One of my favorite movies of the past year has been Disney’s Up, a Pixar animated film. The first ten minutes of the film are the most heartwarming and heart-wrenching first minutes of any film, but I have recently noticed that there are a few details that the animators throw into these first few minutes that help to speed up time and offer a little foreshadowing into the story. Take a look….
A subtle way that the animators show that time has progressed during this clip is in the tie sequence. At the beginning of this sequence, we see Ellie as we have been seeing her put on Carl’s tie. After a few cuts of just the ties, there is a quick cut back to Ellie putting on Carl’s tie for him, but this time her hair has grayed. After this cut, it goes back into just cuts of the ties. The cut back to Ellie during this sequence is very subtle, but it is that quick cut, that you might not even notice, that places into your mind that a time shift has taken place.
Another subtle nuance is the difference in the ways that Ellie and Carl are seen going up the hill to have their picnic. In the first scene of them climbing up the hill, Ellie has run up ahead and Carl is seen to be struggling a bit to get to the top. After they have aged, you now see that Carl has made it to the top first and that Ellie is the one struggling. It is in this moment also that the viewer knows that something is wrong.
There is also some foreshadowing found in the scene of Ellie in the hospital bed. She is seen reading “My Adventure Book,” but what is not noticed is that there are scrap-booking tools on her bedside table: tape, an eraser, a pencil, and a pair of scissors. It is not until near the end of the movie do you find why that is significant, but looking back after seeing the movie, it is fun to catch the little foreshadowing that the animators throw in.
After finding these little nuances in this short clip, I am curious to go back and watch the whole entire move again and see just how much more the animators throw into the story, wether subtle or not, that give more insight and direction into the story line.
January 25, 2010 at 4:29 am |
I agree with you on how creative animators are in the art of time sequence. I specifically like the two scenes when Ellie & Carl are going on their picnic. The first one is in the Spring time and everything is alive, and happy. In the second picnic scene it is Fall, which tells that things have changed not just the weather, but the characters as well.
January 25, 2010 at 4:55 am |
It is very interesting to see the foreshadowing done at the beginning of the movie. In addition to what you have mentioned I noticed Ellie and Carl’s fascination with the sky and clouds as they picnic which foreshadows Carl’s trip “upward” later in the movie. Also there are two breif scenes where Carl has to quickly grab his balloon cart before it is carried away by the balloons attached to it. This scene foreshadows Carl’s use of balloons as flying devices later in the movie. The picture in Ellie and Carl’s house of the house on a mountain/rock formation foreshadows the point in the movie where Carl’s home is literally on top of a mountain/rock formation. I have yet to see Disney/Pixar’s Up in it’s entirety. This blog, in addition to Pogo’s “Up Remix”, have really sparked my interest in the movie!
January 25, 2010 at 12:45 pm |
[...] responded to Emily Witt on Disney Pixar’s Up here & to Brenda Weber on Luxo jr. [...]
January 26, 2010 at 2:30 am |
It seems the imagery of the two aging does put some direction on the plot, but viewing the scene alone (I have yet to watch the film…one of many in my ‘to watch’ list), conveys something wondrous and also says a whole lot of their personality. Especially the marriage scene, where the two families are seen. In addition to actually seeing the scene, the music adds to the light heartedness of the first few minutes, but it seems to underscore the end, where that lightheartedness seems to start to disappear, and where Carl ends up being the cantankerous, almost glum person I saw in the “Up Remix” by Pogo.
January 26, 2010 at 2:33 am |
[...] to Emily Witt’s Blog. Possibly related posts: (automatically generated)Avatar Proves We Can’t All Get [...]
January 26, 2010 at 7:34 pm |
I must admit I have not seen “UP” (hopefully, I will see it sometime later this semester), but after seeing the video you posted, I have to agree with you about the animators clever hints at foreshadowing. I think the scenes when Ellie and Carl are going on a picnic during the Spring and Fall are really good examples of foreshadowing. You can spot the differences between the Spring picnic and the Fall picnic scenes right a way.
January 27, 2010 at 6:36 pm |
I have not seen up but that was heart wrenching and now I must watch it!! I had meant to see it in the theatre but never got around to it. I would say the montage and the flow was amazing and it really shows an entire lifetime in a very small space of time. Giving the background to this character helps the audience connect and relate I’m sure everyone has had that love or those moments of extreme happiness and loss on some level. thanks for posting this clip it really is moving.
March 18, 2010 at 2:00 pm |
[...] Blog Post #1: Carl and Ellie [...]