03.04.09 -- The Road to El Dorado analysis

WHAT I HAVE DONE TODAY:
Today I stuck in the pictures I printed off yesterday into my sketchbook and completed the titles of the sections ready for annotations and sketches. I intend on drawing from the actual books so that I can fully understand the way in which the artists go about creating their characters, and I will read through the books completely before annotating so I can fully relate it to what I want to do.

I also watched The Road to El Dorado and made the following notes on how the film shows:

Native Mesoamerican Artwork:
Block colours. Curves and circles. Shapes within shapes. Borders and layers.

Native People:
Olive skin, big lips and dark hair, left long and unadorned. Wearing elaborate headdresses like artwork, with feathers. Big chunky ear piercings like squares with curved corners. Wearing loin cloths and loose fitting, unelaborate clothes, except for the priest and chief. Priest has face paint - red streaks over his eyes.

Native Animals / Plants:
Jaguars, butterflies, snakes, armadillos, monkeys, piranha, and bright coloured, exotic birds. Vivid green plants and big leaves and vines. Rich jungle. Fantasy animals used to enhance the 'lost city' look of the film include giant turtles used to ferry people across water and brightly coloured, long legged birds like giant herons.

Customs and Traditions:
Huge, colourful festival to celebrate the gods. Tribute paid in the form of human sacrifices or gold. In the film this tribute is paid to a whirlpool symbolising Shebulba, the Mayan underworld, so this doesn't really apply to my research. People eating watermelons. Sport is a vertical hoop on a wall which a ball needs to be thrown through to score a point (I think this is a general mesoamerican sport, so I can apply it to my research).

Colours:
Very bright, vibrant. Golds (although the film centers on the 'lost city of gold' so the colour is stressed more than usual), greens, reds and yellows. Lively, bold colours.

Characters:
The film centers on their friendship and journey together. Personalities contrast but are a duality, like yin and yang, completing eachother. Miguel is romantic and adventurous, while Tulio is down to earth and cynical. Chel's role is as a sort of side kick, love interest and test of their friendship. The priest is a villain, showed plainly enough through his sharp, shark like features, use of 'dark magic', involvement with the jaguar (he brings the jaguar statue to life and the temple guards where jaguar skins). He is also tall, thin and boney, which makes him seem cold and sly. The chief, however, is softly spoken and fat, making him look warm and gentle, and is seen playing with children very often, all of which makes him seem kind hearted.

Mesoamerican Culture's role in the story:
El Dorado (the mythical city of gold) offers the main characters all the material riches they want, but the culture itself influences Miguel with its natural beauty and lifestyle. The material appeal of the gold is downplayed in favour of the richness of the environment, which portrays the message that material things aren't nearly as beautiful as the world around you, and living alongside it like the people of El Dorado are seen to do. It is also interesting to see that the mesoamericans here are seen as gentle and peaceful, with the exception of the priest, which makes a change to other films like Apocolypto and Indiana Jones where they are portrayed as violent and primitive.

WHAT I WILL DO TOMORROW:
Watch Apocolypto and make notes. Read the concept art books ready for annotations.