Antes de trabajar en el corto de animación BU, Allpa Studio había realizado los efectos visuales de varios videos musicales, largometrajes y anuncios publicitarios. Este colectivo, nacido oficialmente en 2020, se ha dedicado, sobre todo, a la corrección de color, los efectos visuales y motion graphics, y está integrado por Amed A. Bueno, Daniel Reyes y Daniel Alemán.

The commission of the effects for the video "Let Me Be Your Lover", by the singers Enrique Iglesias and Pitbull and directed by Alejandro Pérez, "it was a great challenge, because we debuted with great production and enormous responsibility".According to Daniel Alemán Montero, "the team has had to grow over the years, increasingly pushing the limits of what it is possible to do".

Now they have dedicated themselves to the realization of BU, where this illustrator, graphic designer and visual effects debuts in the direction.In addition to this short, that many say will change the history of animation in Cuba, Allpa Studio continues to work in audiovisuals, such as the video clips "I go" by Eme Alfonso and "Para pending" by Paty Cantu and Alejandro Sanz, and the spot ofThe XIII Biennial of Havana.

In BUs also work the producer Yamila Marrero, Sheyla Pool in the sound design, Eddy Cardoza in the musical composition, and Eduardo Eimil in the direction of actors.Once they were released, it would demonstrate the possibilities of the animation of haute bill in Cuba.

"Bu part of a personal purpose to perform an animated short film that I dedicated a few weeks in 2019," he explains German, "but he only had a first script draft and the design of characters and scenarios.

“In mid -2020, with some more experience and better conditions, I return to the idea of creating an animation short and we took the first steps of what would be BU.It is now in an animation, render and composition stage.After recording the voices, with the talent of Deysi Forcade and Grisell Monzón, and edit the sound, the short begins to deliver finished plans and progress constantly adding a few seconds every week.

Una historia original

EPP: two brothers: Kevin and Ana, a tree house and a storm.Three minutes ... this is what we know about BU.Could you give us other advances?

DAM: It develops in the present, in a non -determination place.It all starts when Kevin tells Ana a fear story that will be the axis around which the short.

I can't offer more details, since at just anything that reveals from the plot, I would compromise the story.

EPP: Is it an original argument or an adaptation?How was the work with the script?

DAM: It is an original story, and the main premise already had it clear when we consider it.The characters were also defined, as they were inherited from a previous project.

EPP: How did the characters conceive or designed?

DAM: The current design of the characters owes it to Daniel Reyes, at the head of art work during the first months of the project.He took the basis of a previous design and made an update that meant a radical change in the finish of these.

Already in the 3D stage we share tasks: Daniel took care of the textured, loves.Well of rigging (the skeleton that allows the character to encourage) and I of modeling and hair.We look a lot at the characters created by Disney in recent years and the treatment of textures and lights of illumination, mainly.

Un software que abre muchas posibilidades

About the free software they used, German says that “Blender opens many possibilities for young artists, and especially those of Cuba.Puts a very powerful tool available to everyone that competes with industry standards ".

“It has the advantage of doing a bit of everything, not only modeling and cheering in 3D, but is used for 2D animation, simulations, digital sculpted, composition and video editing.If you add that it is a relatively light program of executing, it makes it ideal for anyone who starts in the 3D and the animation and possesses a computer of few benefits.

“In addition, it has a phenomenon that I have not seen around other softwares, because perhaps because of being free, it has a very strong and open community to share knowledge, where 3D artists provide tutorials and advice to which they enter thisworld."

EPP: Do you think the short will allow attention to the real possibilities of working first level animation in Cuba?

DAM: I think it will be, at least, capable of showing that it is possible to make a haute bill animation product from Cuba.The finished fragments are very encouraging and have exceeded our expectations.

On the other hand, we must not lose sight of the fact that it is a short of a few minutes, in which, in addition, I debut as director.The project has aroused some interest from the beginning and we try to obtain the best we are able to achieve, but being a first work I am sure there will be elements to improve and errors to learn from.

Animation, like cinema, is a complex and expensive industry, and extrapolate the experiences collected in BU or adventures similar to a national scale, requires the participation of many factors.At a time as the current one is difficult to forecast the long -term future in a scenario where priorities change continuously.

EPP: Are there intentions that BU is the preamble of a feature film?

DAM: It is raised so that the tasks and the production system are scalable to a length, since it has followed the same development steps that would be carried out in a great production.The short film could be seen as the mini story that begins some lengths, although it has its own start, development and closure;But there are currently no plans to turn it into a feature film.

EPP: Sound postproduction has been financed by the Cuban Institute of Art and Cinematographic Industry (ICAIC).Have you received any other financing?

DAM: The project received the support from the ICAIC but, apart from that, BU is totally self -financed.Actually, the passion of team members is what has been able to get it forward.

Una pequeña ventana abierta al futuro

EPP: Share the Work in Progress of the Short in their Instagram profile and in other social networks ... Have this been raised as a kind of visibility strategy?

DAM: As an independent study, social networks are the most accessible tool to gain visibility.It was thus conceived from the beginning, because part of the objective was to show and collect the work process, experiences and share what the work of performing an animated.

Network work has managed to direct attention to an animation product made in Cuba.It allows us to have real -time feedback with users and is a source of motivation and responsibility while expectations grow.

EPP: How do you value the current state of animation in Cuba?

DAM: It is currently scarce and sustained by a few lovers of this art who try to develop it despite all difficulties.I don't think it is fair to compare it with other countries, because they develop in very different conditions.In addition to isolated examples, the production of animated global scale is concentrated in a handful of countries, there is an abysmal space between them and the rest.

However, I think there is a small window in the future.The democratization of technology together with a certain degree of Internet access, has allowed the emergence of a new generation of artists and the formation of Forums and Chats where Cuba 3D creators share their work and knowledge.

You can see in these sites a constant growth of the quality and quantity of shared works, which give evidence that there is a great talent for 3D animation and art in Cuba (2021).