Published: 21 June 2013 Text type: Short Film, Animation
Date Read: Thursday 3rd March
This film is set in the middle of New York City on a rainy day. As it starts to rain, the city comes to life. A blue umbrella pops up and so does a red umbrella, and soon fall in love. They get torn apart but find each other in the end, making it a happy ending to the film.
The music in the blue umbrella animation was very happy and calming, setting, what I felt, was a nice vibe throughout the film. The film starts off with the footsteps of pedestrians, making it feel more realistic, then going into the drops of rain which slowly build up into a beat. I personally thought this was really cool and smart.. As the rain is falling, objects around the city come alive and make sounds such as; the creaking of the mailbox and the squeaking of screws turning. This makes the film feel fun and adds more effect. In the scene when the blue umbrella is spilt apart from the other umbrella, they use string instruments to make it more dramatic. i also noticed that no where in the film did they use a voiceover and that the happy music was percussion instruments and a lady singing a melody. This is so you focused mainly on the characters. The music also conveys many feelings in different parts of the film. Such as at the start you feel happy and relaxed but when it gets more dramatic you all of a sudden feel anxious and nervous.
The blue umbrella is a very cute character who I personally thought lit up the film. You are able to feel a connection with him because of his human like facial features and expressions. We also form a special connection with him through his behaviour, e.g when he flips inside out in front of the girl and he gets all embarrassed, you can relate to having that feeling or a similar experience. In the film another umbrella pops up but in this case she is a female. This red female umbrella is very similar to the blue umbrella in terms of attitude, which makes them a great fit, and makes the film even cuter. She conveys a feeling of kindness and happiness and is a little bit timid, just like the blue umbrella. You almost forgot that there were people underneath the umbrellas because they seemed so lifelike and in control of what they were doing. Also not to forget all the street objects, which bring the city of New York to life. I felt that they were very cleverly put together and each played an important part in the film, such as when the blue umbrella flew on the road, they all helped to try and save him.
Even though this film is animated, it feels very realistic because of the way they seamlessly went from the real life streets of New York, to the animated version at the start. You are also pulled into the film because of the way they carefully cut from object to object at a fast pace. At the start of the film they used slow motion to make you focus on the rain falling on different things and also when the blue umbrella was floating around to find the girl, they used it to create suspense. They also used fade to black when he got hit by the truck to when he was on the road, to convey a feeling of sadness. Throughout the film they used a lot of two shots when filming the blue umbrella and red umbrella which adds a sense of romance between them and makes you feel closer to whats happening. Also I thought that it was really smart how they used special effects to bring things in he street, that you never give a second thought about, to life.
Recommendations: I would recommend this for the Junior English students who are into cute love stories and don't mind watching something that is a bit childlike. But from my opinion, I thought it was really clever, cute and fun.
The music in the blue umbrella animation was very happy and calming, setting, what I felt, was a nice vibe throughout the film. The film starts off with the footsteps of pedestrians, making it feel more realistic, then going into the drops of rain which slowly build up into a beat. I personally thought this was really cool and smart.. As the rain is falling, objects around the city come alive and make sounds such as; the creaking of the mailbox and the squeaking of screws turning. This makes the film feel fun and adds more effect. In the scene when the blue umbrella is spilt apart from the other umbrella, they use string instruments to make it more dramatic. i also noticed that no where in the film did they use a voiceover and that the happy music was percussion instruments and a lady singing a melody. This is so you focused mainly on the characters. The music also conveys many feelings in different parts of the film. Such as at the start you feel happy and relaxed but when it gets more dramatic you all of a sudden feel anxious and nervous.
The blue umbrella is a very cute character who I personally thought lit up the film. You are able to feel a connection with him because of his human like facial features and expressions. We also form a special connection with him through his behaviour, e.g when he flips inside out in front of the girl and he gets all embarrassed, you can relate to having that feeling or a similar experience. In the film another umbrella pops up but in this case she is a female. This red female umbrella is very similar to the blue umbrella in terms of attitude, which makes them a great fit, and makes the film even cuter. She conveys a feeling of kindness and happiness and is a little bit timid, just like the blue umbrella. You almost forgot that there were people underneath the umbrellas because they seemed so lifelike and in control of what they were doing. Also not to forget all the street objects, which bring the city of New York to life. I felt that they were very cleverly put together and each played an important part in the film, such as when the blue umbrella flew on the road, they all helped to try and save him.
Even though this film is animated, it feels very realistic because of the way they seamlessly went from the real life streets of New York, to the animated version at the start. You are also pulled into the film because of the way they carefully cut from object to object at a fast pace. At the start of the film they used slow motion to make you focus on the rain falling on different things and also when the blue umbrella was floating around to find the girl, they used it to create suspense. They also used fade to black when he got hit by the truck to when he was on the road, to convey a feeling of sadness. Throughout the film they used a lot of two shots when filming the blue umbrella and red umbrella which adds a sense of romance between them and makes you feel closer to whats happening. Also I thought that it was really smart how they used special effects to bring things in he street, that you never give a second thought about, to life.
Recommendations: I would recommend this for the Junior English students who are into cute love stories and don't mind watching something that is a bit childlike. But from my opinion, I thought it was really clever, cute and fun.
