Short Film // Duet - Glen Keane

Directed by   Glen Keane

Running time 4 minutes

Duet, is a personal short film directed by non other than the legendary Disney animator, Glen Keane. His most notable work resides in Disney motion pictures such as The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast, Tarzan, and Tangled. The film follows the intertwining paths of two people from infancy to adulthood and some of the main experiences and encounters throughout their life. One of the most impressive things about it is the fluidity and seamless transitions from one scene to the next, created with elegance and an unbelievable amount of creativity. 

The animation was made by hand, rendered in sixty frames per second. This means that there were around ten thousand and fifty five original drawings had to be completed by director, Glen Keane. Unlike traditional, hand-drawn animation, CGI animation is rendered at sixty frames per second, hence why this became the case. This is a great example of an innovation on the technical side of animation, hand drawn animation transferred into 3D space. State of the art software had to be created by software engineers in order to accommodate for this technique. This was also a test for Glen Keane, after animating in twenty four frames per second for his entire career, suddenly he was animating in more than twice that. 

One of the most striking things about this particular animation, is the absolutely stunning use of camera angles and direction throughout. It's seamless, it's fluid, it's brilliant and it catches you off guard. The perspective used in places is unlike anything I've seen before, the angles used are extreme but work so well, the camera feels like it's constantly moving so you feel like you're running along side the characters, and following their story with them. The visuals are imaginative and not over done, for example the transition of the girl into the birds. The art style emphasises on the fluidity of the animation and allows for the looseness of the movement needed to achieve the style that has been achieved. On a separate note, the score that was created for 'Duet' sounds inspiring and follows the flow of the story, some of the sections even mirror actions on screen, such as when the girl twirls down from the branch and the music replicates this only as a sound. The actual animation as a whole, feels very simplistic but at the same time it feels layered due to the number of subtle details, whether that be an intricate transition or a change in camera angle or even the change in pace of music. Everything in a combination forces an emotional response, because in essence, the story follows the everyday facts of life, and growing up. This process condensed into a few minutes of beautifully crafted animation is something to be appreciated, especially when the final outcome is as touching as this one.