Professional Project Review

Broken Wand      

Summery
The short is about a boy who goes to visit his grandfather who loves magic. The grandfather is excited that the boy is there and tries to do magic tricks with his, but the boy cares more about his gaming system.

Analysis
The short was very well made, being Disney and all.  Even though there are no words, the emotion is still shown through expression and lighting, especially at 2:00 where the grandfather is in light, but the grandson is in darkness with only the screen of his gaming system proving sufficient lighting. Then, at 2:54 when the grandfather loses hope, he is shrouded in shadow, but after the grandson does his magic trick, 3:04-3:06, it suddenly gets lighter, showing happiness.

If we think about the physics of animation, such as squash, stretch and follow through, there are some good examples of that. If you pause or watch in slow motion at 0:57, you can see that the boy's body is stretch. When watching at normal speed, you can't see it, but it gives it a more realistic vibe. We continue this at 0:58 where the force of the grandfather's pulling makes the boy stumble, giving us follow through If he had just stayed completely stiff, it would be less human-like and more mechanical, which is all good and well if that is the vibe you are going for. There are several more examples of this throughout the short like at 0:33 and the credit/into with the car.

While the project is very good, there are somethings I would change, such as the color palette. The colors are darker and they put me off. I would have brightened the yellows  and added a bit more contrast. All the colors seem to blend together, except for the kid's hair which makes it a little more awkward.

Conclusion
Even though this is a Disney short, so the animation is very good, there are some things I would change just from a personal aesthetic. I enjoyed the story and how it was portrayed with sound and lighting.  This is proof that something can always be improved on and that no animator is perfect.





DisneyShorts. ""Broken Wand" by Anne Yang & Michael Altman." YouTube. Walt Disney Studios, 31 Jan. 2015. Web. 25 May 2017.