Here is a summary of the work we did for the stopmotion-stereoscopic feature film “O Apostolo” which was nominated for Best Animated Film at the Goya Awards 2013. I was in charge of directing and producing the film’s central sequence (flashback) and the main and end titles.
The film has received great reviews by critics and in some media they have talked specifically about our sequence:
Variety
“…while one mesmerizing standalone sequence fills in the backstory with images of Terry Gilliam-esque intensity, accompanied by bluesman Carlos Childe giving it his best Tom Waits growl.”
LaButaca.net
“It is, however, a aesthetic break which brings the memorable moment of the film. In a passage that works as fiction but naturally torn inclusion in the set, “O Apostolo” illustrated with a 2D image a creepy, shadowy song that narrates the arrival of the plague and its horrific toll. At that moment, the film transcends mere uneasy dominant feeling to open it´s soul to an episode of ravishing sadness, capable of evoking horrors that seemed buried in the collective consciousness with only a silhouettes parade. ”
Summary Flashback Sequence “O Apostolo”
This is a summary of the sequence we designed and directed for “O Apostolo” an animated feature film (stopmotion) nominated for Best Animated Film at the Goya Awards 2013.
As this is the core sequence which reveals the mystery of the film, we have chosen to edit and display only some parts of it.
As this is the core sequence which reveals the mystery of the film, we have chosen to edit and display only some parts of it.
Secuencia Flashback
“O Apostolo” is directed by Fernando Cortizo and produced by Artefacto Productions (Galicia, Spain). They needed a different aesthetic approach to unravel the mystery surrounding the characters in “O Apostolo” and they didn´t want to do this with the same dolls from the movie. Fernando wanted something different and contacted us after watching our shortfilm “The little who had only one ear”
The challenge we faced was how to fit an aesthetic and a totally different sequence after nearly 50 minutes of stopmotion. The sequence happens in a old library surrounded by books, medieval manuscripts and incunabula. In the original script the camera went outside the window while the main character read the story from the book and imagine how was the town long time ago.
Old Library where our flashback sequence takes place
We don´t want to reveal the story´s mystery here, but in short it is about the struggle between good and evil, a recurring theme in medieval texts. When we saw the amount of graphic elements that were present in a library like this, we propose that the books themselves were those who “came to life” and tell the story. That “excuse” would be good enough to break with the previous aesthethics from the rest of the film.
We also design the main and end titles sequence, which interspersed with images from the film at the beginning and the end. This version you see here is a trail edition that combines our sequences with unfinished material from the film (that´s why there are some timecodes and green screen)
“O Apostolo” Main Titles (begining) preliminary version
Credits “O Apostolo” (ending) preliminary version
To recreate the action sequence in the context of the library with books, manuscripts and incunabula, Beatriz Martinez López and I did an extensive research on the compositions, graphics and typography of some medieval books.
The “Camino de Santiago” ( a pilgrimage route since for over 1500 years) is another character in the film. Through it many manuscripts have passed through the years.
Our goal was to tell our story using the language of those books. We replicated the way they made the drawings and engravings, line values, the range of color, the inks used, types of paper and the use of gold leaf to enrich representations. We study how they represented everyday situations, how they imagined hell and demons, good and evil, God’s image, the architecture with its internal and external spaces. We took advantage of the absence of perspective as a tool for spatial representation, narrative language of comics and how the represented the spoken word. In the codices you can find the building blocks of comics or graphic novels. Here is a summary of that research.
Our goal was to tell our story using the language of those books. We replicated the way they made the drawings and engravings, line values, the range of color, the inks used, types of paper and the use of gold leaf to enrich representations. We study how they represented everyday situations, how they imagined hell and demons, good and evil, God’s image, the architecture with its internal and external spaces. We took advantage of the absence of perspective as a tool for spatial representation, narrative language of comics and how the represented the spoken word. In the codices you can find the building blocks of comics or graphic novels. Here is a summary of that research.
Visual Research for “O Apostolo”(Summary)
Our Credits:
The crew:
Alvaro León Rodriguez: Design, Direction, Editing and animation.
Beatriz Martinez López: Art Direction.
Diana Bordas: Assistant Art Direction.
Rocio López Palacios: Postproduction, Compositing and animation.
Adriana Turmero Hidalgo: Producer.
Alvaro León Rodriguez: Design, Direction, Editing and animation.
Beatriz Martinez López: Art Direction.
Diana Bordas: Assistant Art Direction.
Rocio López Palacios: Postproduction, Compositing and animation.
Adriana Turmero Hidalgo: Producer.
more info:
keloide.net/oapostolo/
keloide.net/oapostolo/
O Apostolo oficial trailer
O Apostolo Making Of
