The Film

 
“Song of the Amazon” will share Amazonian lore and the visionary worldview of the Shipibo people, elders and ayahuasqueros (practitioners of the healing plant medicine Ayahuasca) through a compelling animated feature that will break through the conventions of standard filmmaking.

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Using the paintings of Reshin Bima, and the traditional artwork of the Shipibo people as inspiration for our animation style, Song of the Amazon will use breathtaking visuals to take audiences on a profound and captivating journey.

 

The power of story, song, and the beauty of animated film will transport viewers into a parallel universe where nature, the psyche, spirit and cosmos intertwine in colorful and ornate patterns– weaving together the elements of the Amazonian mystique.

 

Song of the Amazon seeks to convey to the world an authentic understanding of the reality of the Shipibos and their sacred knowledge as it has been taught to each generation for thousands of years. As a whole, the story of Song of the Amazon will be inspired by the collective memory, vision and spiritual intelligence of the Shipibo people.
 

The Project: Film Development and Production

 

1. Interviews and Information Gathering:

 

To implement this project, we will travel to Peru to engage with the Shipibo people, elders and ayahuasqueros, listening to their oral tradition and inviting them to share stories and teachings with the rest of the world. We will ask the Shipibo people to share the knowledge they feel that we as outsiders should know about them, their world, culture and spirituality and use the information we gather to write and develop the story of our film.

 

As a part of this process, we will film and record each interview (with permission) in order to create a documentary film that will be utilized as a companion “making of” to our animated film. This footage will also be a valuable archive of authentic knowledge that will be provided as a resource to the Shipibo people at the completion of this project.

 

2. Story and Visual Development

 

Using the knowledge acquired from the interviews, we will create a fictional narrative that will present the stories, concepts and views shared with us by the Shipibo people. During this phase of the project, we will employ our professional skills as filmmakers in order to shape and develop a story outline, and write a screenplay that we will use to produce a full-length animated feature film.
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Additionally during this project phase, we will develop the visual look of the film as inspired and informed by the traditional and modern artwork of the Shipibo people. As part of this process, we will source research material and develop the designs for the story’s characters and locations as well as create concept art that will inform the production.

 

3. Animation and Film Production

 

We will begin this phase of production by creating an animatic for the film, which involves the creation of storyboards that will be edited together using rough dialogue and a temporary soundtrack. This animatic will be used to work out camera placement and to ensure that the visual and story elements of the film are cohesive. As the script and story are finalized, actors will be hired to record the film’s dialogue, which will be edited into the animatic to refine timing and in preparation for animation.

 

Using the animatic as a blueprint, our producer and director will head a small team of artists to animate, ink and color the film. Once animation is complete, the film will be finalized in the post-production process, during which time the audio soundtrack will be mixed, the final music will be added, and the completed project will be compiled into its final high resolution format, which will then be outputted onto film.
Advantages of Animation

 

Animation is the best medium for this project, allowing for a vibrant and visionary expression of our story. Producing this story as an animated film also affords us a direct route to international film distribution, enabling the film to be shown in theaters worldwide. Additionally as an animated film, we can take advantage of a clear path to be long-listed for an Academy Award nomination for “Best Animated Feature Film.” This means the film will be shown and screened for members of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, raising the film’s profile with the public, and potentially having the film short-listed for nomination.