Research 9 - Guida (MAF)

While at Manchester Animation Festival i saw a lot of animations and this is possibly my favourite. Guida, a fifty something woman has lived her life quietly and happily working in a library allowing the time to pass by. She then notices a small ad in the paper from people looking for a life model, she laughs it off, smirking to her self finding the idea of herself as a greek statue with saggy breasts amusing, but she finds that the idea is constantly on her mind, reminding her of her dream and of her childhood as a dancer. While she poses, the drawings of her become different possibilities and lives such as a violinist or a boxer and as she looks around at the drawings of her she finds herself feeling happier than ever before

https://vimeo.com/132668364

The above is a link to the video. What i love about this animation is, well all of it. The art style shifts fluidly with smooth transitions from one moment to the next, with a really relax line on sepia toned backgrounds done in water colour gives the whole animation a soft inviting feeling as if its made to be warm. The sound tracks fairly minimal however near the end there is a lovely song playing as she begins her life modelling and it feels as if it signifies a new beginning for this woman. I love the fact that the story is almost plebeian and is merely about the life, no big adventures or terrifying revelations just a woman passing through life.

The simplicity of the story really shows how animation can be used to show a simple lifestyle or just give off a good feeling and warm feeling. Happiness is a difficult thing to convey in animations and sad stories are much easier but if you succeed in making a happy film you can convey a much stronger feeling and response from your audience, it won the MAF award for a reason.