What is "Star of the Water?"
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"Star of the Water" is a short film that retells the story of a Native Brazilian folklore called "Vitória Régia," otherwise translated to English as "Waterlily." The folklore is a short story of how the water lily came into existence in the Amazon rainforest.
According to Tupi-Guarani mythology, (the tribe in which the story originates from) the moon god Jaci would fall in love with beautiful, young women from the tribe and turn them into stars to keep him company. And, there was one young woman called Naiá who fell terribly in love with him despite her family warning her she could die. One night, she goes to the lake to admire the moon and notices its reflection in the water. Desperate to be with him, she kisses the reflection only to fall into the water and sadly drown to her death. To honor her, he also turns her into a star, but instead of a star in the sky she is a 'star of the water' also known as the waterlily. |
Concept art by Marjorie Hsu
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Who made "Star of the Water?"
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A group of eleven people who're mostly KSU (Kennesaw State University) students and alumni!
Marjorie Hsu: Director, storyboard-artist, character designer, rough & clean-up animator, & background artist Gabriella Curtis: Co-director, concept artist, rough animator, & lead clean-up artist CJ Alvarado: Lead background artist, composer, & compositer Victoria Aldrich: Character revisionist, concept artist, rough & clean-up animator, and compositer Dalton Davis: Background Artist Jason Triemer: Rough Animator Skully Gilder: Rough & Clean-up Animator Naomi Jones: Background Artist Hadley Kennedy: Clean-up Animator Alyssa Thompson: Clean-up Animator Elizabeth Hughes: Clean-up Animator Hadley Kennedy: Clean-up Animator |
How did the short film come about?
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"The short story of it is that I wanted to make a short film to push myself and see how far I could go with it. I often aspired to be like those talented, passion-driven artists who made their own show or comic. However, I often doubted myself and my skill when I was surrounded by so many talented people. But, I realized that wherever I'm at there are people at all kinds of skill levels, and I have to live and write my own story. Art should be made because you enjoy doing what you do, so I resolved in making a film because of my dream to create and the desire to improve.
Initially, I was stumped on what story to make. I loved all kinds of genres from magical girls to vampire romances to action packed hero stories, but whatever I tried to think of from scratch didn't really blossom into anything bigger. So, I figured in taking a Brazilian folklore story I had grown up with and having my take to it. I chose the Vitória Régia because it had multiple elements of what I loved in a story: romance, tragedy, mythic fiction, and above all it was a piece of my own culture. And, I went to work on it since then." - Marjorie Hsu |
Illustrated Water Lily by Marjorie Hsu
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