited to total effect desired)”
10. Text screen: “ With scissors, cut magic tape 1/16” wide, ¾”-‐1/2” long—depending on length of eyelid. Stick firmly onto mid-‐upper eyelid area (looking down in to handmirror facilitates finding adequate surface)”
11. Insert video clips to illustrate the process.
12. Text screen: “If using false eyelashes, affix fist on lid, folding any excess lid over the base of eyelash with glue.”
13. Insert the second video clips to illustrate this part of the process.
14. Text screen: “Paint black eyeliner on tape and entire lid.”
15. Insert the video clip for eye-‐lining.
16. More illustrations of the finishing stage of the makeup.
17. Text screen: “Do not cry. 1987” Edit the text to strengthen the
visual effect. 18. A collection of finished look
18. Verbal comments or quotations show in a string, discussing the destabilized female body images and its implications in the postcolonial and post-‐ethnic studies.
19. A brief slide show of other images to enhance a visual argument of a variety of cultural experiences of destabilization in terms of body, body images, and female identities. 20. Conclude the video with several final lines. 21. Credits page. Summary: Beginning with a brief review of the popular conception of attractive Asian female look in America, the video goes on to provide “the big picture” on the other side of the Pacific, introducing the Asian “Asian belle” which contradicts to a certain extent with that of the Western popularity and fashion standards. Based on this prelude, I hope to introduce first a dualism of Westernized criteria of beauty imposed on both Asian and Asian American women. Then I will use Cha’s poem to usher further exploration that looks specifically at the biggest deviation in beautifying the Asian look—the eye makeup. The poem will be divided into several parts, and videos clips, still images as well as caption will be used to demonstrate each part of it. I am also expecting suitable open source music or audio narration (which can be conducted by myself) that may assist my critique in the video. However, the use of verbal illustration in the video should be condensed and concrete, not exceeding about 20% to 30% of all the components. The goal of this video is to articulate the relation between Cha’s portrayal of the making of round eyes for Asian women and bodily experiences of destabilization and othering internalized by Asian and even Asian American female. Additional plans: Create a website in which the video and more textual critiques and analysis regarding the topic can be embedded. Build the website as a more comprehensive and multimodal site of data for the study of this branch of cultural criticism.