Aldeotas

ALDEOTAS

Character Design
Design
Art Direction

In 2019, I had the privilege of contributing to the emotionally charged project, Aldeotas, Gero Camilo’s award-winning theater play adapted for the theater.

Initially conceived with an experimental tone, the project would feature real actors on 2D animation backgrounds and/or stage alongside animated projections, infused with magical elements and artistic props.
My involvement in the early stages included proposing aesthetics of the projections and also designing characters for the stop-motion animation section, capturing the essence of this poetic and adventurous episode of their childhood.

While the project later transitioned to a more traditional format, my experience with this emotional narrative was invaluable.

Aldeotas unfolds the poignant tale of two friends parting ways at 17, shaped by the challenges of teenage life in the small and conservative town of Coti das Fuças, Brazil. Levi, a poet seeking escape, adheres to their plan of moving to a big city, while Elias, burdened by a violent father, gives up on the idea of leaving. At age 50, Levi returns for a reunion during a funeral, reliving memories with Elias before bidding the final farewell.

Aldeotas

Character Design | Design | Art Direction

In 2019, I had the privilege of contributing to the emotionally charged project, Aldeotas, Gero Camilo’s award-winning theater play adapted for the theater.

Initially conceived with an experimental tone, the project featured real actors on stage alongside animated projections, infused with magical elements and artistic props.
My involvement in the early stages included proposing aesthetics of the projections and also designing characters for the stop-motion animation section, capturing the essence of this poetic and adventurous episode of their childhood.

While the project later transitioned to a more traditional format, my experience with this emotional narrative was invaluable.

1. STOP-MOTION SECTION

The introductory chapter of the play provides a glimpse into the core of Levi’s heart, his soul, and poetry. Uniquely, this segment is the sole part of the feature film that would be animated in stop motion.

It meticulously paints a portrait of Levi’s innermost emotions, setting the tone for the unfolding narrative.

The journey toward the Center of the Earth symbolizes Levi’s exploration of the profound depths of his soul as he returns to the city of his upbringing to attend his best friend’s funeral.

The fantastical and magical elements within this chapter represent the essence of all the moments spent with Elias. A rough storyboard depicting part of this section is available after the character’s design.

– Character Design –

Inspiration

Aesthetic References

Brazilian Festivals and Folklore Characters

The character design of Levi and Elias for the stop motion section was based on the physical features of the actors of the original play Gero Camilo and Victor Mendes, mixed with visual interpretation of their personalities.

Other Characters

– Concepts –

Anthill & The Center of the Earth Symbolisms

Rough Storyboard

1
“Simply hearing my mother’s voice was enough for the spaceship to turn back into a cashew tree. (…) And the boys from the Center of the Earth would hide in the anthills. My mother forbade me from playing with them, stating that it was impossible for boys to live in the Center of the Earth. Then one day, they decided to take me personally to meet ‘Caroço’ (the Core).“

2
The boys from the Center of the Earth warned that initially I would find the darkness strange, but that later my eyes would get used to it and I would see again.

3
Levi, pretending to be unafraid, agrees to go with them

4
“_ But first, he needs to be baptized, said another one, with diamond eyes.”

5
“_ But I already have a name. My name is Levi.”

6
Nevertheless, not satisfied with Levi…

7
…but they insist on giving him a new name, Ubaiê. Ubaiê means “mud foot, sun hair” in their language.

9
One of them starts to sing his new name.

10
All the boys sing Ubaiê’s name and enter an anthill that was between the roots of the mango tree that Levi’s great-grandmother planted.

The boys sing Ubaiê’s name in the tunnels, guiding him through the dark.

14
Ubaiê follows the singing and finds the group. He is fast, but they are too fast for him.

15
The Earth Has Veins of Clay. With a new name, there was one more condition for him to know the Center of the Earth: to ask for permission from the Queen of the anthill.

In the first few hours, he only saw lights blinking like fireflies, they were the eyes of the boys, all of them with diamonds. Neither wealth nor poverty value, only the brightness of darkness.

They passed by several ants.

They don’t stop for anything! They passed by us and just greeted, like that, swiftly.

They reached where the Queen lived.

A lady ant with a wise look and unlike the others, calm and with slow gestures. She stared at Levi for a long time. Then two other ants that were beside her throne, these more fidgety ones, went where Levi was and took his lunchbox. They took the lunchbox to the Queen. She opened it and discovered his corn cakes.

She looked into his eyes, smiled, animals also smile, and then allowed the entry. The boys laughed with joy and ran inside. Then he heard: Ubaiêêêêêêêêêêôôôôôô. Ubaiê. And he ran.

In the veins of the earth, waters circulate

It was also cold at the beginning.

24
They passed under wells, seas, and rivers.

Over time, it warmed up.

And then he started to see the shapes. But he could never see it properly.

They arrived at the entrance portal of the Center of the Earth

Everything shines, and Levi describes the indescribable colors of the Center.
Despite being in the Center of the Earth, there is a sky, deep and vast, with a unique color.

“I was blinded. But this time because of the light. Everything shone. The walls, the floor, the ceiling. I can’t say what color that was. It wasn’t the color of dark, much less the color of light.
Despite being the Center of the Earth, it had a sky. A big sky too, and deep. But it wasn’t blue sky, the color. The color was the color of the sky’s color. And if it was night, there were stars. Not stars of blue sky. Stars the color of stars of the color of the sky.”

29
The beauty of the Center is not just about aesthetics but a feeling of heart and pulsating ground.

“And if it was day, there was clear daylight. Not clear day. Clear day of sun the color of sky. In the Center of the Earth, everything is beautiful. Not beautiful just of beautiful. But beautiful of everything. Of clean beautiful. Of clear beautiful. Of dark beautiful. And there you get the impression of the heart. Not of one heart. But beautiful of everything of the heart. You feel the ground pulsating. Not the ground of the ground. But the ground of the sky without bottom and the ground of the ground.”