Week 6_Response_William

     For this response, I have chosen "Father and Daughter" by Michael Dudok de Wit.

    As a mild tangent, it has been pleasant to slowly diversify our response choices into many more animation forms. This week in particular has had a lovely trio of contenders, with 2D, 3D, and more stylized animation all present. For this week, I guess I am feeling a bit more traditionalist, but it's a good one. 

    The immediate win for "Father and Daughter" is the presentation. Character linework is thin but with a nice flow to the curves. The backgrounds have a great watercolor feel. Although, given the color palette, I almost want to call it "coffeecolor". All the color choices are subtle, mainly shades of brown with touches of pale blues, yellows, and greens. It makes me feel like the entire work was colored purely with coffee splatters, black ink, and patches of napkin fabrics. 

    The end result of these visuals for me is that this story is down to earth and very personal. This setting is not important for everybody, but it means the world for somebody, and perfectly complements the plot. 

    Yep, we have some plot for once. But because it is a short film, I will not spoil the ending itself. For the premise itself, a Father takes his Daughter to a certain hill, hugs her, and uses a boat resting in the lake beside the hill to paddle away. Where he is going and when he is coming back is not revealed to the Daughter, or you. As the Daughter lives her life through all her phases, she checks that lake from the hill over and over again. 

    This short film follows two of the most important rules for short stories in my opinion. Firstly, if it is film, never use dialogue. That is something only feature length films ever truly need to be poignant. Secondly, the short has one, very distinct central point that dictates everything around it. Luckily, the title says it all for this one. Focusing on this sense of longing works well enough for the nine minutes of runtime, but it especially works as a central theme that anything can attach something to. Longing is a very human thing, and a short was a wonderful choice to express that feeling. 

    "Father and Daughter" is a dart of inspiration thrown right into a bullseye. It accomplishes everything it wanted to with a dignified poise and simple moments. Modern cinema always looks at the big picture, but perhaps it could learn from this moment that relishing in a moment can uncover its own mine of potential. 

    Bonus Fact: This won Best Animated Short Film at the Academy in 2000, beating "Rejected" by Don Hertzfeldt. Sorry your pick didn't win, Rae. :(