Pixar has released a fist look clip at their new animated short film The Blue Umbrella. The story follows "a blue umbrella that notices and fancies a red umbrella. Their budding attraction is interrupted by distance and the forces of nature, until objects on the street come to life to help them reunite... A central part of the story is the idea of unexpected corners of the city coming alive, such as construction signs and a post office mailbox."
The short was directed by camera and staging artist Saschka Unseld, and the idea for it was inspired by seeing an abandoned umbrella lying in the gutter, the director explained...
It was the saddest thing. I stood there and wondered what had happened to him. I think that was when I got the idea of giving him a story.
Pixar also used a different and new technique when making this film that they haven't used previously to help give it a photorealistic vision. It's described as a "simulation of how light is emitted and reflected off surfaces, and deep compositing, or the layering of images that hold three-dimensional data. The effect is an image with richer plays between light and shadow, and depth of field. At specific moments in the story, Unseld also slowed filming to 12 frames per second, half the usual rate at which movies are filmed, to vary the rhythm of rain."
It looks like it will end up being another cute short. It will be shown in front of Pixar's upcoming new feature film Monsters University in June. Check out the 30 second clip and tell us what you think!