When I applied for this course, not only was I more leaned towards 2D animation, but I was also worried about not having the drawing skills to be a good 2D animator. As soon as I started researching about Seara Cardoso and Abi Feijó, I truly realized how varied animation can be and has been, and my interest in animation shifted to more hand-crafted methods. Having been a pattern cutter, I’m naturally more skillful and stimulated to create three-dimensional materials, and I gained a certain aversion to spending long periods of time in front of a computer screen / tablet. I’ve always been more drawn to details, and if I ever end up working in the animation industry, I believe I would fit in better in stop-motion.

The first thing we learned in the stop-motion class was to build a skeleton for our puppets, using wires and connectors. Then we used foam to shape the torso, and strips of nylon fabric covered in latex to shape the arms, legs and neck. The hands were made with wires covered with hot glue to create the shape. For the head, I sculpted it with foam and painted with acrylic mixed with latex, and created hair from wool yarns. For the clothes, I knitted a tiny jumper, sewed a pleated skirt and used foam and the piping of a leather jacket to build the shoes.

For my character, Zé, I wanted to explore androgyny in the shape of a non-binary teenager In order to achieve that I contrasted a triangle shaped torso, with more feminine clothes and gestures. I used Zé for my Lift exercise, “Zé and Their Pearl Necklace”, in which, as mentioned in the title, Zé lifts up a pearl necklace. As a queer child, I was always attracted to feminine clothes and accessories which always angered or embarrassed the adults around me, accusing me of either wanting attention or having dangerous behaviors that could influence me and other kids to be gay. Gender and sexual orientation are separates issues, and I believe people would have much happier lives if they were not reduced to a gender role. For that reason, I wanted to have Zé to be naively joyful about discovering a pearl necklace in the middle of the floor.

This film took me a few takes to make it, specially because it was one of the first times I tried to animate a puppet, and initially, I definitely exaggerated with the amount of movements I gave the puppet. I learned that “pauses” are important, especially to convey a message, an intention or a reaction. I also learned that if I want to use the green screen in the future, that I need to be careful with the color yellow and blue (besides green). I really enjoyed using the hair as an extension of their emotions, and I was very impressed how quick I can animate in stop-motion in comparison to 2D. Of course building the puppets takes most of the time, but that’s the fun part for me.