Dani Duek (1986) is a Brazilian aspiring Animator, Screenwriter, Director, and Producer, who has a background in fashion and finance, and currently lives and works between London and New York. Completing a BA in Animation at the School of Visual Arts, New York, Dani was given a Special Jury Award for ‘Experimental Technique in Animation’ for Porcelana (2018) at their annual festival. The content of her work concerns the personal impact of relations of power, in a way that privileges and examines a feminine perspective. Aesthetically, Dani draws on a novel mix of Horror, Film Noir, and Latin Soap Opera, which enables her to consider the emotional and philosophical tension of social life.
Dani Duek
I’ve always been drawn to the word ‘trashy’ when describing my practice, and want to reclaim the aesthetic and honesty of the low-budget ‘b movie’. Cheaply made films are often derided as ‘straight to video’ or by their undesirable screening times at indie cinemas (if they do get shown). However, I want to draw attention to the immediacy of such films, as they allow a hot take on the cultural and societal tension of a zeitgeist. The gestural and raw expression this uses provokes an intimacy that is difficult to emulate otherwise, and this contrasts with the resolved and refined plots of big-budget films. I use stop-motion animation because it is sympathetic to such orientation: my authorship and intention are foregrounded through each handmade detail, from the texture of the skin to the large-scale set design.
I want to embody the tradition of the horror narrative in my work, in which the ‘monster’ of a story can be seen as the manifestation of the fears and desires of a society. For example, how fairy tales about witches can be related to social anxiety regarding women who lived outside the family unit. In this example, it could therefore be argued that the historical horror narrative acted to marginalized women who lived by themselves and enforce ideas about women as subservient rather than powerful. I considered this topic in relation to different historical periods and media in my MA dissertation, and want to explore it further at the doctoral level.
ExLibris Movie — I constructed the horror narrative of my film, ExLibris, to achieve this, as it casts the mental health of a female subject in a new light: the decline of her mental health is a reaction to the male construction of labor, however, this break from reality, whilst reflective of horror tropes, allows for the emancipation of female labor.
The Internal Monsters — Where traditional horror narratives hinge upon a monster terrorizing the protagonist, in ExLibris, we come to realize that the terror of the female subject is internally rather than externally generated. Unlike The Shining (1980), where the protagonist is driven to madness by apparitions, the protagonist of ExLibris is haunted by her difficulty in resolving the conflicting pressures of isolation from, and labor within, society.
A New Light — I argued that mental health issues should be cast as a normal rather than a horrific reaction to social-cultural constraints. The reason being, that this can empower women with agency, to reshape the structures in which they are defined.
Techniques — Stylistically and thematically, ExLibris references my sources of inspiration, such as Stanley Kubrick’s one-point perspective shots, the symbology of The Yellow Wallpaper (1892), and the library as a metaphor for memory (The Dreamcatcher 2003). Creating the sets and character models proved an arduous part of this project, as it involved the careful study of dollhouse construction techniques and puppetry craft.
The narrative takes place during a pandemic and concerns a young female writer who is struggling to publish but receives a contract with an unusual employment clause. While writing her novel, she must live alone in a large library owned by the publisher and complete menial upkeep tasks during the nationwide lockdown. In critiquing the function of the horror narrative, the ‘monster’ of this story is deferred, at times relating to the lingering presence of patriarchal authority in the institutional setting, while also expressed through the representation of female mental health. Such content references the way in which The Yellow Wallpaper (1892) treats mental illness as a hysterical rejection of the role of women, and how The Shining (1980) equates madness with a loss of relation to society.
Medium:
Stop Motion Animation MovieSize:
11:30 minMaking-Of Video — At the end of the movie, I use this video for the credits to show the importance of the amount of labor behind the scenes.
The construction of the set — In a garage in Greenwich - London.
Little chairs made by hand — Made with wood from scratch with dollhouse patterns.
The stairs — Made with hand-fan material, constructed by hand and spray painted black
Wired Body Armature and Clothes — Made by hand with wire, foam, and a dollhouse pattern and fabrics clothing.
The stop-motion animation process was very labor-intensive and having to carry this out in a self-built studio rather than using the facilities at university due to the Covid lockdowns, whilst dealing with random unexpected issues, was an exacting but ultimately rewarding journey. The challenges posed in the production of ExLibriswere therefore also opportunities to hone a DIY aesthetic and experiment with cinematography.