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Ayelen
Liberona & Naya Guzman(Directors)
gives an Interview to Paul Leo about Falling:
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 PAUL
LEO: Naya, you studied movement in many different styles
including Hip Hop, Ballet, Modern, Capoeira, African and Brazilian.
Was that a result of the extensive travelling you did at a young age?
Naya Guzman: Partly, yes. The extensive travelling did give me a curiosity into foreign styles of movement that I might not otherwise have known about. Like my sister, I started ballet at a young age, but became more interested in other forms that were not so well-known, or at least less practised in Canada. Eventually I found that the emotional expression through movement that I discovered in theatre and film were my utmost favorites, and being able to manipulate that expression through filmmaking was a revelation. |
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Ayelen
Liberona: I attended The
National Ballet School of Canada for a short period when I was 16,
but it was long enough for me to realise I was meant to discover my
own definition of dance. At that point I quit my formal training for
a few years and explored the spectrum of ethnic forms of movement
while studying cultural anthropology at the University of Toronto
and producing underground dance parties in caves, parks and on beaches.
I wanted to understand the nature of dance as an ancestral ritual
practice as opposed to the presentation of dance as concert and entertainment.
The desire to create my own work was fuelled by a curiosity for a
kind of crossroads where ancient meets modern, where ritual meets
concert and particularly now where dance converges with film. I moved
to New York City to meet like-minded artists and began to present
my work in unconventional venues such as boats, parks, piers and galleries,
breaking down the walls between audience and performer and incorporating
the moving image as an integral aspect of the audience's experience.
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PAUL LEO: Naya, you started out working in animation. How different was the process between animation and live action? Naya
Guzman:I didn't actually
start out in animation. I had made a few short films by that point,
and began learning about animation while studying film at Ryerson University.
The process has its differences from live action, mainly the lack of
spontaneity that comes from working with actors. The process of developing
a character with an actor and seeing that final product react to the
story can end up being the highlight of a film. With animation, I had
to plan out every moment and only create what was necessary to the film.
As a theatre lover, I am much more partial to working with actors or
performers. I would make sure that my next venture into animation would
definitely include dialogue. Ayelen
Liberona: IThe original
idea of Falling came from a site-specific commission for a popular park
festival called Dusk Dances, in Toronto. The concept was about birth,
using the transformative qualities of fabric to sculpt the visual metamorphosis
of a woman falling down from the trees. After touring the live performance
for several weeks through several different parks it became clear to
me that the piece did not end when the woman approached the ground after
falling down from the tree. It did not make sense for her to fall to
the ground or to begin walking on legs, as the transformation was begging
to continue. That is when the idea of the film was born and with it
to create an alternate element through which the woman could evolve.
Ultimately the film is the first of a tetralogy (four part series) that
follows the journey of woman from birth ("Falling"), to becoming,
to striving and finally to being all expressed through an intimate connection
to nature. |
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Paul Leo: (To Both) The film is beautifully framed and shot throughout. Was it all storyboarded? Naya
Guzman: For the most part,
the film was written out shot for shot in a shot list, but we allowed
ourselves a lot of freedom in terms of how each shot would look. We
did not storyboard it or lock down what angles or camera movement would
be used for each particular shot. Using the overall theme of "organic",
we gave it the natural interactions between our location, dancer and
cinematographer. It was very similar to how actors feed off of each
other and their audience. We think it served us well. . Paul Leo: (To Both) Both of you: The choreography I presume was a quite a delicate process. What was the rehearsing like? Ayelen Liberona: The initial rehearsal process was done in an indoor circus facility where all the safety rigs were already in place. The music (by Rubin Kodheli) and the choreography were born simultaneously in a rigorous collaborative process in order to find the essence of the piece. The challenge began when we took the rehearsals outdoors and had to find trees that were tall enough and could support the dancer safely while allowing her enough room to move so she wouldn't be hitting the trunk of the tree on her way down. It was a blessing to find that chestnut tree that's in the final film, seeing as it was tall, strong and with branches that were within our reach as our budget did not allow for the rental of cranes and trucks to get us up there. So with the help of a ladder and a really good tree climber we set the initial rigging point for the fabric. As dancer and director, I (Ayelen) always installed the fabric and checked the rig for safety before the rehearsals. Being up in the trees so many times and for so many hours has given me an immense and renewed respect for them. Paul Leo: (To Both) How did you approach the cinematography and shooting of the scenes above ground? Naya Guzman:There were many limitations due to the terrain of our location. For the most part we let those limitations guide us in some of the camera movements. Ayelen Liberona: Essentially we wanted the camera to be moving, in a sense "dancing" with the dancer, while framing her and her surroundings in ways that were at times abstract and surreal. Naya Guzman:The piece, which was initially created as a live performance had been in development for over a year, and with that time we had had the opportunity to shoot parts of it. That test run gave our cinematographer a greater understanding of what was needed to capture each moment of transformation Ayelen Liberona: and to stay true to an aesthetic of magical realism. Paul Leo: (To Both) The editing of the sequence from Sky to Sea is seamless. How much time did it take to put that together? Naya Guzman:That sequence was particularly difficult. Ayelen Liberona: We took care to shoot both shots knowing they would have to connect seamlessly. The Falling sequence had to be shot right from below so the dancer was essentially falling into the camera lens, which was a little dangerous for all involved, and the landing sequence was shot from above so the dancer was entering the water from the proper angle. Naya Guzman:We attempted to blend in several shots to create a kind of reflection shot. It took many cuts in the edit suite to finally find the combination that worked best, maintaining the pace of the film and particularly Ayelen Liberona: Working so the landing into the water came as a complete surprise. Naya Guzman:We relied heavily on the experience of our editor Tom Khan who helped secure the pace and arc of the film through his cuts. Paul Leo: (To Both) What new projects are you working on? Naya Guzman:Currently I am working as a production coordinator with a Canadian television company on a new series. As TRICKY*productions, I am also involved in a few projects, including a few music/dance videos by director Rohan Bader, and in the post production stage of a mixed live action and animation short by director Elliott Mallon. As an actor, I also contributing my voice in a comedy television pilot with other Toronto-based actors / comedians. We hope to gain some interest in the project which is acted on screen by puppets. Ayelen
Liberona:I am currently
developing the sequel to Falling, entitled "Becoming", which
is the second piece in the Tetralogy. The Tetralogy is based on the
ancient story of the female struggle for identity and emancipation,
where nature becomes the support or the catharsis for the transformation.
I am also working on a feature-length documentary with director Joseph
Johnson Camî on the subject of ecology which was shot in the Seychelles,
about a an 82-year old man named Brendan Grimshaw who followed his dreams
and bought an island in the Indian Ocean where he lives with his giant
tortoises and is now fighting to keep the island from hotel developers.
www.agrainofsandthefilm.com This
film is part of
Dance,Camera, Action 2
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