URBANOCULI Animadoc, 24 min, Mexico City 2017

www.vimeo.com/fiesfilm/urbanoculi

URBANOCULI today at 19:00 @ Atrio de San Francisco

Tonight will be the premier of "Urbanóculi", a 25 min animated documentary about 9 protagonist: Camaxtli, Francisco, Hadassha, Miguel, Erasmo, Fermín, Alfredo, Christian and Filemón.

more infos: http://casavecina.com/en/proyecto/urbanoculi-presentacion-del-animadoc-al-aire-libre/

Filemón Session Individual # 4

Yesterday Filemón animated his character. It was the last session! Now i make an animated documentary out of all the material we did since september. The final presentation will happen 28th of Nov @ 19:00 at Atrio de San Francisco.

Miguel Session # 3

I visited Miguel on his living spot and very spontaneous we designed a face and animated it on the street! It is a very beautiful work, as we used only the objects, which he uses to clean shoes:

Erasmo Session Individual # 2

Erasmo animated his talking face today:

 

Francisco Session Individual # 8

Francisco had the great idea to fill his own silhouette with videotape...so we did it:

Presentation #2 @ Casa Vecina tonight 19:00

In a couple of hours the second presentation of the "Urbanóculi" project will happen! All animated material will be screened at the wall opposite of Casa Vecina, while music and drinks will hopefully bring us in celebration mood! A special highlight will be the music video "Dicen Que Son Calle" and the Zombie Clip, we did at the cemetery a couple of days ago:

And there will be a scpecial DJ guest: Juliancín Y Tropicaza will present "Valemix Vol 1"
https://soundcloud.com/ialedor/juliancin-y-tropicaza-presentan-valemix-vol-1

Erasmo Session Individual # 1

Erasmo already participated in some group sessions but never in an individual one. We started with an interview, which became very emotional. He was so released to be able to talk to someone about his life. I was extremly touched by his openness and confidence. We didnt find time to do any animation. Next time!

Miguel Session # 2

Miguel wanted to go to his house and i asked him if he needs help. I was not sure, if this house really exists, i had no idea what to expect. But i trusted him and we went by taxi to Morelos and entered his little room, which was full with stuff till the top. The mission was to make some order into the chaos. He said, he never stayed at this room, he preferes the street. I stayed for hours and helped putting bags full of stuff and wood and boxes from one corner to the other and covered it with plastic. In between i took some photos and recorded sound.

Hadassha & Camaxtli Session

The same did Hadassha & Camaxtli: they animated a talking character, which we will use later for talking sequences.

Francisco Session Individual # 7

Today Francisco animated a talking character, which we will use later for talking sequences. For now it is still a face without a voice...

Hadassha, Camaxtli & Herasmo Session / guest: Joe

Yesterday we had a very nice group session: Camaxtli arrived with "Pan de Muerto" and we started the day with a breakfast:

Then we went outside to do improvisations when suddenly Joe joined us, enriching the movements with his beatbox performance:

Zombie Session

Today we finally did the zombie session in the cemetery Xoco! We found an old damaged grave, where the "zombies" could come out. We had to hurry a bit, as we didnt have permission to film, so the first take was also the last take!

Miguel Session # 1

Today was a very special day for me: i spend the whole day with Miguel. Miguel is 79 years old and lives in the streets since he is 5. He sleeps in a mini container on a big roundabout traffic in the center of Mexico City. He never walks anywhere. He just sits in this corner, cleans shoes and sells cigarrets. We talked for hours and even eat together there. He allowed me to record our conversations. Then suddenly a client came to let his shoes cleaned and i took some pictures.

Filemón Session Individual # 3

Today we gave it another try and went to the grandmothers house for the violin. We were lucky: the grandmother, the mother and several aunts were at home and welcomed me like a princess. In their patio Filemón did his perfomance with the violin. I completely forgot to record sound, i didnt realize that he didnt play his violin for real, just faking to play it. Then his grandmother walked into the picture and the aunts handed flowers to her: cempasúchil, the flower of the day of the death:

Francisco Session Individual # 6

We did some more Pixilation experiments:

Bacho Session Individual # 1

When i met Bacho the first time some weeks ago, he slept in his tent in the historic center of Mexico and drew in the streets. Today he agreed that i accompany him to Tepito market and take photo-series during he is drawing.

Filemón Session Individual # 2

Filemón wanted to go to his grandmothers house to get his violin and do Pixilation, while playing it. We drove to the district "Pensador Mexicana", but his grandmother was not home. So we invented something else. Filemón did some expressive walkings while pretending to play his flute, which he always carries in his pocket. On the way back he played the flute in the metro for me while i recorded it:

Then we passed the famous statue of "Rockdrigo", a mexican musician who died in the earthquake of 1985. Filemón next to him!

Francisco Session Individual # 5

Francisco brought old VHS tapes and had a storyboard ready: buldings appear and collapse because of an earthquake. In the end he improvised a Voice Over: how to behave during an earthquake.

Fermín Session Individual # 2

Fermín wanted to go to the cemetery to do Pixilation there. He wanted to get out of a grave and then walk around like a zombie. He needs an old, rotten jacket for that, but we didnt have one. And the cemetery San Fernando was closed because of the earthquake three weeks ago. So we did some zombie-walks in the streets and for the next session we will be better prepared!

Camaxtli Session Individual # 3

We did Pixilation in front of graffiti in the historic center. Camaxtli is an amazing actor and full of funny ideas. In the end he said, he wants to use the rap song "Dice que son calle" from Los Apostolos de Rap (MEX) for his animation (www.youtube.com/watch?v=-siYDumyoTY). I just contacted the band, lets see if they give us the right to use their song!

Filemón Session Individual # 1 / guest: Bacho

Filemón arrived with a plastic bag full with little items and improvised a little performance:

He told me that he plays music to earn money. He pulled a flute out of his trousers and played a song. Next time he will bring his violin, which is stored at his grandmothers house. We will make pixilation in the streets while he plays it.
Then suddenly Bacho appeared. He lives in his tent close to Casa Vecina and draws in the street. He helped with the animation of Filemón and they became friends!

Francisco Session Individual # 4 / guest: Fermín

We drove to "Santa Fe Pueblo", where Francsico wanted to do an outdoor animation. This part of Mexico City is originally build on ruins of a hospital from the 16th century. It is a very hilly area, quite poor and known for gangs. In this area used to be the garbage dump of Mexico City, till in the 80ies "Santa Fe City" was build next to the "Pueblo",  one of the richest parts of Mexico City. Francisco wanted to go there, as he likes a lot this neighborhood with its step hills and nice views:

Pixilation Workshop Result

Our last workshop together! We did "Pixilation" to learn another animation technique. The result is quite funny:

Francisco Session Individual # 3 / guest: Fermín

Francisco told me he would like to do some outdoor animation in the slum of Santa Fé, which is about 2 hours drive from the center and walk back from there till the last metro station. I asked him if it is safe to walk there around with a camera and he answered: "sure, you look like a mexican and we will talk to the people". So we made a date for next monday. Then Francisco animated a scene with one of his little fetus and three pets, while Fermín took the pictures. This time he had an explanation for the use these fetus:

Camaxtli Session Individual # 2

Camaxtli arrived with a flower but needed a second one for his planed animation. So we picked some in the roof terrace. Then he explained the scene: two friends - a mexican and a spanish - meet in a park and talk about nature. We animated it and then he improvised a conversation.

 

Fermín Session Individual # 1

Fermín is a quite shy and timid guy and nearly does not talk. He brought his mascot and we animated it. Then we went outside to look for some backgrounds. Fermín is not a big storyteller but a very good photographer!

Recyclers Workshop Result: "Basura Ficción - creado por los Valedores"

Los Valedores animated a short film with waste collected in the streets of Mexico City within 5 workshop sessions. Congratulations!!!!

Alfredo Session Individual # 1

Alfredo came without objects and without any ideas. So we started with an interview. He told me about the harborage situation of homeless people in Mexico City and about his personal live and destiny. Then we made an animation with the character he created in the workshop and improvised a short scene with a fish, that escapes his little aquarium and lands in the middle of a plate, ready to be eaten, when he escapes again in order to go back into his aquarium. Alfedo said: "Life is safer there".

 

Recyclers Workshop Session # 5 @ MiValedor

Our last "Recyclers" session! We worked on the credits and the sounddesign. Everyone created a sound with the waste-objects or used his voice for his scene. In the end we discussed the title and decided to name the film: "Basura-Ficción, creado por los valedores". In the next days the result will be presented on this blog!

Fotos © Valeria Caballero

Christian Session Individual # 1

Christian arrived without any objects to animate so we started with an interview. He mentioned that he does grafiti and we decided that in one of the next sessions he will spray a wall:

I explained him the Pixilation technique and suggested that we could do something in the streets. So we went outside and did some experiments:

Francisco Session Individual # 2 / guest: Camaxtli & Fermín

Francisco was accompanied by Camaxtli and Fermín to his second individual session. They wanted to talk about their experience of the earthquake last week and make an animation about it later. So we started the session with an interview:

Then Francisco continued with his animation. He brought new objects and worked independently, while Fermín took the pictures.

Fermín brought a little mascot, which he wants to animate in his upcoming individual session. He wanted to introduce his little friend to us. The question was: it is a bear or a mouse?

Hadassha Session Individual # 1

We started our session with an interview and then Hadassha demonstrated her collected objects and immediately improvised a scene:

She showed me her selfmade weapon, which she always carries with her in order to defend herself: a stone wrapped in a piece of black cloth. She animated this character instead of her other objects. She said, that this is the shadow of the night and called it "alma de arma y mortal" (the soul of the weapon and of the mortal). "Soy yo" (thats me).

Camaxtli Session Individual # 1

Camaxtli wants to animate a song called "Vivo Por Ella" from Andrea Bocelli. He wrote down all the lyrics and has already a clear vision about the visual scene. He is facinated by the lyrics that make you believe that it is about a woman, while it is about "la musica".

As it will be quite a work to animate this song, he will start with something more easy: two roses meet for a Rendezvous. This idea is inspired by street names in Mixcoac, an aerea of southern Mexico City: Calle Rosa Blanca, Rosa Vulcano, Rosa Damasco, Rosa de Castilla; Rosa de Bengala, Rosa Tartara.
For the session of today he quickly created a little caracter and the magazine "Mi Valedor":

 

Recyclers Workshop Session # 4 @ MiValedor

Hadassha, José, Alfredo, Camaxtli, Isaías, Fermín, Franciso and Chrístian - the new Valedor! - finished all their figures and animation today!
Two days ago a terrible earthquake shook Mexico, houses collapsed and burried a lot of people. We all were shocked and still are. The most important in this apocalyptic situation is the community. So all of us were relieved to be able to continue our daily life today and forget at least for some hours about the sad reality outside.

Francisco Session Individual # 1

Francisco is the first animator of the "Urbanoculi" project! He brought his collection of objects and explained, what he wants to create with these items:

And then he started to work completly on his own. During the animation session he mentioned, that this work relaxes him a lot. He will call this movie "GATEAR" (eng: "crawl").