ARTWORKS AND STYLE FRAMES

ANIMATION TESTS

Experimenting with possibilities for parallax and frame by frame butterflies.

While most of the animation will appear in the transitions and moving ‘sets’. It will be important that certain elements are animated frame-by-frame. The hair of the Curupira, the characters expressions and the wildlife we encounter, most importantly the Morpho butterflies.

Butterfly flight test

Butterflies crawling and glowing

Early parallax test with finalised artwork

STYLE FRAME REFERENCES

CURUPIRA APPEARANCE

The spirit has taken many forms within the stories of the Borari Tribe and the tribes beyond living within the rainforest. The most common depiction is one of a powerful, invisible force, with a piercing and eerie whistle used to confuse any trespassers or wrong-doers. The spirit can choose to reveal itself by shapeshifting into any creature, man or woman. Our storytellers have described the Curupira as a beautiful, mesmerising woman with striking blonde hair….

INITIAL STORYBOARD

 

ACT ONE

ACT TWO

ACT THREE

 
 
 

CHARACTERS & CONCEPT ARTWORK

In collaboration with illustrator Betty Simons-Denville, I have created some initial style frames to inform the artwork. Using paper textures and drop shadow, we can digitally recreate the feeling of paper animation, while blending digital compositing techniques in after effects to parralax the scenes, add depth, and experiment with layered motion to create the psychedelic feeling of being in the presence of the Curupira.

 

PRODUCTION CREW NOTES

FURTHER THOUGHTS FROM THE ANIMATION DIRECTOR

This short animated sequence contains a rollercoaster of twists and turns. I’d like the audience to be left with a sense of bewilderment and wonder for both the Curupira and the awe-inspiring natural landscape of the amazon rainforest where our storytellers live and the rest of the film takes place.

Working closely with Lea to interweave the themes addressed in the film overall, we will mirror the sentiments of the story-tellers, as well as the unique culture that has a rich presence within their community. The ways in which they communicate with each other and the forest spirits, the need they have to take from the environment to survive and most importantly, the dire consequences they face should this reciprocity fall out of balance.

Escapism is an important device here. We wish to give the viewer a few moments to lean into the fantastical elements, the magic of the story, a chance to see the forest in all is mystical glory and to be taken on a journey that leaves them invested in the lives of the people they are about to learn more about…

The work of Guillermo del Toro (Pan’s Labyrinth) and Nora Twomey (The Breadwinner) are both important references for me here.

A NOTE ON TONE

I’d like to blend classic tropes from both comedy and horror storytelling in this retelling of a hunters chance encounter with the infamous Curupira. While the use of horror devices - slow inward tracking, chiaroscuro lighting and distortion in the sound will hook our audience and keep them watching - I’m hoping humour will help to soften the blow in the final throws of the story. Leaning into the cooky, strange twist of the unexplainable pregnancy and using performative and theatrical movement in both the characters expressions and the appearance and disappearance of sets, will play a key role in neutralising the tone. Sound design will also be at the forefront of this energetic shift. The audience will need to align with our protagonist, the sceptic, the hunte, the fool. The arc of emotion moving from horror as we enter the forest with him, to excitement when we meet the curupira, to nervous anxiety when he falls ill, to slapstick comedy when he finds out about the pregnancy before returning things back to their rightful place when the deer is finally revealed back in the rainforest, where it belongs, but a sense of uncertainty, about what really happened to our hunter… and what might happen to us should we choose to disrespect nature in this way…

A NOTE ON SOUND

Generally, I’d like to experiment with a tone that is both wonderous, and eery. Sublime. Twisted. A slight streak of horror to something otherwise very alluring and beautiful. Think the knocking in the Babadook (Del Toro) or see the opening sequence of Blue Velvet… where they lure the audience with a sun soaked ideallic suburbia to twisted creeping insects and death in a matter of minutes using cleverly scored music and SFX.

I wish to work closely with the composer to also create themes for the characters themselves that grow and repeat throughout the sequence. Throughout the film we hear of the Curupira but its not until the animation that we get to meet her, and witness her power in all its glory. I would like the music to reflect this increase in power. I’d like to think of her as a beautiful iceberg in that, for most of the film, we are witnessing the very tip in terms of her abilities and magical quality. Then, during the animation sequence, we really traverse the peaks, understand the majesty and true scale, and eventually, venture below the water to reveal the expansive dark layers always laying underneath, wether visible or not...

We need to be completely charmed by Purutek. He’s a wise and young hunter, with a big heart, but perhaps a bit of a joker, and his mistakes leave him paying a huge price. The music in the opening sequence when we first meet him should leave the audience alligned with him, if unsure of what might happen to him next. Comedy is true strong a word, but we should feel warm towards his jibing.

The Paje too needs to bring about a certain feeling. A deep, knowing, a wisdom beyong his years which are already many. A deep connection to nature, and some similarities possibly in theme to the curupira in that they are connected through the smoke.

A NOTE ON MOVEMENT

Starting with linear transitioning of elements using techniques like parallax to bring the audience in. This animation will start to take on a life of its own. The contact our hunter has with with the spirit of the Curupira in the story, will bleed magic and chaos out into the style of the movement. Once we meet the Curupira, the transitions between shots, the items in the fore and background… will all starts to warp and shift, until we are left in a very experimental space. The scenes shifting and morphing into one another, the sense of time distorted. The abstract taking over from the literal experience. In the beginning we are merely observing the hunters actions, neatly framed, like a picture show. But by the time we understand our hunter is pregnant, we are with him on this terrifying, psychedelic rollercoaster…

- Jade Wheldon, Producer/Animation Director