Nina Denning

Review of independent media – Draw with me

Posted on 5 July, 2016  in CIU110

‘Draw with me’ is an animated short created by Mike Inel (story and animation) and Daniel James (music and sound). It’s a drama based around two characters, a boy and a girl with animal characteristics, separated by an unbreakable glass. A very strong concept told undeniably well without dialogue in under three minutes.

When a boy meets a girl on the other side of their world dividing barrier, they learn that drawing and writing on the glass wall with charcoal is their only form of communication. They spend all their time “together” and seem content until the loneliness sinks in as they aren’t (really) together. Frustrated and saddened by their separation, the boy starts punching the wall over and over until it cracks, but it isn’t meant to be and the magical barrier takes his hand in punishment. The two meet again as the boy admits he cant draw anymore, the girl is cloaked concealing her arms as hes presented with a gift, shocked at what’s inside he drops the box, revealing her arm coming out, rehabilitating his drawing again.

The animation carries a sketchy look, which works well as the characters look like they were just drawn –refer to the title. With a very opaque colour pallet used, Mike Inel really captures the tone and emotion of each scene with soft warm and cold shades along with soothing glows of light. The unique characteristics of this short are really what pieces together the story and makes it work so well without looking dull and emotionless. Though we do get a feel of what their story world is like, its hard to capture all the rules the universe follows, there are a few illogical appearances of items such as the box for the arm and the changing of clothes but these unexplained traits does give the audience a sense of curiosity for their world, that it may not be as bland and empty as it seems. The short is a drama but it does feature some comedic effects in the drawings to lighten up the ‘sad’ mood and even though the characters don’t have dialect to give them individuality its easy to perceive their distinctive character through their writing and drawing behaviours along with their expressions emphasised with their animal-like ears. The music and sound carries whatever the plot and character expressions lack, accentuating the highs and lows and subtleties of the short.

The concise plot in this short is very relatable to all sorts of audiences; whether they’ve got a loved one far away, out of reach or are surrounded by people but still feel lonely and cant break the barrier. For me this short film screams ‘long distance relationships’ where the glass wall represents a means of communication such as social media and other communicative devices like skype, although you are talking with that person and may be able to see them, you’re still so far away and cant break through to them no matter how hard you try, its not the same as being ‘with’ them… at least that’s my interpretation.

 

Overall, ‘Draw with me’ is a delightful elucidation of love and friendship with sincere themes, conveying meaning through the art of a very unique animation, simple but expressive. I would love to see an extended version out of greed for more but it is moderately paced with a solid structure and unanticipated climax and ties up neatly with an ambiguous ending. ‘Draw with me’ is proved a successful much loved short as it has over 3 million views on youtube alone and has sparked many creative minds out there to create hundreds of art based on the short. Here’s a link to the film: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DRkgH7Uu-hA

Reference: Mike Inel – Draw with me. (2009).