The Gift
The story is very well considered. The short manages to capture a child's perspective and create a fun fantasy realm, while also showing a deeper psychological meaning to children.
At the start we are introduced to a little girl who has made a gift for her parents. From an environment design perspective the slow establishing shot of her room already gives you an idea of her personality. The room is full of the child's own creations, so we know she is a talented young girl with an interest in arts and crafts. The girl is modeling a present with a care free curiosity. She can't wait to show her family. Next we have our conflict at 0:43 The parents are arguing which is a relatable situation for allot of young children. This can lead to fears of the parents splitting up, which sadly with some families does happen. As a kid we don't really always arguing about, mostly at a young age.
at around 1:00 we start emphasize with her situation. From here on she goes into her own imagination. This is her way of making sense of her current situation. The scene transition is convincing the slow wipe of the hallway becoming a magical cave. The stuffed animal is a real character in her mind, an imaginary friend. This concept has been done before. One example would be the comic book Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson, the strips went into the innocence of being a kid but in a way that adults could understand as well.
Calvin and Hobbes
Child's World
The world in design reflects objects from her room that are personal to her. e.g. children's books puzzles and toys. Most objects in this case are art and craft themed as it was well established at the start, from the staging of her bedroom and her actions that she is a creative child who likes to make things, the world mostly reflects this. The conflicts she has in this world represent her being a young age 5-6 years old I'm guessing. The mind of a young child is less developed and also less complex in the subconscious. This makes sense that the people who made this short chose a very young child as it would be less difficult to imagine a world from this age. The mind in this case just reflects mostly from whats in her house and more importantly her room. We can tell that she is innocent and does not yet know about the far more complex reality. However this exactly the reason she creates this world in the first place. To escape the real world conflict and make sense of the world from her own imagination.Creative concepts for this world. trees made jigsaw pieces. mountains that are giant coloured pencils, hills made from fabric with giant buttons sowed in. A sea made from a ball pit.
Reality to Parents
Once we see her back in reality. The staging shows it from what the parents were seeing. A giant mess. We then realize everything that happened in her mind is explained what really happened in reality. This further makes the world from a child's eye more convincing as we were exploring not just how she saw the world but also a glimpse into her mind.
At the present is revealed she feels upset because her present was broken however it turned out it looked even better now. The film ends on a heartwarming ending of love as a family and the parents hugging their child.
Overall this shows one way that this project could go. A surreal world built from objects of meaning to the individual. This could mean I could just focus on one particular age of my development Instead of over complicating it with the adult mind. The animation had allot of heart and looked like it suited a child demographic. This animation could also appeal to adults because of the strong sense of nostalgia.
H.Rudolph Schaffer, Child Psychology
http://uk.businessinsider.com/calvin-and-hobbes-just-turned-30-heres-the-history-of-the-strip-and-its-mysterious-creator-bill-watterson-2015-11?r=US&IR=T
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