Animation Short Film
A.Casas, C.Jimenez, N.Gala
2005 / 18’
" Atxim "
Synopsis
Genre: slow motion. On the day of his wedding, a germ (or microbe) is sucked in by a human breath and gets trapped inside a lung where a well-organized community of microbes lives under the iron discipline of their governor. Once he realizes that they will be organising a germ-spreading ceremony by causing a fit of coughing, the germ tries everything to be the one and, by being catapulted out, hopes to arrive on time to his wedding. But it will not be easy at all.
Comments by the composer
So far, Atxim has been the film about which I am most satisfied. It is a very beautiful film, very well done, with high technical and aesthetic qualities. Its creators spent more than a year of work and effort. Therefore, I applied myself with great enthusiasm.
I took part in the project almost from its inception when the filmmakers showed me some sketches and scenes already completed, so basically the musical ideas emerged rather from the script than from the images. We were convinced that, since this was a movie aimed at children, we had to make it understood easier through the music. Melodic ideas definitely had to be simple, but by no means easy. Thus, one of the first decisions was to select which characters would have music and which not. Once the decision had been taken, we had to determine which of the tunes should be the main one and which ones should be secondary.
Obviously, the main character - named Obi- would provide the most substantial music: he would be the driver of the story and, of course, at the same time his music had to guide the melodic development. As a counterpoint, the character of the Governor would lead a type of music totally opposite. Facing the lightness and freshness of the first one would be the solemnity and seriousness of the other one. Alongside both, other secondary tunes would be played.
The tune of Obi - the principal character - is a cheerful, festive, dynamic and highly malleable tune. It was also really important to me that it was very retentive and could already remain etched in the memory in the initial credits. That way, I could make various changes and impacts until the end, giving to the whole film a very solid and very coherent shape. I achieved this in different ways: as romantic music in the sequence immediately prior to the credits, as funny ska music style and also as dynamic and adventurous, much like a fanfare. In the first scene, I presented it with flute, whistle, guitar and piano; in the credits, I decided to make the voices childish to give a fun and happy air, adding a saxophone. For the catapult scene, I chose an instrumentation that would evoke the classic superhero, and in the final credits, an extended version of the initial sounds with a greater presence of sax and trumpet.
The tune for Ocus, the Governor, is very syncopated. I used percussion and trombones to achieve a low pitch, solemn, and very serious. This contrast not only defines the unsympathetic character, but also leaves Obi somewhat helpless in the presence of the Governor.
A scene that raised problems from the beginning was the most decisive one: Obi arrives at the catapult ceremony and tries to replace the lucky one who will be ejected outward. In the original script, there was no room for side events, and everything was told in a very direct way. That was a drawback: it was difficult to explain that this was a party that lasted hours and that the assistants were getting tired and relax, an opportunity which was seized by Obi. I suggested lengthening the scene with an elliptic linking divided into three different moments in the party, so that the natural passage of time got more obvious. Musically, it was very easy: it sufficed to make three different tunes. But for the directors, this stretch implied more than an extra month of work: they had to incorporate new characters and situations (the typical drunkard in the parties, the "players", the provocative women, the dancers ...).
Therefore, I wrote three different tunes for the party, with the order,
animated / relaxed / animated, all performed by a group of microbes. The
first was Latin music, with soloist trumpet accompanied by piano, the
second, a lounge tune, with vibraphone, guitar, bass and saxophone, among
with other instruments; finally, the third was a rock song played by myself,
with the lyrics referencing what was going to happen. Those were the last
moments of animation immediately prior to the catapult time.