Soundwalk

For my Soundwalk, I decided to explore Brooklyn's Chinatown, otherwise referred to as “Eighth Avenue.” Just outside of the subway station, I observed a cacophony of sounds coming from all different directions. While the neighborhood is by no means as loud as say, Park Slope during Celebrate Brooklyn, there really is so much to listen to on a normal day like this. Sound signals are immediately noticeable as I cross the street from the station: the sound of several greyhound sized buses rumbles in the foreground. The shrill wail of a police car siren sounds from a few blocks away. On this busy avenue, other than sound of the wind brutally whipping at my ears, the keynote sound that one really notices as a constant in Eighth Avenue are the cars. The streets are swarmed with cars on either side of the road, wheels audibly rolling over the pavement past me and away toward their destinations. The heels of women's boots clack against the cement, baby carriages roll past me, older siblings returning home from school, adults chattering away in Cantonese, Mandarin, English. It's 6pm on a weekday and children of mostly Chinese descent are returning home from school. Their voices are truly what I believe are the soundmarks of this neighborhood. This neighborhood is densely populated with Chinese families, many of whom are immigrants. Houses and cramped apartments line every block, and businesses too are plentiful. This family friendly atmosphere makes way for a wide range of age groups who speak all different dialects of Chinese, though really most of them understand Mandarin.

 This, my friends, is Eighth Avenue.

Artist Statement

I find it fascinating how so much of a story can be expressed within the confines of a single image, much less a series of moving images without the use of spoken word. Thus, it is the job of the director, lighting designer, cameraman, costume designer, and set designer in combination with the actor to not only set a mood, but to tell a story through the visuals.

Coming from a costume design and fashion background, I have learned that good design alone can carry a plot, imply past events, and express the current physical and emotional state of the subject of a piece. You could watch an entire film on mute and still get an impression of the world the characters reside in. Are the characters happy? Is the world chaotic and full of grief? Either of these qualities can be shown through any of the design elements in film. Even more specific details about the character's emotional state can be expressed through the angle of the lens of the camera.

My influences include Wes Anderson and Tim Burton, both of whom have very strong visual ideas and moods for each of their films. Wes Anderson leans toward the whimsical and borderline cartoony worlds, whereas Tim Burton goes for the moody, gritty, and fantastical.

I hope to be able to explore in film, the possibilities of good storytelling through compelling visual arrangement. Whether through specific costume or set design, or through camerawork, I aim to better understand the use of visuals to give subtext.