In a world of wire and faceless characters, Director Juan Carlos Mostaza paints a thrilling tale of justice and revenge in his animated short Under the Lake. Mostaza joins The Rolling Tape to discuss his motivation for creating the film, his experience working with his small but mighty team, animation as a medium for storytelling, and his emphasis on using no AI at all. 

This interview was recorded in Spanish. The translated transcript for the audio is below:

Mariana Fabian (MF): Hello, Juan Carlos, it’s wonderful to have you on the podcast today – I’m so excited to talk about this film. Could you tell me a little about your creative process and what inspired you to make this film?

Juan Carlos Mostaza (JCM): Hi! Under the Lake is an animated thriller, in which a story is told, very similar to movies like No Country for Old Men, from the Coen Brothers. The special feature that it has is that, even though you’re in a realistic environment like a lake or forest, the characters are characters with no faces because they are folded up wires that have to act. 

Basically, the idea arose with wanting to tell a thriller with the limitation that all the [character] expressions have to be put on by the spectator, and the rest, [is] how to get it to transmit emotion, so that the audience understands and doesn’t get lost in the story, in spite of the fact that there’s no dialogue and no faces. 

MF: Truly, I think you had success with that. Really, when I started this film, I thought, ‘What direction are we going with these characters?’ I was thinking, ‘What’s gonna happen here? What’s gonna happen?’ What I enjoyed the most was the sound design and the production. I thought they were so striking at this moment. I felt so wrapped up in this story that you could watch this film in only fourteen minutes, which is not a lot of time. Could you talk to me a little about how you animated this? I read a bit about it in the press book, but if you could tell me a little about that.

JCM: Look, it’s been very few people making this, because actually I created all the visuals, never using, in a single moment, artificial intelligence, I only used an open-source software called Blender, and doing lots and lots of hard work. It’s true, the characters don’t have faces, so in that I saved time animating, but there’s so much more work in blocking and staging with the camera versus something else, so that heavily facilitated the process. 

And the sound, it was done by Pablo Vega, he’s someone I collaborate with often, and a lot had to happen, because I always wanted the environment to be very loud. I wanted it to be louder than a normal movie, that’s why you can hear the water so loudly, the wind so loudly, because it’s the only sound there is. He did foley of the wire characters, so when they move, it sounds like they make a metallic shriek. He did this every time they appeared and every time they moved. He used the sound in a narrative sense, for example, when bad things happen, the wind stops, or other insects appear, or they disappear; he used a lot of that atmospheric sound. 

The music, my usual composer is Amy Fajardo, and of course, she had to narrate many parts with the music as well, but I didn’t want to be ‘Mickey Mouse,’ in that animation style when you try “bling, bling, bling” with the music to follow the movement of [characters], no no, I didn’t want any of that. I wanted it to be very atmospheric, and to use that atmospheric music to narrate [the film]. 

Then, I utilized a series of specific instruments in certain moments when suddenly there’s a sensation of bad vibes, or you think ‘something will happen here,’ or they worry you in certain parts. I think this was an impressive job with the music, as well as it has that point where it’s like a Western that the story has, with the drums and such. In the end, it was a job with such a small team that we’ve had, if we include executive producer Yadira Ávalos, it’s been only four people to make this. Of course, I think the short film is something that can shine as something much bigger, and that’s what it’s about as well. 

MF: Yes, thank you so much for saying that. What were the challenges of working with such a small team? You made such a large effort to make the film and bring it to Tribeca. What was your experience from starting the film and up to this week, that you’re bringing it to Tribeca? 

JCM: I started it with nothing. I started it because I like to make short films to experiment, to narrate. In the case of this film, all of the visual parts were made only with a portable computer, a powerful one, but still a portable computer, that’s why I told you – it was only me doing the visual parts. And, I made it bit by bit, I went on making it. In the end, if I were to put it into a linear timeline, it was six to seven months of work. There was no specific objective beyond finishing and telling the story, and to sort of see what it could look like or if it could be different, and to see what you’re able to make and how you can tell the story, and your style or your vision to tell your stories.

When we finished, we did the sound design, the music, and everything. We sent it to our close circle, and really, the impact was huge; they told us, “You’ve gotta take this to a high level.” Due to the dates we had planned, we saw that Tribeca was there, and this short is incredibly American; it’s a story that’s so American, there’s really no other way to say it, that’s exactly it – it’s a Western. And we said, “Maybe at Tribeca, if they selected us, it would be great.” We sent it, and then they selected us. It felt like hitting a target right the first time, which was such a pleasant surprise. And well, here we are with the film.

MF: Yes, of course. What were the reactions to the film from the audience? I know you guys already had a screening; there was a screening last Saturday. How was that reaction? Were you able to attend the screening?

JCM: Yes, I was able to go. We’ve been talking a lot about the crowd reactions, because it was great, it was so great, from one to ten, it was a ten, people thought it was great! Something we noticed, or at least I noticed, here in the United States, or at least it’s happened to us with the short people, is that they are super effusive; they shouted in victory, they screamed, I don’t know, it felt like “Wow, Carlos, there couldn’t be a better reaction.” After the screening, it was great because people came up to me, they said they loved it, and so on. Really, it was the best, it was spectacular – hopefully, it goes like that for all the places we screen the film. 

MF: That’s amazing. It excites me so much to hear that, because I loved the film so much. Why do you think animation is a good avenue to make stories like this? I was reading your story, and about the other films you’ve made. Why did you think animation was a great medium for this specific story? 

JCM: I direct live-action and animation; I do both, and normally, I don’t think about the technique when I write the story. When it’s all said and done, it’s when I ask myself, “Is this better as animation or live-action?” In this case, since I wanted to experiment [with this] and the power the story has, especially because there is no dialogue and you don’t see the characters’ faces because they have no faces, it creates a special environment, so it made the most sense to make it animated, especially with the characters. If this had been done as live-action, it still would’ve been a thriller, a Western, but with actors, [and] probably very well made; however, making it the way we did, it connects in a very profound way with its viewer in a dark way, that’s what the film really gives.

MF: Yes, it really does. I also loved how you and your team were able to evoke something so dark, and how you were able to capture that. I also enjoyed how you made each character; each character had something – the little boy had a small hat, and it was those things that made each of them human. This was quite successful, and it really worked for me. Also, with the person, haha spoilers, the person who rises from the water, the skin of this character, and the wire–

JCM: The rust. 

MF: Yes, the rust. I loved that too, that was very good. Great job!

JCM: Thank you so much!

MF: Of course. The last thing I wanted to ask you was, what do you hope people glean from this film with this moment you’re having at Tribeca, and the rest of the festivals you’ll premiere at? 

JCM: In the end, everything I make is the things that aren’t for a job, to say, the things I make because I write them, and I want to tell them – they’re made 100% for the people. In other words, it’s for them to look for messages, and of course, a film transmits a message; every story you always want to say things. For me, it’s also super important that people had a good time watching it, in other words, that they’re entertained and that they had fun because it’s a dark story, and that they enjoyed it, for me, that’s super important. Let’s say the objective is, with these things I make, precisely that the way I narrate is seen, and so it opens a path for future projects like feature films. 

MF: Of course. Thank you for saying that, Juan Carlos. The last thing I wanted to say was thank you for not using AI to make this film because that’s such a huge topic going around right now in the industry, especially in animation, so it was great to see that displayed in the film, and you said it, and it’s very evident – this film is something very human. Truly, thank you so much for this film. Is there anything else you’d like to add to the record? 

JCM: Not much, but, simply, with artificial intelligence, I put a lot of emphasis on that because it made a job, an enormous job in not using it. And because right now we are in a very complicated time with artificial intelligence, right, especially considering the number of people who will lose their jobs and so on. I know that it’s something that’s coming, and it’s great, and it’s going to help a lot with lots of things, but I think we need to be very careful with it, and always think of it [like] the human being first, it’s something that’s very clear to me. 

MF: Yes. Of course! Well, thank you so much, Juan Carlos, for taking time out of your day to join The Rolling Tape today.

JCM: Thank you so much. 

Under the Lake had its World Premiere at Tribeca on June 6, with a subsequent screening on June 13. 

Follow the interviewees online: 

Juan Carlos Mostaza, Website, IMDB, Instagram  

Interview Courtesy of Mariana Fabian

Feature Image Courtesy of Tribeca Film Festival