Alec Andre T.

Ebora

Writing for New Media: Animation Research Assignment

Lucky Day Forever – Alek Wasilewski

synopsis: Prole 514 dreams about winning the Great Lottery. The Lottery winner is transformed and
allowed admission into the elite White society, where everyone is beautiful, young, and happy. A vicious
dystopian vision from Poland.

1. Personal Choice – Why did I choose this animation?

a. Lucky day among the other animations contained many mature themes and ideas. The
way the animation looked was just as unique as the others and what sets it apart for me
is its world and how its world was displayed to us the viewers. At the beginning of the
short film we are greeted by pristine walls and floor, vibrant colourful advertisements
and in the center is one of a humble man whose imperfections contrast against his
perfect environment. This film constantly displays this contrast between the elite and
poor. One scene displays a wide shot of the world, the Elite lives within a bright city
while the lower class endures their dirty city.
b. Another idea that the short film explores is Loneliness, the main character is longing for
the warmth of love and is constantly being shown wanting to earn a better life in order
to fulfil the emptiness he feels, the emptiness many of us feels. This spoke to me a lot as
the feeling was too familiar.

2. Transitions – how did the animation transition from scene to scene?

a. The transitions in this short film are quick and sudden.
b. Often times when scenes changes, it switches to a closeup of a character’s face before
we are shown an area or object of interest. Often times we are given a wide
environmental shot, the apartment of the main character, a view of the glistening city
with its idealistic advertisements.

3. Color Scheme
a. The short film as mentioned before makes use of the contrast between the Elite city and
the grime of the undercity.
b. The animators take advantage of using pristine whites and bright colors when depicting
the Elite city, everything looks clean and shiny, an almost mirror like surface where one
can see clearly how imperfect humans can be, even as being advertised on television, it
is bright and almost blinding.
c. The dirty city, where the imperfect humans reside is depicted very dark and bleak,
browns, reds and oranges, the main character’s apartment is full of bland yellows and
 oranges his apartment itself dark with only the bright light of the television and window
illuminating it.
4. Speed, Pauses, Wait Time:
a. The short film despite being less than 20 minutes long, takes its time as its story unfolds,
the film never feels like its rushing and often takes short breaks showing scenes where
that are quiet and long, scenes such as the main character just walking home from work,
and a scene where the main character shows his loneliness and longing as he lays his
head down a windowsill after a session of self-pleasure, contemplating how lonely he
feels after relieving himself off an advertisement being shown from his apartment
window.
b. Despite how long some scenes are, it doesn’t drag the story behind and as the end
approaches it isn’t rushing to make ends meet.

5. Depth of Field
a. Each scene in this short film looks unique and its backgrounds are distinguishable from
each other. The backgrounds have been filled with little details that show things about
its subjects without even uttering a single word.
b. The pristine halls of the Elite City show how much perfection is valued and is absolutely
necessary in their society, The different objects scattered around the main character’s
apartment show his state of being; the many lottery tickets scattered around to show
how desperate he is for a new life.

6. Background vs Subject
a. Once again as mentioned prior, the backgrounds in this short film contain many details
that tell us a lot about the characters inhabiting the scene. The backgrounds are very
detailed but not cluttered to a point where characters are indistinguishable and
blending in.