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Final assignment

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Outrage is a 2010 Japanese film directed by Takeshi Kitano, who also stars in the movie as the main protagonist/antihero the notorious gang leader Otomo. The overall theme of the film is showing the constant drama, corruption, and overall violence that goes on in the world of the modern day Yakuza.

In this scene, Kimura, an underboss of the Murase gang, goes to Otomo’s headquarters to apologize for an altercation that a man within his own gang had caused with Otomo’s gang. Kimura brings along some cash and the man’s finger (a typical token of punishment/atonement in the world of the Yakuza) and the Otomo gang are not pleased with the offering. Angry words are exchanged and eventually Otomo himself snaps and cuts up Kimura’s face with a box cutter because he was not pleased with Kimura half-heartedly apologizing and trying to “act like a big-shot” by claiming that the Murase gang could easily crush the Otomo gang.

The scene opens up to a medium shot on Otomo sitting down silently as he is being addressed by Kimura for an apology. As Kimura is saying his apology, the camera is focused on a medium shot of him. When Kato, the underboss for the Otomo gang interrupts Kimura, the camera cuts to him in a medium shot as well. As everyone else in the room also interjects into Kimura’s apology, the camera also snaps in a medium shot to whoever is speaking. 

The constant use of medium shots throughout the scene is extremely effective in displaying the ferocious and angry facial expressions and body language of all of the characters throughout the scene. The color tone of the black, brown, and gray of the room and the character’s suits also create this extremely tense atmosphere that contributes to the overall violent, aggressive, and terrorizing theme of the film.

The lack of music also plays a key role in setting the tone of the scene because it puts an extra emphasis on the voices of the characters, which are all generally all rough and angry (complete with the typical 'Yakuza accent' of constant rolled R's and almost drunk tone and cadence). Also the room itself echoes the shouts of the Yakuza members and sets a very intimidating tone, as if you were in the room yourself being yelled at by these angry men.

What I Hear

Everyday on my commute to Hunter and back, I pass by Flushing, a very urban neighborhood on the eastern portion of Queens that has such a large Chinese population, it is considered the second largest Chinatown outside of Asia. Flushing is well known for its densely crowded streets, deliciously authentic (and very reasonably priced) food, being the main social hub for Queens teenagers, and being one of the forefronts of gentrification, with new luxury sky rises being build every year.

Though I have passed through this neighborhood for as long as I could remember, I have always either blocked out the sound with my own music or simply ignored the sounds of Flushing. I never really took the time to simply sit down and absorb the sounds of the people and places of Flushing. 

As I made my virgin hearken voyage around Flushing, the noises that primarily stuck out to me was keynotes, which was prevalent in all directions. Everything around the very crowded rush-hour Flushing was on the move and constantly fluctuating with activity. Super markets were bustling with the sounds of the vendors shouting at the top of their lungs how fresh their fishes were, an old man in the middle of the sidewalk was aggressively handing out flyers for a hair salon that he obviously did not frequent, construction workers were taking their cigarette breaks and gossiping about mundane topics. With all of this noise being the mere tip of the iceberg of all the noise that is happening in Flushing, it was, quite frankly, a very overwhelming experience to take in at once. 

After walking around the streets for about half an hour, I decided to step into one of the more well known food spots in Flushing, The Golden Mall's basement food court. It is a complex machine of a food court, filled wall to wall with noodle, dumpling, hotpot, and other authentic Chinese food vendors. At the time I entered the food court, it was just before noon, so it was filled with all different walks of life. From businessmen who always frequent these vendors on their lunch breaks, to teenagers from 3 boroughs away who read a Serious Eats article about the mythical spicy and sour lamb dumplings, the food court was bustling and filled with the sounds of chefs warmly greeting their customers, foodies joyfully munching away at their food, and the sounds of idle chatter. Once again, attempting to observe all of the noise turned out to be a very overwhelming experience.  

Reflecting upon the sound-walk that I conducted throughout Flushing, I have realized that Flushing is filled with so many keynotes that collectively, all of these noises simply becomes Flushing's sound-mark. The hustle and bustle of these crowded streets and the people in them create my "image" of Flushing.

          Artist Statement

         I know for a fact that I would like to somehow express my sense of humor to an audience, although I don't really have a pinpoint idea of what medium I would like to express myself with. I would like to delve into all sorts of mediums for comedy, so getting my feet wet with knowledge of film, photography, and writing is what I am currently doing. I am looking forward to using this knowledge to assist me in creating some sort of entertainment to my audience. 

          My influences vary vastly, depending on the type of humor I obtained from these individuals. The concepts of sarcasm and using very futile actions to provoke comedy were foreign to me until my friend Carlos constantly bombarded me with such things. 
          In my childhood, my mother never looked over what sort of television I was watching, so I would watch Comedy Central everyday before I went to sleep, and because of this, I have been exposed to this type of "tongue in cheek" humor that Comedy Central is most notable for. From shows like Mad TV and Mind of Mencia, to Chappelle's Show and Stella, my childhood of watching these sketch comedy shows really broadened my view on humor as a child, and also taught me some very harsh words that got me into a world of trouble from my mother. 
          Other sorts of humor that have inspired me are the vast types of witty, edgy, or even satirical influences that stand up comedians use in their performances. Some of my comedian influences include Aziz Ansari, Donald Glover, Louis C.K, Hannibal Burres, Kevin Hart, Daniel Tosh, and Dave Chappelle. 

          For me, the meaning behind my work is to be able to show that a wide variety of subjects, whether it be a relatively straightforward like slapstick humor, or subjects that are very serious such as racism, can be funny if put under the proper light.