The animation that I will be looking at this week is about a Kiwi. The kiwi is a endangered flightless bird native to New Zealand. In this animation the bird is working on something not known by the viewer. At the end it become apparent that the bird was nailing trees to the side of the cliff so that it could jump off, experiencing flight. I feel that the animation is able to convey the point that you should follow your dreams no matter what the cost. Also the use of sound track is able to take animations to the next level emotionally.
After seeing how long it took the bird to nail one tree to the cliff and seeing the amount of trees attached to the cliff it is obvious that it took the bird a long time to complete his flight simulation course. This shows that the bird had a true desire to fly and worked long and hard to complete his goal. On top of working hard he was even willing to give his life for his dream. This shows that once he had accomplished his goal he had completed his so-called “bucket list.” He had done everything he wanted to do in life and had nothing left to live for. This completeness allowed him to die in peace.
Watching the bird fly through the air made me feel happy for him. As he got closer to the ground he started to flap his little arms so he could feel like a real bird. Then the sound track started playing and the happiness felt turned into a bitter-sweet kind of emotion. I felt happy for the bird but knew he was going to meet his end soon. This emotion was amplified by the simple, yet sad music.
Another passing thought may be that this animation is saying that humans are not causing the extinction of this species. Instead, these birds are jumping off cliffs trying to fly. This would mean that these birds are stupid and deserve to die. Anyway you look at it I like this animation and feel that it is creative and filled with different emotions all tied together nicely with a haunting soundtrack.
eta: I commented on Megan’s Blog and Chuck’s Blog.
Mike G. Blog 
This was so cute! I remember watching other “Kiwi” shorts. It’s also interesting that the animators capitalized on the fact that the bird doesn’t have any wings by making this short and allowing the bird to feel like it really can fly. I can see what your thesis is saying, that we shouldn’t give up on something that may be hard at first, but that we truly want and may just acting lazy. Overall, a cute short.
I really like this short, it made me so happy when the Kiwi was flying and flapped his little arms. It especially got me when the little tear came out of his eye. This animation was good for the point that it envoked emotions without the use of words, just the animation its self. I also agree with your thesis statement because the Kiwi cannot fly but he did in fact find a way to fly, he followed his dreams. Although it came to a bitter sweet end.
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This video was great! The music complimented with the animation making it even more emotional. The tear dropping and the Kiwi flapping its little wings helped a lot with the video. At first, I thought it was going to be like the Owl shorts we watched in class but the complete opposite. All in all, this was a great video!
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This animation was so well done! In less than three minutes, it kept my attention very well! I found myself becoming curious about what the Kiwi was doing until the screen shot changed and I realized he wanted to fly! The music was a good compliment to this short, although I think the sound effects were very important too! Overall, it was a good animation!
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