Rio!

Rio

I saw Rio on Sunday, however, I attempted to see it twice before but both shows were sold out!  It was definitely worth the wait because Rio was a fantastic movie!  Animated movies are one of my favorites and Rio was just exceptional.  I must admit that even though I went into the movie theater with a pencil and pad wanting to take notes and strictly concentrating on the production components of the movie, my intentions did not go exactly as planned.  The movie was so fun and interesting that it was difficult to keep my mind off of the storyline.

            The movie Rio took place in the magical city of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil.  Blu, a macaw who has been treated as a pet his whole life in Minnesota discovers that he is the only male left of his kind.  He is forced to connect with Jewel, a female macaw who lives in a rainforest in Rio, to repopulate their kind.  The animated movie is a comedy filled with adventure.  The soundtrack, lighting, colors, audio, and camera angles were a main component of the film and without those production elements, the film would not be as successful as it is.

            The colors throughout the whole movie were so bright and vibrant that it kept the viewers’ attention very well.  The intensity of the colors used on the birds and the city of Rio showed the audience how fun the movie is.  It was appealing to me, the little kids sitting next to me, and the older couple in front of me, who seemed to enjoy the movie very much.  Blues, reds, yellows, and greens were colors that were constantly used during the movie, which symbolize many different emotions, including love, peace, cheerfulness, optimism and stimulate many senses, including a faster heartbeat and a fondness of nature.  Colors do many things to the eye and the colors used in Rio were definitely attention getting.

            In the very beginning of the movie, a little bird appears and he takes you through a little part of the rainforest.  At first, the camera is in front of the bird and as he is flying and zooming through the rainforest, the camera is going backwards so that the bird is coming towards the viewers, which is much more pleasing when seen in 3-D than to have the camera following the bird.  The bird flies throughout the rainforest, waking up and getting the attention of all of the other birds that live there, while a fun song starts to sound.  The first song of the movie grabs the viewers attention, because it seems as if the birds are singing it and the beginning of the movie is fast paced, as well as the song, to get a look at all of the different species of birds.  All of the soundtrack that was used in this movie was very upbeat and made you want to get up and dance, just as the birds were doing!

Colorful parrots are seen dancing simultaneously, while the view of the camera is facing completely down on them, which show all of the parrots’ features and the different patterns that the parrots are making with their feathers.  The parrots then fly up towards the camera so that they are the only thing in view, which also makes it fun to watch in 3-D because it seems as if the parrots are coming right towards you.  When the camera first shows Blu in a tree hollow, the camera is not close to the tree, but slowly moves in towards Blu.  The camera is then so close that viewers cannot tell that the camera is even in a tree hollow.  The camera is just on Blu as his little tail feather starts to dance along with the music even though he is still asleep.  The camera angle is first in front of him but then switches to the back of him to show Blu and the rest of the birds from the viewpoint of being inside of the tree hollow.

            Like previously stated, it was not easy to take notes, or even mentally note, all of the production elements that were being used.  However, there was one part of the movie that caught my eye, production-wise.  Blu and Jewel meet Rafael and he promises them to bring them to Luiz to get the chain that is attached to them off.  After finding out that Blu cannot fly, Jewel and Rafael pressure him into trying.  They go to a cliff where humans are hang gliding off of.  Jewel gets a running start and Blu is dragged behind her but suddenly he becomes very frightened and comes to a halt, which results in Blu and Jewel falling straight down.  The camera is following them close behind; however, the two macaws then get picked up by a bright yellow hang glider.  As the hang glider is drifting through the air, the camera is showing a wide shot of the beautiful city of Rio; this shot is done many times throughout the movie for the viewers to get a sense of how beautiful and entertaining Rio seems to be.  This shot is also done during carnival to give the viewers a good sense of what carnival is all about and all of the people that go to see it.

Blu gets in flying position while on the hang glider, but the wind takes him and Jewel and they fly off of the glider.  The camera angle is looking up at Blu so when he falls, it seems as if he is literally falling into the camera.  The camera angle is then shown right from Blu’s perspective, so when he falls into another hang glider, creating a hole, it is a fun effect to be there in 3-D.  Blu and Jewel then start to fall again and the camera angles change so that the camera is pointing straight down so as they are falling, it seems as if the audience is falling, too.  The camera angles are constantly switching during the whole movie and each different view gives different perspectives.

The movie Rio was so exciting and fun to watch and I am very glad that I saw it.  All of the elements of the movie came together very nicely to make it a great film.  Idea Development is the first class that I have taken where the actual production of film came up, so I must admit that I do not fully understand all of the components that go into a film, however, I think that that is something that takes years to learn.  Since learning about the basics of production, I have thought about some movies that have a great storyline, but did not turn out to be a hit movie because of the way that it was produced; it makes me understand that a great storyline is only half successful, and the other half of success comes from the production part.