Paperman - A Beautiful Short Film

Disney released the animated short, "Paperman" back in November 2012.  It went on to receive the Academy Award for best animated short.  This came as absolutely no surprise to anyone.  This short is beyond amazing.  What makes it amazing?  Right off the bat, the story is just so strong.  Set in 1940's Manhattan, this short follows the story of George, a young man (perhaps late 20's) who is having an average commute to work, when he finds himself standing on the train platform next to Meg.  Before he can notice her, one of his papers is taken by the wind and hits her in the face.  He pulls it down and sees her beauty, but before he can say anything, she boards her train, leaving him with nothing but a lipstick kiss on his piece of paper.  He then proceeds to work, visibly disappointed that he didn't get to speak to the beautiful woman.  This disappointment immediately fades when he sees her through his window, across the street.  He proceeds to fold over a dozen paper planes, attempting to send them all from his skyscraper to hers.  I won't give any more of the story away, but it really is absolutely charming and romantic.  It shows how disappointing a missed connection can be, and how great it is when we manage to reconnect.

The fact that this film is in black and white really helps establish the setting in a big way (1940's Manhattan).  The one thing about color that I absolutely love about this piece is that her lipstick is the only thing in color.  Her lips are kept a beautiful deep maroon, and the lip stain on the paper is a beautiful pink.

There is absolutely no dialogue in this short.  This beautiful and romantic story is told with absolutely no words.  We have foley and a beautiful score (composed by Christophe Beck).  It is worth opening the film in a tab and just listening to it.  The score is that well done.

The visuals are what really help sell Paperman more than anything.  In Paperman we see a 3D film, which looks like it has been hand drawn.  According to director John Kahrs, "We brought together as best we could the expressiveness of 2D drawing immersed with the stability and dimensionality of CG".  A video of John Kahrs describing/showing this process can be found below:

The top link is the actual video.  I would highly recommend just watching it 2D but in the highest form of HD your connection will accommodate.  The visuals are just stunning.  All elements combined make the short truly deserving of its Oscar win last year.  

And The Oscar Goes To...

     The 85th Academy Awards was yet another one to add to the books.  Hosted by the very funny Seth MacFarlane the winners were surprising in some categories and not in others.  As always, what the celebrities wear to the awards is very important to the designers and to the public who judge the celebrities clothing; more for the women then men.  There are 24 awards to be handed out and each won has many nominees hoping to get the award.  The biggest movie names were: Skyfall, Argo, Les Miserables, Silver Linings Playbook, Life of Pi, Zero Dark Thirty and Paperman.

     Skyfall was another James Bond movie that I would regard as one of the best, definitely Daniel Craig's best Bond movie but also one of the best ever.  The new series of Bond movies captures the audience from the action movies we see today with the James Bond character we all like, except for Quantum of Solace.  The Bond series celebrated 50 years of making movies and they are preparing to release another new movie with Daniel Craig in the next James Bond film.  Skyfall won Best Sound Editing and Best Original Song.

     Les Miserables did not do as well as everyone expected but it still won Best Sound Mixing and Makeup and Hairstyling.  Silver Linings Playbook had its lead actress, Jennifer Lawrence win Best Actress.  Life of Pi won Best Visual Effects, Best Cinematography, Best Original Score, and best director Ang Lee.  Zero Dark Thirty left with less then expected just Best Sound Editing.  Paperman won best animated Short Film.  Finally Argo won Best Film Editing, Best Writing, and the biggest award of the night Best Picture.

     Argo was a fantastic movie that I saw opening night.  As soon as I left the theater I kowe it was going to win best picture.  The movie followed a great story that was told ver well.  The cinematography was amazing and every part of the story held meaning.  I am very happy to see Ben Affleck win, because he has been working hard on this project and he did a great job.  Congratulations cast and crew of Argo.

Paperman

No I'm not talking about the 2009 movie Paper Man starring Ryan Reynolds. I'm talking about the short animated movie that is shown before the animated film Wreck-It Ralph. The other week I had a blog post about Wreck-It Ralph so for this week I want to talk a bit about the short movie that went before it.

Paper Man is a seven minute film about a man and a woman, two strangers, who bump into each other at the train station on their way to work. They have a very brief encounter and then before the man knows it, she's gone. What happens next is a very simple story that is told in a not so conventional way. The filmmakers did an absolutely amazing job creating a beautifully told story in such a simple way.

The movie has no dialogue and it is completely action driven. Director John Karhs did a really great job at creating a piece that tell so much with so little. The two characters are instantly likable and you really want things to work out for them in the end.

The biggest emotional draw for this movie however; is the music. The music in this short is possibly the best I've ever heard in anything. It's a five minute piece by Christophe Beck and it's what makes this short so emotional. Every note hits at exactly the right moment to make you emotionally engaged in the short.

In all honestly I would recommend seeing Wreck-It Ralph just to see this short alone, although Wreck-It Ralph also a really great movie. You definitely won't regret it.