Computer Graphics World

Edition 2 2020

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18 cgw e d i t i o n 2 , 2 0 2 0 we take a look at some of them, while the others are detailed on our website, cgw.com, in the In Focus section. Float (7:04 runtime) Director/writer: Bobby Rubio Producer: Krissy Cababa "Float," the fourth SparkShorts film released by Pixar, is a heartwarming story of a parent and a child who is "different." It is a story of many parents who are trying to cope with such a child, although for "Float" director/ writer Bobby Rubio, it is a very personal one. It is his and his son's story. In "Float," a father discovers that his son is unlike other kids in the most unusual way. To keep them both safe from judgment, Dad keeps the boy out of sight – but when his son's ability becomes public, Dad must decide whether to run and hide or accept his son as he is. "The inspiration for 'Float' came from my relationship with my son, Alex, who is on the autism spectrum. When he was diagnosed 10 years ago, I was trying to deal with it emo- tionally and had a difficult time processing his diagnosis," explains Rubio. Rubio, a Pixar storyboard artist, is a storyteller who makes his own comic books outside of work. And this story was one that had been gnawing at him for years. "When I was struggling [with the situation,] my wife said, 'You make comic books, you tell stories. Why don't you make a comic book to help you work through this?' " he recalls. He be- gan the process of doing just that, but it was an emotional road for him to travel, making it very slow going. Determined to complete the journey, he opted to turn the story into an animated short film instead. "I was going to do it in my spare time, and I drew a storyboard animatic for it and showed it to my friends, who suggested I show it to Lindsey Collins, executive pro- ducer of SparkShorts," says Rubio "I wasn't too sure, as this was a personal project, but I know her and thought I might as well get her impression of the story. She loved it and thought it would be a good candidate for the SparkShorts program." Rubio's story unfolds as he, in the role of the father, is playing with his son, Alex, in the front yard, but when Alex shows his unique ability to float, he immediately takes his child indoors, out of sight from the watchful gaze of neighbors and passersby. He keeps his child hidden from the world, allowing him to float indoors. When he finally does take the youngster to the park, he tries to prevent Alex from floating by weighing him down with rocks in a pack attached to the child's back. All seems fine until Alex catches the other kids by surprise by exhibiting his uniqueness. At this point, dad voices the only dialog in the film, chiding the child for not being normal. Shocked at his own out- burst, dad hugs Alex, realizing his mistake, and begins pushing Alex on the swings, bringing happiness to the boy. And then the boy floats – as his dad smiles. "Float" is reflective of the Pixar house style. This became a big advantage when, to save time and budget, the team used some assets available at the studio when creating the short. "We went 'total independent film style' and looked at what we could get our hands on. Toy Story 4 was coming out, and I liked the look of it. So, we used a bunch of assets, back- ground characters," says Rubio. In fact, viewers may recognize Alex's house – it was Bonnie's house in Toy Story 4. It is just changed digitally to make it look different in "Float." According to Rubio, he wanted 'Float' to have a live-action feel and took a more gritty approach to reflect the story. "It needed that," he says. "It's about a father who is experiencing depression, so there are a lot of dark moments. There are times we get super dark with the backlight, especially with sequences in the house. We went as dark as we could. Michael Sparber, director of photography, was amazing." To this end, Rubio and the lighters looked to live-action movies for inspiration, and one scene of the father and son in the house by the window is in full silhouette – dark with black around them. The inspiration for that, For director Bobby Rubio, "Float" is based on a very personal story/journey.

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