tROP TÔT TISSÉShort Film ✧ Mix Media Animation ✧ Drawing ✧ Diploma Project
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Reading newspapers exposes us to realities different from our own. I learned about Bruna Nóbrega, who, at just 14 years old, is already a mother. In fact, she is part of an alarming statistic in Brazil: nearly one in seven babies is born to mothers aged between 12 and 19. So why aren’t we talking about it?
Brazilian documentaries, articles, and interviews served as my primary sources of inspiration and research. I aimed to gain a clear understanding of how and why adolescent mothers hold such significance in Brazil. While I uncovered causes and intriguing factors—such as the notable absence of fathers, who are often older than the girls—I found it too political. My vision was to steer it toward a more social and intimate perspective. The questions of "why" and "how" are what I want the audience to ponder and explore on their own, creating debate after the film. My focus remained on the mothers—their lives, the impact of motherhood, who they become, and how they find ways to grow.
Here are some of the sources I would recommend :)
Documentaries
Meninas [Girls], Sandra Werneck (2006)
Interviews
Teenage pregnancy, Profissão Repórter (2017)
Articles
Early pregnancy in Amazonas is aggravated by difficult access to contraception, Marlene Bergamo, Folha de São Paulo (2024)
A study on adolescent mothers in Brazil, Maria Salet Ferreira Novellino (2011)
UNFPA: Brazil continues to have high rates of teenage pregnancy, United Nations Brazil (2022)
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❶ Printing
❝A woman has already found her place in the world, a teenage girl has not❞
A Mother’s First Steps, set in Brazil's Nordeste region, tells the story of Alice, a 14-year-old who is pregnant. Through a blend of handcrafted and digital animation, the film explores the delicate transition from childhood innocence to adult responsibility.
As part of the DNMADE Graphic Design diploma, I took the opportunity to portray the journey of a teenage mother, drawing inspiration from several real documentaries and stories in Brazil. Enjoy the session :)
2024-2025
Research ✳ Documentaries, Interviews & Articles
Frame by Frame ✳ First Tests
❷ Drawing
❺ Composing
With the entire post-production left on my shoulders—sound production, composition, and editing—I still couldn’t find enough time to complete everything. After some research and countless hours watching Gobelins’ short-animated films, I found an alternative: incorporating still images.
Graphic Choices ✳ Symbolical Colors
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Frame by Frame ✳ The Challenge of Short time Notice (Layering)
❸ Scanning
Frame by Frame ✳ The Challenge of Short time Notice (Still Images)
With the help of Photoshop, and by eliminating the need to scan each frame, I was able to optimise my workflow by 70%. I could then finish my film :)
The voice is performed by Julia Champagnon. I chose her for her distinctly feminine and velvety voice—harmonious and delicate yet undeniably strong—and her language skills (fluent in French, Portuguese, and English).
I loved to direct her—exploring the tension between how is it said and what is being said through her connotation and tone. We played with contrasts—sometimes serene, other times dynamic—to bring depth and nuance to the film.
Here are some sound extracts we created together, along with a few bonus clips of her singing.
Project Presentation✳ Diploma
Final Cut✳ Enjoy the session :)
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❹ Editing
The major challenge was that I had only three months to complete the project. The frame-by-frame technique was too time-consuming—just one scene would have taken 96 hours—and my teachers doubted I could finish it in time.
So, I had to get creative : I purchased plastic sheets and painted directly onto them instead of over the image. Then, I scanned each painted sheet over the desired frame. For the following frame, I scratched off only the parts of the painting that needed to be redone. This approach saved me around 20% of the time.
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Filmmaker ✧ Camille Adler Writer ✧ Camille Adler Music Supervisor & Sound Technician ✧ Vinicius Sousa Editor ✧ Camille Adler Voice-Over ✧ Julia Champagnon Special thanks to Katia Adler, Vinicius Sousa, Agathe Lebreton, Gabriele Cepulyte & Anne-Sophie de la Vaissière
⤵Graphic Design✳ Poster
The French expression "falling pregnant" suggests confinement, reflecting how young mothers are consumed by maternal obligations.
The poster visually captures this metaphor of the body while introducing an intentional controversy. It portrays not a foetus, but a young girl, symbolising the physical and emotional maturation that unfolds within the confines of pregnancy.
The title "Trop Tôt Tissé" ("Woven Too Early") alludes to the premature weaving of life's thread, inspired by the Moirai, the Greek goddesses of fate.
Post-production ✳ Editing process
According to a meta-analysis conducted by Beatriz Navarro, pauses help modulate emotions and narrative tension. Extending these pauses allows for a deeper emotional response, enhancing the viewer's connection to the story.
One thing I was determined to avoid in the film was a tragic connotation. I didn’t want the audience to pity the young girls who became mothers at an early age—the tragedy of their situation was already implicit in the story itself. Instead, I wanted to focus on their perseverance, courage, and ambition, because hat truly captivated me about their stories was the girls’ strength.
To reflect this in the narrative, I used vivid colours to create a sense of contrast between what we see and what we understand and to emphasize the dissonance between their young age and the imposed maturity. Colours served as thematic markers throughout the film: purple, for instance, appeared in scenes tied to ambition, while yellow represented the innocent happiness of the child.
Sound ✳ Sound Producing & Editing
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