#Bolom Chon

[madeinheavenff7]

Going to See La Muerte

Someone pointed out back then that the scene where Manolo and his family were going to visit La Muerte the background music in that scene is playing Bolom Chon the song from Maya and the three

[vortex-vipers]

I dunno if this has been noticed. In Book of Life, while the Sanchez family are on their way to see La Muerte in her castle, "Bolom Chon" plays.

The same song plays after Maya loses her brothers to Lord Mictlan. I just think it's just another cool detail Jorge Gutierrez included in the El Tigre/Book of Life/Maya and the Three universe.

[uwmspeccoll]

A Bolom Chon Caturday

For this Caturday we present the Mayan artists’ book Bolom Chon produced by the indigenous Mexican publishing workshop Taller Leñateros in 2008, with texts in Tzotzil Maya by Maria Tzu, Rominka Vet, and Maruch Méndes Péres, and translation and English texts by Ámbar Past with Sara Miranda and Tom Slingsby.

Bolom Chon was inspired in the canto Tzotzil Maya, the stomp of dancing feet, the masks and bright colors of the fiesta of the jaguar, the warm hands and hearts of the book artisans who brought it to life during the first days of 2008, in the shadow of the grand avocado tree that covers Taller Leñateros.

But what is Bolom Chon? For one thing, Bolom Chon is the title of a Mayan song, a favorite among the Tzotzil who live in the highlands of Chiapas in southern Mexico. But few seem to agree on exactly what Bolom Chon actually is. One Tzotzil claims that Bolom Chon is a jaguar like those that still live in the Lacandon jungle, its spotted skin is the starry night. Another says that it represents all the Animal Kingdom: tigers, deer, coyotes, and possums. A man who plays the harp said that Bolom Chon is a Dancing Tiger. But grandmother Maria Tzu insists it doesn’t mean anything at all, it is simply the name of a song the Fathermothers made up when the world was created, so the people could have fun at the Fiesta, stomping their feet on the surface of the Earth.

At the time of this publication Taller Leñateros (The Woodlanders’ Workshop) was the only publishing house in Mexico run by Mayan artists. Founded in 1975 by poet Ambar Past, the taller is located in San Cristóbal de las Casas, Chiapas. This book was produced using silkscreen, letterpress, xylography, and die cuts for the jaguar mask and the pop-up of the jaguar with maguey fiber whiskers. The cover is made from recycled cardboard boxes, and the book includes a CD recording of Tzotzil children singing various versions of Bolon Chon with their grandmother.

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[uispeccoll]

Bolom Chon

#ArtsyFartsyFriday

Created by a Mayan community during a book arts workshop, Bolom Chon is the name of a song, a name that throughout the book changes meaning and transforms into something different. 

The book is in the Tzotzil dialect and in English. It is completely handmade and  the covers and insides of the covers consist of jaguar paws and spots. The book also comes with its own CD with several versions of the song Bolom Chon, as well as a pop-out centerfold jaguar and a paper face mask of a jaguar. 

What is especially important and interesting about this book is a small detail I learned after attending Lauri Gonzalez’s talk on DECOLONIAL PRAXIS: Taller Lenateros and the Artists’ Book at the SALALM 63rd annual conference in Mexico City. In her talk, Gonzalez said, and I paraphrase, Bolom Chon, for example, challenges the way in which the Western world gathers information. The creation of a book like Bolom Chon is created within the community, thus allowing the people to communicate and create and share knowledge in their language/dialects and culture(s) collectively. 

--Alonso

Past, A., & Taller Leñateros. (2007). Bolom Chon /. 

[njawaidofficial]

'Book of Life' Director Jorge Gutierrez Debuts VR Short 'Son of Jaguar' at Siggraph

http://styleveryday.com/2017/08/05/book-of-life-director-jorge-gutierrez-debuts-vr-short-son-of-jaguar-at-siggraph/

'Book of Life' Director Jorge Gutierrez Debuts VR Short 'Son of Jaguar' at Siggraph

Both Gutierrez’s ‘Son of Jaguar’ and the upcoming ‘Sonaria’ were produced by Google Spotlight Stories.

Google Spotlight Stories offered a preview of The Book of Life director Jorge Gutierrez’s first virtual-reality/360 short, titled Son of Jaguar, this week at CG conference Siggraph. A release date hasn’t yet been announced.

“I was a VR skeptic, then I saw Patrick Osborne’s Pearl. It made me cry, and I had to do this,” the director confessed.

The result is a “super personal” eight-minute animated short with the themes of family and tradition.

Occurring on Mexico’s Day of the Dead (as did Book of Life), Son of Jaguar‘s emotional story is set in the Mexican wrestling world and follows a family man and the son of famous wrestler Jaguar, who is going into the ring against Lord Calavera, despite having lost a leg in a prior match.

“Mexican wrestling is very much a tradition passed down from generation to generation, and there’s a legacy to live up to,” Gutierrez explained, adding that his original story was also inspired by traditional tales that his own father told him as a child.

Of the title character (whom he voiced), the director said, “In a weird way, that was me — I had autism, and my son has autism. The perception was, now life is going to be more difficult, and we have to make sacrifices. I wanted to take what is considered a weakness and make it a strength and use this as a positive.”

The short begins with Jaguar and his family in their poor surroundings. Then they enter the wrestling arena with large crowds. While Gutierrez voices Jaguar, his real-life wife, Sandra Equihua (who was also the character designer), voices Jaguar’s wife. The director also incorporates “Bolom Chon,” an ancient Mayan song that musicians and the filmmakers (including Gutierrez) sing at the end of the short.

The helmer believes VR can be a powerful way to create “emotion and empathy by allowing the viewer to walk in someone else’s shoes. That’s what I wanted to do — make someone not of my culture walk in my shoes.”

Of the technical limitations of VR at this stage, Gutierrez said, “It has to render on a phone in real time, which made it really difficult. It felt like reinventing the wheel; we had geniuses from Google Spotlight Stories and Reel FX [the animation house, which also worked on Book of Life] come up with ways to imply lighting and textures. I didn’t think we were going to be able to do the crowds. A lot of math and wizardry were used.”

From a storytelling standpoint, he found directing for a 360-degree VR experience to be more like live theater than film. He encourages filmmakers to experiment with this emerging format. “A narrative is so hard in any medium, and VR is new, and cinema is 100 years old,” he said. “We are just getting started. Don’t give up.”

During Siggraph, Google Spotlight Stories also offered a sneak peek at VR short Sonaria, a work in progress that follows creatures that transform from simple to advanced life forms.

Directed by Scot Stafford and Kevin Dart (Dart, also the production designer, heads animation studio Chromosphere, which contributed to the project), Sonaria bases its creatures on a teardrop, while the sonic language is designed to be immersive. Said Stafford: “This began with a quest about how to optimize sound for VR. We developed a focused surround mix.”

#Book #Debuts #Director #Gutierrez #Jaguar #Jorge #Life #Short #SIGGRAPH #Son #VR

[marroquinart]

In this scene of the Book of Life sounds a mayan song called "Bolom Chon", I would've like to see it as part of the soundtrack and hear the complete song of the version they used for the movie.

"Animal Jaguar en el cielo Animal Jaguar sobre la tierra Tus piernas caminan chuecas Animal Jaguar Tus piernas son largas Animal Jaguar"

"Jaguar Animal in the sky Jaguar Animal  upon the ground Your legs walks twisted Jaguar Animal Your legs are long Jaguar Animal"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ds1cbMMpahQ