Renee Chua's short animation “foto time” tells the story of one of the most special and important days of the academic year, the school picture day. A day which every student awaits with equal dose of excitement and fear, for it is this class photo which will be the thing that brings forth the memories of childhood and student life.
“Foto Time” is Screening at Cartoons Underground
Visually, “foto time” is very child-like, but in a good sense. The design of the characters is simple and the crayon-like drawings, imprecise. This does not necessarily mean amateurish, through. What lacks in detail, Renee Chua makes up for with loads of texture and personality. The same applies to the movement of the characters. There isn't that much of it, yet the short feels plenty dynamic due to sound design which seems to be a field recording from a real school. Of course, the recording is imperfect and it is not mixed very well, but this adds to the charm of the whole thing.
There are also small details that add some interesting aspects to this short animation. Each of the students has a lot of personality and feels like a completely different person. What's even more interesting is that Chua's class is very inclusive and accepting, making the viewer dream of a time when actual classrooms will become such.
And when the final photo of the entire class appears, it's a pure joy. Each of the children shows their personality through a posture or something they are holding. One holds a tokusatsu action figure, another has a mask on, while a third is wearing what looks like a roman emperor's wreath. It's so quirky, cute, and pure that it makes us reminisce of our class photos. And maybe envy the characters in this short animation because our classes was never as cool as that.
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