接05-08日內容
Dear Editor,
Re: Filming in city center
I am writing to express my concern about the burgeoning trend that films company films movies in the urban areas in Hong Kong. In 2012, Batman, filmed in Hong Kong, hogged the headlines on various newspapers. Although it received much publicity, filming in the city center is, in fact, disturbing the transportation, upsetting the businesses and traffic; thus, filming movies in the urban areas should not be allowed.
The first problem of filming in the city center is that it disturb the traffic flow of the city center. Most of the time, when directors are filming scenes, they have to block off main streets for filming. Residents have to use another road, spending extra time in traveling. Worse still, when roads are blocked, the traffic flow of another road would immediately balloon. In this way, there may be traffic congestion
The second problems in that filming in the city center would upset the sales revenue of the shops near main streets. When Batman, for example, was filmed in Central in 2012, nearby shops had to be closed for ten days. Both travelers and residents could not enter the designated area, and they could only shop in other area. According to the statistics of the Hong Kong Statistics Department (HKSD), shops lost 20% of their sales revenue during these ten days. The subsidy of the government, however, could not cover the loss. It is hence unfair for shops near the filming area.
It is evident that filming movies in the city center is in no way a viable option. Negative social impacts will be incurred, namely in traffic and business. It is hoped that the government considered the above negative influence of filming movies before allowing filmmakers to produce movies on streets.
