Out of Beat (2005)
Little 8 year-old Camila wants to be a ballerina like the other girls, but she can’t keep the beat, that is, until she discovers the real rhythms inside her - found in the colourful streets of her Latin American town...
   
Andrea Lira gives an Interview to Paul Leo from Dance On Film News:
  
   
PAUL LEO: The story of Camile is essentially about someone not quite fitting in. Did you use some of your own early experiences coming to America?

Andrea Lira: Probably, but I have never consciously analyzed it that way. Most of the time I work with themes that are interesting to me or are my own experiences. When I came to the United States I encountered several obstacles, language, culture and even the people, but I met other people like me that also didn’t belong anywhere and I decided to transform those differences into the qualities that make me who I am. Specifically, when you are in Art School, you need to define your own points of view. When you are a child, you think that to be different is somehow negative, because adults try to teach us what is good and bad for us when sometimes what is good for others may be bad for us. That is way I like this story because it encourages children to love their own qualities and use them.

  
   

PAUL LEO: The music is very much a part of the story.
Did you always envision Flamenco at the heart of the story?

Andrea Lira: Yes, in this case the music was the inspiration.
I always loved dancing when I was a girl, but it wasn’t until
I heard Flamenco music that I wanted to become more serious about dancing and understanding the passion inside of the Flamenco music and culture. Flamenco gave me a lot, so I decided to give Flamenco a little bit of my art and incorporated it into my characters and visual imagery. There are many movies in which Flamenco is the heart of the story, like Carlos Saura’s movies, because Flamenco is a rhythm that perfectly shapes the human contradictions and passions.

  
   

PAUL LEO: There is a long tracking camera shot into the Latin American town. How long did it take to put that
sequence together?

Andrea Lira: It wasn’t that long. It was more about choosing the right textures that I projected into the street. I used real photos of buildings over simple 3D blocks that I build in Alias Maya, and then I navigated the scene with the camera through that extremely narrow alley making very fast transitions, like when you see something for the first time and you can’t stop moving your eyes. The Flamenco guitar also added some tension because it was a very fast Flamenco beat. I also put simple silhouettes of peoples sticking out from windows to add the sense of human life and scale.

PAUL LEO: The film was invited to the Nicktoon film festival,
which is renowned for its quality animation. Did that invitation
surprise you?

Andrea Lira: It is always nice when other people from the industry recognize what you have done with a lot of effort and love. I believe that no matter what age your audience may be you should always have a fresh visual style that is original and offers a meaningful story no matter how simple it is. When I do films, I think of the regular people and if they like them and understand them, then I have achieved my goal. I was more surprised to be included in this festival, and I am thrilled to be part of it. Because the audience that I was trying to reach with this film, were people that love dance and see the importance of it in life.

 
   

Paul Leo: You say dance is something you love to do as well as animation. Do you have other animation projects which feature dance?

Andrea Lira: I believe that any type of motion that is done with an intention is a form of dance. I have always been interested in the human body and gesture. Every animation I have done has been inspired by the way we move in space, our relationship with music, color and emotions.

Animation is the tool that allows me to manipulate the image and time in detail and in frames, so I can have total control of the choreography of shapes, characters or anything that may be the subject matter.

The Upside-Down Day is a short that I did, that was inspired by children’s perception of space and their own way of interacting with their physical and imaginary space. At the moment, I am working with a series of self-portraits that I will animate and that in a way will be my little dance, because the music will drive the action and visuals.

This film is part of Dance,Camera, Action 1
and is being shown on Wednesday 2nd April 2008


Reprinted courtesy of Dance On Film News - (c) Stella Star Distribution Ltd