The Me Bird

This short film is inspired by this poem by Pablo Neruda:

The Me Bird

I am the Pablo Bird,
bird of a single feather,
a flier in the clear shadow
and obscure clarity,
my wings are unseen,
my ears resound
when I walk among the trees
or beneath the tombstones
like an unlucky umbrella
or a naked sword,
stretched like a bow
or round like a grape,
I fly on and on not knowing,
wounded in the dark night,
who is waiting for me,
who does not want my song,
who desires my death,
who will not know I'm arriving
and will not come to subdue me,
to bleed me, to twist me,
or to kiss my clothes,
torn by the shrieking wind.

That's why I come and go,
fly and don't fly but sing:
I am the furious bird
of the calm storm.

The beauty and delicacy of this animation is truly inspiring. The layering of the frames really draws your eyes in and becomes quite mesmerising, it is very successful in keeping the viewers connected and I think this is because everything flows from one frame to another. This is something I will have to consider when trying to merge different types of animation together.

The colour scheme also helps making this animation really successful, the pastel shades flickers and marks the difference between each frame. Therefore we can see the echoes of her past movements which create a beautiful wave effect going backwards. In the animation I have been looking at, I have really liked when the character is not the only thing endowed with movement, I love it when the whole animated world tingles with movement. 

The use of light is also really well thought out for example in this scene, the frames become more like prisons enclosing her. Therefore the pastel colours fade to grey and shadows are drawn in from the edge, this really helps emphasise the tone. 

The change of camera angle makes the viewing experience more encompassing, you feel like you have a better understanding of the scene and character. 

I really like this merging of real film footage with animation and this is something I really need to experiment with. Here it works so well because as she escapes her prison her mind is free and clear.

This is another example of an interesting transition, however I think it is less successful than the others; mostly because they have retained the frame edge on the right which chops the girls silhouette. I think this disrupts the graceful lines and would have felt smoother if she had just run off the frame. 

The mountainous backgrounds in this piece are stunning, they look like pieces of fine material and create a soft cloud like texture. I think it is interesting how they have used different tactile materials to create textures when computer animating. I think they wanted to create an approachable style that seemed familiar and inviting.

I think one of the reasons this animation works so well is the continual theme of the frames, which only melt away at the end when she is free. I really need to think of creating an overall theme that will tie all these different styles together and keep it really fluid.

The last frames are of a single bird flying away, a symbol of freedom and also of peace. I think the animator is trying to visualise the feeling of peace you feel once you free your mind and liberate yourself to other possibilities.