The holidays are here! And if you are anything like us, you love holiday movies! Here at Planet Nutshell, we have a strange annual tradition of watching Netflix’s The Christmas Prince together as we chip away at those end-of-year projects. 

We know what you’re thinking. “That’s a cheesy romantic comedy!” Well yes, yes it is. But it’s not completely terrible. As our art director Jen Sanchez points out, there’s a lot going on when it comes to color. 

Take it away, Jen…

Okay, guys, seriously. You gotta give this movie a chance, especially if you are interested in art or design. There is a surprising amount of thought given to the colors here and how they convey the main protagonist’s (Amber’s) emotional state as well as how they signify alliances and enemies.

Throughout the movie, Amber’s signature colors are bright blue and cranberry red. In contrast to the rest of the characters in Aldovia (yes, Aldovia — I KNOW), who veer towards neutrals and darker colors. This not only keeps our eyes on her — literally — as she moves through the scene, but reflects her individuality, an important point in the film.

If you pay close attention, too, you’ll be able to tell which characters are either allied with her or against her based on their wardrobes. For example, her father and her friends back in her hometown are usually seen wearing either blue or red, while her antagonistic boss wears a muted mustard yellow.

When we are first introduced to the royal family, we see them primarily in black, white or gray, and when Amber first makes the move to the palace, she purposefully mutes her wardrobe in order to fit in. However, as time goes on and she starts to feel comfortable, her signature colors return full-force. So much so that they begin to infect the wardrobe of those closest to her, the royal family in particular. It starts off with small accessories like a red brooch or a red tie, but by the end of the first movie, after she has gained the trust, friendship, and love of the royal family, they have fully adopted Amber’s vibrant color-scheme, not only symbolizing their newfound connection, but the color Amber has injected into their previously stuffy lives.

But wait! There’s a sequel! At the beginning of The Christmas Price: A Royal Wedding, Amber’s colors evolve from cranberry red and blue to a soft pink and blue. This signifies the palace staff’s attempt to change her and mold her into their ideal of a perfect Aldovian Queen. As a result, Amber feels as though she must suppress her personality in order to marry her beloved King Richard. 

When Amber is feeling particularly low — after she attempts to give her husband advice and is dismissed, for example — the filmmakers even go so far as to desaturate the scene itself, to emphasize her low self worth and loss of identity. As the film progresses, Amber is consoled by her allies, and in these moments, we get hits of her signature cranberry red. By the end of the movie her confidence appears to be restored but the royal wedding is still a mix between cranberry red and the former black and white. What’s the significance here? Perhaps teeing up the drama set to unfold in the third (YUP IT’S A TRILOGY) installment — The Christmas Prince: A Royal Baby. 

As of now I have yet to watch the third movie, but I certainly plan on doing so. And you should too! If you do end up watching it, I implore you to focus on the color story. If the first two movies are any indicator, they colors will play a huge role in understanding what is going on between the characters as well as foreshadowing the film’s ending.

Are there any movies that you love? Do they have color stories? If so, what are their color stories and what do those colors symbolize? If your life were a movie, what color story would you want to have?

We’re delighted to have a new member of the team! Sam Berliner (he/they) comes to us from the wilds of the Pacific Northwest where he worked at Three Dollar Bill Cinema and directed Translations: the Seattle Transgender Film Festival from 2013 to 2019.

Sam is a filmmaker and animator best known for his engaging and accessible films about gender nonconformity. His award-winning short films, Dating Sucks: A Genderqueer Misadventure, Genderbusters, Perception and Float have screened at over 300 film festivals around the world and are distributed by the Canadian Filmmakers Distribution Centre. He is currently in pre-production on Episode 2 of the Dating Sucks webseries. Sam leads workshops and gives presentations about gender at various organizations and schools. He holds an MFA in Cinema from San Francisco State University and a BA from Smith College.

For all things Sam, head on over to www.donutfilms.org.

The past few months have found us knee-deep in fall and winter internship applications, and the process revealed a few things. 1) There are a ton of talented young animators out there. 2) Our resident animator Mollie Davis is basically an internship expert. Seriously, she’s had so many awesome internships, she has trouble remembering them all — “I had 4. Oh no, wait! I interned there, too! I had 5!”

Given these two discoveries, we thought we’d share some of Mollie’s best tips for aspiring animators. She not only has great advice for how to land your dream internship but how to get the most out of the experience once you’re there.

1. It starts with the reel.

Though you should give thought to your resume and cover letter, your reel and portfolio are the #1 things potential internships will look at (and yeah, scrutinize a little). Reels should be about a minute long and cut to a great track. However, since so many people watch things on mobile, make sure the reel is compelling when viewed silently, too. Lastly, put your best work at the beginning and the end, since busy internship coordinators may watch the first few seconds, then skip straight to the end.

2. Show your work-in-process.

While your portfolio should include your best finished work, think about including sketches, animatics, whatever pieces you have from the process itself. This won’t just show your technical competency but also your storytelling and revision skills.

3. Once you’re there, listen & observe.

Though you may work on some great projects during your internship (maybe even some for real clients that pay real dollars), just being in a studio setting is a valuable experience, so pay attention to what’s going on around you. How do the the producers and the creative team interact? How does the creative director present work to the client? Though teamwork and communication are referred to as “soft skills,” there’s nothing “soft” about them, and they can help you succeed when you land your first job.

4. Ask questions… but the right questions.

Internships are a time to ask questions, but do yourself — and your supervisor — a favor and make sure your question can’t be answered by a quick Google search first. This won’t just save your supervisor from potential frustration, it will help to spark more thoughtful discussions, since you will have gotten some baseline knowledge about the issue from your initial search.

5. Stay loose & push yourself.

Your first internship in animation can be intimidating, but remember: they like you, and they like your work. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have given you the gig, right? So use this time to step outside your comfort zone and push yourself. The feedback you get from people in the field is so much different than feedback you get from professors, since professors often care about fostering your creative voice, and working studio animators can teach you a lot about the process itself and how to do things quicker, better and more efficiently.

So that’s it! Our resident internship expert’s five tips for how to be an awesome intern. Oh, and speaking of awesome interns… we have one!

Meet David Oneacre, Planet Nutshell’s fall intern. He’s a recent MassArt grad from Akron, Ohio who specializes in 3D animation, and his senior thesis “Maplewood” was just featured in the MAST Film Festival (sponsored by Planet Nutshell). You can watch it for yourself here, and we hope you do. It’s a quirky, heartwarming story that personifies woodland creatures in really imaginative ways.

Want to apply to be Planet Nutshell’s next intern? We’re still accepting applications for our winter internship. More info here.