Judge Spotlight
Daniela Godel
Director: Lemons
Daniela Godel is an animator based in Paris. Her film “Lemons” played in the categories “Humor and Notes” and “Judges’ Choices” in the 2019 Florida Animation Festival, and won first place in the Experimental film category!
FAF: What inspired you to use painted glass as an animation medium in "Lemons”?
DG: I talked with the writer of the song, Miguel Tudela and we both saw something very colourful for the videoclip. When I pictured it, I saw big areas of colour, resembling fauvist paintings and as I had been exploring paint on glass animation for the past year I thought it would be the perfect medium for the videoclip.
FAF: Can you tell us a little more about the inspiration for the film's color palette?
DG: I had multiple inspirations for the color palette. One of them was the album cover the band was going to use. It was a bright yellow lemon with green leaves and was painted by Isao Llorens. Then the pictures I was provided of the places, which were always bright blue skies and rocky landscapes. And at last I think I used colors I love to work with, blue, yellow and green. For me these colors represent the Mediterranean, nature, a beautiful sunny day. They bring me a great joy each time I see them intertwining together.
FAF: "Lemons" explores the relationship between images and music-- can you tell us about how your use of music informed the images you used, or vice versa?
DG: I had a meeting with the writer of the song who told me what the lyrics meant for him. The song was based on memories from his father. I studied the lyrics and what he told me to create a story-line. I then listened to it multiple times, drawing at the same time. There were some images that jumped to my mind, and other parts were more difficult to find. I paid close attention to the instruments and especially to the rhythm. The music’s rhythm is what dictated in the end the editing, where I was going to do travelings etc.