Genre Comparative Study

Upon watching these two short films, you realise, much like many of the short films you'll find, they are computer generated. Both short films are very similar to that of the Pixar animated shorts, both aesthetically and plot wise.
Oktapodi uses love as the plot developer. the two small octopus are shown as being in love in the very first shot of the film. Then instantly the female is snatched up and taken by a squid butcher of some sort, and thus the whole thing kicks off and the male tries to save his love. The whole film is very funny and portrayed beautifully. The scenes within the van, and driving down the streets include some well composed shots and you really feel like your part of the action, which works very well with the pace and in maintaining interest, not that it's not interesting already. The character designs for the film are also very beautiful, the squids look like squids while retaining a comical and cute feel to them, and the antagonist is tall and skinny, like a tower, seemingly representing a colossus to the little squid, and thus is obviously a threat to them.
My favourite shot of the whole film is the shot when the butcher first notices the male squid at the van window, and the squids brain is waving in the wind. There's a suttle perspective to this shot that makes the squid seem so small and insignificant, and therefore making us feel for him and makes us want him to prevail in his task. Then of course he gets punched in the face, which just makes me laugh so much.
The palette used for this film is also well selected. The soft tones of the town make us aware that it's there, but doesn't distract us from the action. While the bright pastel colours of the squid let us know that they are important and keeps our eyes on them at all times.

Although details in Kiwi are much simpler than in Oktapodi, they really help to bring out the softer side of us all and then hit us with its incredibly tear jerking storyline. Basically Kiwi cannot fly, they are an exstinct bird and this is a film to show possible why. This particular Kiwi spends his life nailing trees to the side of a mountain only to later jump off the mountain in an attempt to simulate flying, even though he will inevitably die when he hits the floor.
Kiwi works so well as a short film as it hits us all in the heart and we really sympathise with him/her. It opens with a close up of the floor and kiwi's feet come in dragging something, this opening is much like the opening to Oktapodi, getting straight to the point and introducing the main characters involved. All of the shots composed in this short film are well placed. enough is shown to see what Kiwi is currently doing, but the whole picture is not shown until the end, and therefore nothing is given away. Throughout the entire film you begin to ask questions, what is Kiwi doing? why is he/she doing that? where did that hammer and nails come from? all these questions help maintain our interest throughout the film. And because Kiwi is so cute, we are interested in what he's doing and why he's doing it, everyone has a soft spot for cuteness, and this short film really takes advantage of that. Our emotions upon seeing what Kiwi has been working on, and seeing the amount of trees he's actually nailed to this mountain, are heightened by the music. When he jumps off the cliff, goggles on, and pops his little arms out and starts flapping them, the music kicks in. A soft lullaby score that once again hits us in the soft spot. Everything comes together, questions are answered, the music is there, and everyone watching cannot hold it in any longer, Kiwi cries and and the audience join in to, whether it be physically or mentally, everyone cries. The huge and well constructed build up has the same result for everyone, and that's why Kiwi is such a well done short film.
Both aesthetically and constructively, Kiwi and Oktapodi have so many similarities, but their differences are what make them truely unique and stand out.