Page 1 - Statement and Synopsis
Statement:
The Tango dance has a rich history transcending the actual dance steps. It has had social and cultural implications for the societies that have embraced it during modern history.
Synopsis:
"...The fact is that tango is not just a dance. In its purest form it's sensual coupling, forged by raw emotion. The closest thing you'll find to a vertical expression of a horizontal desire" (Rippon, Angela 'Vertical Expression of a Horizontal Desire,' 1993).
Tango, the movie, is a story within a story. Directed by Carlos Saura, it is the story of a filmmaker, Mario Suarez, who is preparing to film a musical drama about the history of Argentina. The Tango acts as his vehicle and tool of expression to accurately narrate his story. The passions and intrigue of the dance mirror his personal life. He has recently been left by his wife and has fallen in love with a younger dancer.
Although the personal romance of the main character is a central theme in the movie, I have focused my project and sequences more on the historical aspect of the movie and the larger implications of Tango. The dance became intertwined with society, politics and the culture. I attempt to portray the long history of Tango as playing a key role in igniting the cultural passions of Argentina. I decided to tell this story with old posters that I recreated for the sequence. I find that these images conjure feelings of the risque, passionate nature of the dance and the political and cultural intrigue that have, at times, surrounded this dance. Furthermore, these images in this sequence are captured from around the world; Argentina, Germany, Hungary, and Italy all of which became enthralled with Tango in varying degrees at during various points of time in history. My intention has been to offer a glimpse into the rich and impactful history of Tango before we get immersed into this superb and beautiful display of dancing. The Tango dance itself is, of course, about the beautifully sweeping and striking dance steps. At that same time, it is difficult to separate the passionate feelings inherent in properly performing this dance. The popularity and liberty of this passion and the raw emotions of the dance felt like a lifestyle. This lifestyle swept through many parts of Europe. Perhaps Tango has played a historical role, not simply as a dance, but as a vehicle of expression for those citizens desiring individual and political freedom. In my opening sequence, I have attempted to portray a glimpse into this larger aspect of Tango. And in my closing credits, I have sought to leave the viewers with a guide to the dance steps...and perhaps a guide, given the historical precedent of Tango, to new passions as well!
Page 2 - Research and Background
"The Tango is not a dance but an obsession. For the tanguero, it is as much a part of life as eating and sleeping. Erotic and passionate, haunting and melancholy, it involves not only the body but also the soul." (Collier, Simon; Cooper, Artemis, and others, 'Tango: The Dance, the Song, the Story,' London:Thames and Hudson, 1997.)
Tango a film by Carlos Saura was released in 1999, and short after that, it was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film in the Academy Awards. Carlos Saura who analyzes the spirit of different Latin countries in tragedies and dance dramas was born in Spain. Over and above his specific obsessions - death, solitude, family breakdown, the effect of realityof dreams and memories - Saura's extensive filmography bears evidence to his great versatility and wide range of interests in which music and dancing hold a prominent position (Tango The production - Sony Pictures Classics Web site). In this case he uses Tango as his vehicle and tool of expression to accurately narrate his story.
Tango was born in the slums of nineteenth century Buenos Aires and has remained spectacularly alive for more than a hundred years to become an international cult. The origins of the tango were in the arrabales, where immigrants feuded, drank, played the card game truco and, above all, nurtured both the longings and wounded spirits of the New World. Slowly various countries of Europe such as Germany, Hungary, Italy, France among other, as well North America became enthralled with Tango in varying degrees at during various points of time in history. For example, the tango took fashionable Paris by storm. Tangomania, how it was named, was used to sell every kind of product, from gowns to gateaux. "It has spread all over Paris... There are tango tea partis, tango exhibitions, tango lectures. Half of Paris rubs against the other half. The whole city jerks: it's got the tango under the skin" This was also true in other European countries. The tango was everywhere. Even though the craziness about tango has calm down in the majority of countries, the tango remains a dominat metaphor of our age, a significant sign for a complex of ideas and possibilities. (Collier, Simon; Cooper, Artemis, and others, 'Tango: The Dance, the Song, the Story,' London:Thames and Hudson, 1997.)
The tryed to portrayed a little bit of the fascinating history of Tango throughout the opening sequence. The visual I had recreated for the piece come from around the world, reflecting the different times and different cultures.
Page 3 - The story in dramatic detail.
My intention for the opening sequence is to offer a glimpse into the rich and impactful history of Tango before the audience becomes immersed into the superb and beautifully coreographed display of dancing presented within the film. I have decided to tell the story with vintage-style posters that I have recreated for the sequence. I find that these visuals conjure feelings of the risque, passionate nature of the dance and the political and cultural intrigue that have, at times surrounded this dance. These images are taken from around the world during different time periods.
The opening sequence can be categorized in two different sections. Each sections have different music and color schemes. The first section is in black and white and represents the early stages of the Tango's development and acceptance. The second phrase utilizes more color and an updated style, portraying the more recent Tango era. The music chosen for the piece is a combination of two tangos. The first part has no instruments, just vocals of a woman, very sensual and in my criteria sets the mood for the piece. The second half of the sequence has an arrangement of "La Cumparsita," which is considered the most reknown Tango dance music around the world. It was composed by Gerardo Matos in 1917 and has been a top hit ever since, always synonymous with Tango (Zelaya, Ruddy "La Cumparsita, A Short History of the Most Famous Tango Song"). The music in the sequence changes when the title of the film appears on the screen.
The opening shot is a slow pull down of the camera, panning the first black and white poster. There is a girl dancing and an older man staring at her in awe. The slow movement stops when it reaches "Sony Picture Classics" at the bottom left of the screen. A slow dissolve begins leading to the next frame, slowly offering "Pandora Cinema Presents" into focus. The camera then remains still and slowly pulls down across the screen until it reaches the second frame. As the camera pulls down once again, one can appreciate a picture of a ritzy nightclub. The nightclubs were well known tango venues in the early 1900s. On the second frame there is a list of production companies that are involved with the movie. Once in position, the camera again stops and there is a slow dissolve to the following frame.
The picture fades in with a close-up of a couple dancing. The frame only captures the woman's face and the man's back. As the camera pans left with the music, one can see that they are in the in the most common tango position, embraced with one of their arms fully extended. The title "Tango" appears as the camera pans. The word is placed along the couples' arms. Once the title has appeared, it remains still on the screen and the frame begins to fade.
A series of posters then appear portraying elements of tango, not just as a dance but as a lifestyle and a part of the culture. The poses are very characteristic -- the beautiful woman, the powerful man, the man leading the woman, smoking, the man staring at his woman, the man singing to his woman. The camera movements attempt to reinforce these elements of the posters, moving in tempo with the music.
After the title fades out, the next poster in the sequence fades in. In this poster there is a beautiful woman dancing. The camera slowly pulls down, along the woman's figure, pausing each time it reaches a name. The audience never sees the entire figure at once -- first her head appears, then the camera pulls down to her waist and then to her legs. All this movement follows the music. Once we reach the last name, the frame slowly fades out to the following composition. This also serves as a transition point in the color palette. The palette converts into a vivid tone with colorful reds and yellows. The next visual shows a couple dancing in a very sensual step. The girl is leaning back and the man is holding her very close. The camera moves in a square motion with a close-up of the couple -- it starts on the top left of the screen, paning right, pulling down and then paning again to the left. Whenever the camera reaches a name, it stays in place for a couple of seconds. Once it reaches the last frame a slow fade out begins. The subsequent poster image fades in without camera movement. It is an image of a woman wearing a mask which covers just her eyes. Her shoulders are uncovered. The names appear of the left of the screen following the circular framing of the picture. After a moment, the picture begins to fade out. The following poster slowly fades in. "Mal de Amores" (Lovesickness), a particular Tango stye dance, is portrayed by this poster. It shows the profile of a woman giving her back to the man who is staring at her. The first frame of the poster is a medium shot of her profile and we also just see the man's face, the camera pans on a diagonal right for the second frame where the man fills the entire screen. The camera pauses and then slowly pulls down, following his arm to the third frame. In this frame we continue to see the man's hand holding a cigarrette, following the movement we see a group the choreographers' names.
Once the motion pauses, the images slowly fades out. The next image fades in. The first frame of this poster is a very tight shot of two heads, which is hard to recognize. We see smoke from a cigarrette and slowly the camera begins to follow it down. In this movement we navigate through one of the faces. The camera then stops once it reaches the bottom of the poster. The picture then fades out and the following poster fades in. The next composition is a medium shot of a couple dancing, they are in the typical tango position, embraced, each with one arm fully extended. The picture fades in on the top left, then pauses here and slowly pans diagonally, thereby following the figure for the secong frame on the picture. The camera remains in position and slowly begins to fade out. The next image fades in, in this composition there is couple holding at each other. The framing of the it is with extreme close ups of their faces, in fact the audience never sees the entire face. After the first frame, the camera pans diagonal right to frame number two, where the movement pauses and then the camera pulls down to frame three, where we see that the woman is holding very tight to his man. The image fades out and last composition slowly appears. The name of the director is in place when the image appears. As the music comes to the end, the camera pans with the music to the right, were we can se a man singing to his woman, while she dances to him. The image then fades to black and the film begins.
Page 4 - Personal Statement
I remember greatly enjoying this movie when it was first released in 1999. I was further drawn to it when I was asked to edit segments for the Latin TV show I was associated with. The segment was about the director, Carlos Saura and the making of Tango. I was fascinated by the way the movie was filmed and how the director used very saturated colors for the color scheme. I also loved the dancing. In fact Julio Bocca, one of the movie's central dancer, is my favorite dancer. I make an effort to see Julio perform every season at Lincoln Center. I decided to work with Tango because of the many visual aesthetics of this movie. I feel that a film of such high caliber deserved and is definitely missing, a strong enough opening sequence. As I began my design process, I decided to work with elements I had never used prior. I wanted to experiment with using still images and developing the still shots into a motion graphic sequence. I also wanted to work with different compositions, framing and camera movements. Fortunately the rhythm of the music allowed me to create interesting and playful camera movements which I believe serve to capture the attention of the audience. I became very excited during my research when discovered many posters depicting Tango around the world. And these posters were filled with vivid colors matching the color scheme of the movie itself. I decided to recreate these posters for my sequence. The typefaces I found fascinating as they truly enriched the project. I wanted each poster to match the typeface, along with the time and place of its origins. As such, I spent most of my time altering the visuals and selecting all of the elements to make different and exciting framings. I do believe that this work has proven fruitful. Lastly, I also enjoyed working on this movie as it is rooted in the Latin culture, my primary heritage.
Page 5 - Software/Hardware - Production Shedule
For the development of the project I had for the most part worked at home using my Apple Computer Power PC G4, 500 Mhz, 384MB SDRAM memory with a 27GB Hard Drive. The only times that I had worked at school was when I had to used Media 100 to composite the vissuals with the music to then out put it to tape using the Beta deck. I had utilized several different softwares. Firts of all I scanned all the images I wanted to use for the sequence. After I had all the visuals in the computer, the following step was to recreate each one of the them. I used Adobe Photoshop 5.5 for such an ardous job. For the typefaces I had use Adobe Type Manager Deluxe 4.5, here is where I think I had spent most of the time. It took me quite a while to find typefaces to match each individual poster I had selected to use. Once I had all the images ready, the next step was importing them into Adobe After Effects 4.1 Production Bundle, where I was able to manipulate each frame with the screen compostion, movement, and speed. Of course I had to go back to Photoshop many times to tweek the images until I was satisfied how they looked on the screen. The Quicktime Player was used to review movies after they were rendered in After Effects. For the collateral pieces I had used Adobe Photoshop 5.5 as well as Adobe Illustrator 8.0.
As I mention before I had spent most of the time recreating the stills I had utilized for Tango's opening sequence as well as with the tweeking of the speed between each keyframe. Here is a detail explanation of my Production Schedule.