And how about being asked to work with one of your heroes—and getting a glowing compliment from him as a bonus?
My brief but happy collaboration with Dudok de Wit
The Anima Mundi 2018 Festival Bumper
Comments from Céu:
In 2018, Léa Zagury and Marcos Magalhães—then the founding directors of the prestigious Anima Mundi International Animation Festival—contacted me to create the festival’s opening sequence.
From 1993 to 2019, Anima Mundi was an ever-growing event held in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo. However, it was interrupted by the 2020 pandemic and, as of this writing, has not returned.
The opening ident (or festival bumper) is always a challenge. Shown at the start of every screening and featured in promotional materials, it is, after all, the most-watched animation at an animation festival. I had already successfully created the 2005 ident, animating the character Beryl, created by the British animator Joanna Quinn. Now, for 2018, my challenge was to create and animate a bumper based on the poster designed by the Dutch animation artist Michaël Dudok de Wit, who is based in London.
His feature film The Red Turtle is on my list of the ten best animated feature films of all time. I deeply admire his vision of the world and art, and the way he translates the ineffable into animated cinema.
We had already been introduced a year earlier, when he was preparing to visit Lençóis Maranhenses in northern Brazil. Yet, for his poster illustration, he chose the enigmatic scarlet ibises (or “guarás” in Portuguese) that inhabit the mangroves along the coast of Pará. Indeed, these birds—with their striking red plumage set against the vibrant green of the vegetation—are, in themselves, a marvel of design and a true expression of the Anima Mundi (the Living Soul that animates the world).
I accepted the invitation without hesitation.
But the budget was tight, and the deadline short.
My starting point consisted solely of the digital poster art and a few bird sketches—all created by Dudok himself—along with his email address. I wrote to him explaining my idea and asking if he had the birds separated from the background, with the background elements on distinct layers.
I explained that I needed layer separation to create a multiplane effect.
He replied that he had nothing beyond what I already possessed and expressed concern about the term “multiplane.” I quickly realized he disliked having any sort of photographic effect applied to his drawings; he is a purist who believes a drawing should remain just that—a drawing—without technical enhancements that apply effects of any kind.
I had absolutely no time to create a storyboard or sketches to explain what I intended to do. The birds and the mangrove were beautiful, but I wanted something more. Something that evoked the Soul of the World (Anima Mundi).
Before Anima Mundi became an animation festival, the name—to me—belonged to a wonderful short film by photographer Godfrey Reggio. That film, fittingly, featured scenes of animals in motion within the natural world. Animating a flock of scarlet ibises in flight and accentuating the movement with driving percussion and varying speeds was the obvious approach. But it wasn’t enough.
I recalled a watercolor painting I had created in 1992 to tell the story of a rubber tapper who founded a religion in the Amazon rainforest (see Mestre Gabriel). In that painting, I had simply depicted two open eyes, representing the Spirit of Nature as a singular entity animating the forest. I decided to use that same concept for this vignette.
I created the soundtrack myself, using archival percussion instruments: African drums and a Tibetan bell, along with echo and some phaser distortion.
I finished the film and sent it off to my dear Dudok.
*Alea jacta est.*
The reply came just a few hours later:
From: Michael Dudok de Wit, UK
Date: Sat, 09 Jun 2018 22:15:06 +0100
To: Céu D’Ellia, BR
Cc: Lea Beatriz Zagury, BR
Subject: Anima Mundi 2018 film vignette
“- Dear Céu,
It’s wonderful!
I have watched it at least ten times and I love it. I have also shown it to my wife – she has a good judgement – and she immediately loved it too.
A lot of what you talk about in your letter resonates with me. I didn’t know you were an environmentalist and also involved with indigenous shamans and your particular sensitivity to nature is in tune with mine.
The dark cloudy sky at the start is a surprising and very strong opening. I probably wouldn’t have dared to go for such a dark sky, but it really works.
The scene with the eyes is excellent, both for its visual strength and for the symbolism. To me it is the climax of the film.
These words come to mind: nature is conscious, the individual is conscious, nature and the individual are one.
I also really enjoy the music and the sound design. The bell is a great idea. Regarding the flaw in the sound of the bell when the eyes open, I don’t hear it, but I’m sure you know what you’re doing.
Don’t change anything, as far as I am concerned, and thank you so much, Céu!
Michaël Dudok de Wit”
Bingo!