A stop motion film, inspired by the Indonesian Wayang theater, that explores the relationship of humans with their surrounding.
The style of the puppets is borrowed from the Wayang shadow theatre, a UNESCO Intangible Heritage of Humanity.
“The Mountain and her Children” is a stop motion short film in which the characters of 5 siblings, the children of a mountain, go off on a journey to attempt and request help for their mother. The mountain had become the target of a greedy baron, who had found precious materials in her stone belly.
The personification of animal and plant characters in mythological storytelling such as that of the Wayang theatre and norse mythology were key inspirations for the depiction of characters. The visual design base for the characters is also that of Wayang: Characteristicly broad shoulders, long arms and nose, and upward/downward inclined heads.
Wayang Puppet
Attached to the extremities (really just the arms) of Wayang puppets are sticks, that allow the puppeteer to control their body language. The puppets in this film however are given life through the magic of stop motion.
Structurally quasi identical to the traditional Wayang Kulit, these puppets differ in two ways:
• Animal skin vs. wood: The main material used for Wayang Kulit is, as the “kulit” suggests, animal skin. In this film the puppets consist of lasered 3mm wood panels.
• Real time movement vs. recorded: Wayang is traditionally performed in front of a live audience. Consequently, this requires that the puppeteer can move the puppets arms without making himself seen. This feature is not needed in stop motion, since movement progresses in between frames.