Claudio Martins on bringing real-world inspiration into Lost Amazon

Please give us a short summary of Lost Amazon.

Claudio: Lost Amazon is a film that tells about our original people through a fantasy. It is a story of how our antecedents were and how one of the first matriarchal civilizations emerged. A film with historical facts specialized consultants to support even within a fiction historical data about civilizations that have lived here for millennia. A story about two peoples who haven't spoken to each other for a long time and through the connection of two young people, Yandara and Kauã, come together to unravel an ancient prophecy.

Tell us about your team and the contributors to the project.

Claudio: The film has several professionals in the artistic area. Experienced animators who have already made great productions using Harmony such as Zé Luis and Rosinaldo Lajes. Our boarder Leandro Monteiro who is an artistic supervisor and worked on KEYA's feature film. As well as David Lima's beautiful scenarios and Carlitos Pinheiro's characters. 

Other artists [on the project] are indigenous, such as Thalia Yanza and Leandro Lima, who will do the part of the graphics. Also invited other indigenous artists to help on melodies and percussion for this film. We have two specialized consultants, Dr. Eduardo Neves (archaeologist) and Daniel Munduruku (author and educator). With Eduardo's findings, I began to create the story. It woke me up about this world not yet known to us.

Was there a particular scene or shot in the teaser that you’re especially proud of?

Claudio: Yandara's entrance behind the enchanted bird Aruanã. In indigenous culture and tradition we don't call it magical or special. It is a sacred, enchanted being that attracts Yandara to the unknown.

There’s a lot of texture and movement in the teaser, from flowing hair to feathers and plants. How did you handle those animation challenges in Harmony?

Zé: Without a doubt, Deformers are a fundamental tool for achieving more fluid and organic movements, and this is something Harmony improves with each update.

What were your main inspirations for both the setting and cast of characters?

Claudio: The characters are inspired by ancient cultures and fantasy. I really like texture and I want to avoid the plastic aspect that the computer makes. The more natural it looks, the better. Regarding the concept, we still do not have factual accounts of how our people really were a thousand years ago. Current designs are temporary for mere illustration. We hope with the approval, to make a deep development with the help of our consultants so that we can really reach a common point.

How did you approach character design for Yandara and the others, and how did you bring them into Harmony?

Claudio: Yandara is a girl who wants to talk to you about her people. Yandara is a strong girl but it's not valid. It reminds me a lot of struggling women, all the Brazilians who work all day and do everything for their family. People who fight against prejudice and machismo. People who need to be heard and respected. I wanted something that conveyed our people. Clothing is something that we will still research a lot after the approval of the production.

Did you use rigging for the characters in the teaser? How complex were the rigs, and how did Harmony help with that process?

Zé: Yes, rigging was used, and the characters had an advanced level of complexity, and the various nodes and blending options that Harmony offers make certain processes much faster and easier.

What advice would you give to other artists who want to tell culturally significant stories with animation?

Claudio: First, research. Second, search even more. The story is rich in facts, curiosities and milestones that can open a huge window of ramifications and make your head explode creatively. Third, do it responsibly. Be sure of your sources and if possible make partnerships or hire consultants who can help you. Fourth, consider who your audience is and how they will receive your message tells a lot about how you will express it. It's a challenge for children and another challenge for adults.

The forest feels like a character itself. How did you design and animate the background environments to feel alive?

Claudio: The forest is a living being. In the original culture it is sacred and we are connected. She has to move, interact, be part of it. As we deal with foliage, nines, woods, the ideal is often to do frame-by-frame.

How did your understanding of the region’s indigenous culture, and Marajoara civilization, shape the visual storytelling?

Claudio: This region is where there is an archaeological site with one of the several excavations where experts have been reporting these new findings. Interesting facts that connect the history of our country in many things. It makes us understand our origin. It makes us rethink in a series of studies. And that was highly inspiring to me. An example would be the ceramic vases that date back hundreds of years. Another fact: usually the stored remains were leaders and this leads us to the theory that the find is from a woman due to the artifacts inside the urn. Studies like this awaken sparks of creativity for me and the whole team.

Eduardo, as an archaeologist, how is your research informing the development of Lost Amazon? What are the ways that archaeological research can support animation teams?

I think the way archaeology can support animation teams is that archaeology is something which is very visual. We use drawings, photographs, we do sketches all the time when we are in the field. And we also have notebooks where we take notes, we write information, we draw things that we see. We also take many photographs because we can never take geological sites from the places where they are — that’s kind of obvious. The only thing that we can do is to try to register as well as we can and bring this information back to the lab. And then, using it, we can try to reconstruct parts of the life of the people that lived in the places where we work. So because we have to produce lots of visual materials, I think that’s the way we can help animation — by providing our field notes, our sketches…”

Daniel, what elements of Indigenous storytelling or symbolism are most important for you to see represent in Lost Amazon? How do you expect them to be represented in the animation?

Daniel: Because it is a fictional animation, all symbolism will be based on the timeless marks that indigenous peoples have been registering and that are still possible to perceive today. All of them are brands that tell stories because they concern social organization and ancestral worldviews. We want spectators to take a trip into the past so that they understand the importance of the present time in the preservation of the Amazon and its millennial cultures.

When can audiences expect to see the full feature?

Claudio: We are currently approved by a competent Brazilian body for fundraising. We hope very soon to start production next year and debut in 2028 in the cinema and later in streaming.

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• Interested in seeing more from Claudio Martins and the team at Valente Studios? Be sure to visit the studio's website. You can also find our previous interview on the making of Sebastiana.
• Ready to get started on your next animated project? Artists can download a 21-day trial of Harmony Premium.