“Miracontos
A Zorra e a Lavradora”STOP MOTION / SHORT FILM
Role: Direction / Animation / Editing
“On Laje hill, at the foot of the mill, there is an enchantment.”
In mid-April, curiosity about this mystical place sets in. Not only this one but other mills were mentioned in the book that inspired the project, “A Zorra Berradeira and other stories”. Thus began D. Quixotian's search for the municipality of Odemira. It was here that the inspiration for the scenarios emerged and a rediscovery of a coastal Alentejo that I had forgotten.
Narration is very present in my work and, based on two traditional tales (“The Legend of Monte da Laje” and “A Zorra Berradeira”), I would naturally include it in this project. The decision to unite these two stories arises due to the lack of context of the characters in the story of Monte da Laje. Thus, Maria da Laje comes across the spirit of Zorra Berradeira, in a confrontation where Maria was doomed from the beginning.
In mid-April, curiosity about this mystical place sets in. Not only this one but other mills were mentioned in the book that inspired the project, “A Zorra Berradeira and other stories”. Thus began D. Quixotian's search for the municipality of Odemira. It was here that the inspiration for the scenarios emerged and a rediscovery of a coastal Alentejo that I had forgotten.
Narration is very present in my work and, based on two traditional tales (“The Legend of Monte da Laje” and “A Zorra Berradeira”), I would naturally include it in this project. The decision to unite these two stories arises due to the lack of context of the characters in the story of Monte da Laje. Thus, Maria da Laje comes across the spirit of Zorra Berradeira, in a confrontation where Maria was doomed from the beginning.
From here, the scenes were born and grew naturally: the whitewashed walls of the houses (material: paper pulp and cardboard), a small desert hill with little vegetation (material: Styrofoam, artificial moss, acrylic and stone), a cork oak ( structure: cork and aluminum, leaves: moss).
The colors and textures of the characters arose from a need to create contrast with the scenery, but at the same time not clash too much with the general palette. On the one hand, Maria appears as a farmer, wearing a practical outfit with her traditional scarf, and on the other, Zorra, who appears in human and animal form, who ends up camouflaging herself with the reddish tones of the landscape.
