Pariah

"Pariah" is a drama told through animation that, in the midst of a tragic and brutal story, searches for a seed of hope. I wrote the script from a simple, diffuse and bitter feeling: that there are people who would rather destroy the world than share it. That these people or groups, regardless of the extent of their domains, would be willing to expel, oppress or even annihilate existences considered inconvenient, undesirable or not worthy of occupying space on the planet.

As a counterpoint to this feeling, I thought about how fundamental the spaces where we can simply exist in our daily lives are, as individuals or peoples. The rooms, streets or territories where we live, share, develop, rest and shelter, however small they may be. And also immaterial spaces-times, which art, and especially music, seem to be able to create in us and which sometimes even feel like some kind of redemption. I also thought about what extremes we might go to in order to protect our existence on these simple pieces of ground.

I tried to convey these themes of disputes over territory, both physical and symbolic, by telling the story only through animation, without dialogues, using the plasticity of the images, sounds and movements of the characters in a sensory way, where verbal communication between them seemed impossible due to the very tension of the conflict, but would still be expressed in the postures, looks and friction between their bodies.

I decided that there would be three characters: a young woman of around 20, intelligent, agile and a little inconsequential. She would be the protagonist who finds herself having to react in an extreme way after a violent swarm of people invades her home. A 50-year-old man, robust and violent, who comes with the crowd and sees himself as entitled to possess everything, but ends up knowing his vulnerability. And a 4-year-old girl, innocent and curious, who observes everything that goes on around her and ends up forming a deep bond with a stranger.

I wanted to visually explore the sensations they would be feeling as the plot unfolded, and for this I felt it was important to create a chain of cause and effect where each action or reaction seemed inevitable and each time left them more trapped and with fewer options of how to act.

I've been developing this animation technique as a frame-by-frame painting for a few years now. It consists of first drawing all the 2d animation digitally, then printing it out and hand-painting it frame by frame with ink on paper, and finally composing it digitally with the sets and editing. This allows for a very expressive use of materials and the brushstroke itself for the dynamics of lights, shadows and atmospheres. In the more intimate scenes, we sought a delicacy in the characters' expressions. In the crowd scenes, the bodies merge into a labyrinth of fleeting shapes and paint splotches. And finally, the fire appears in vibrant colours, as a logical consequence of the destruction.

The backgrounds were drawn and painted by hand, using a mixture of ink, pastel and graphite, and then projected onto digital 3D geometry modelled after the shapes of the buildings and streets, to create the effects of depth and parallax for the camera. The city should look like a worn-out, lived-in Brazilian metropolis, with buildings and shapes that seem to be encrusted with history. It's worth remembering that none of this would have been possible without the wonderful team who believed in the project.

As “Pariah” has no dialogues, we tried to make sound the most important element in building the dramatic curve of the story. Thus, echoes of footsteps in a dark alley, knocks on the door or a collective shout full of anger have expressiveness and affect the characters. Music played a special role because it's what the young woman listens to on her headphones. It affects her emotions and creates a haven of peace for her in moments of anguish. This feeling is very close to my heart personally, and this idea of a musical shelter also fits in with the themes of spaces and territories that permeate the film. This time it would be a space or instant created by affection and art, which will have a great effect on a decisive moment for the young woman in the film.