Short film chronicles the life of a balloon

Friday evening the Logan Film Festival held a screening of four of the winning short films from the fall followed by a brief question and answer period with the audience and how they felt about the films. My personal favorite from this sampling of Logan’s best was the wonderful animated short “Blue.”

“Blue” is the story of a blue balloon in an ever-growing, dangerous world. Blue discovers that children have a tendency to abuse balloons either through popping them, drawing on them or just letting their air out for guilty pleasure. Before he can escape this foreseeable horror, Blue is sold off to a young boy. This boy has no intention of hurting blue, but rather chooses to use him in a more meaningful way.

The animation in “Blue” is by no means what you would expect from studies like DreamWorks or Pixar. But as discussed in the Q&A portion after the screening, it shows that as long as you put some thought and effort into a piece of art, your efforts will not go unnoticed.

I loved the simplicity of this eight-minute short. I enjoyed the use of a simple musical score and minor facial expressions throughout the film to help create an emotional connection between the boy and his balloon. I like how the lack of dialog invited audiences to see this world through a different light. The lack of a full face with the balloon was an interesting choice. Directors Katelyn Bianchini, Rena Cheng and Asia Lancaster chose instead to use just a set of eyes. This stylistic choice created a fun and different experience for the audience to experience emotional connections with the use of the string attached to the balloon accompanied by the eyes and how those two things played off each other.

The comedic nature of the film was also pleasing. I liked how Blue is introduced to the “harsh” world around him and how he panics so as to not become another casualty like his fellow rubber brothers. From laughing at Blue’s panic to — only a few minutes later — feeling a deep sorrow for the young boy, I was pleasantly surprised by the emotional highs and lows I felt in a short period of time.

Above all else, I enjoyed what I guess would be considered a post-credit scene. It is only a second or two long, but I feel that it gives a great deal of comfort and closure to anyone who saw the film. Overall I would give this animated short a solid A. “Blue” can be found through Vimeo under the title Blue – 2012.

— Jay Wolin is majoring in communications and started writing film reviews for The Utah Statesman in the fall. He loves football, movies and comic. Send questions or comments to jacob_wolin@yahoo.com.