Jammin' in Jamaica

After visiting toddgallina.com and theplasticbox again, surprisingly enough, I found myself back at the My Scene website. I had seen most of the animations during my first visit, but there were a few that I had missed. After browsing around, I decided to focus on "Jammin' in Jamaica." When I saw the name, I assumed that it would be similar to the other animations. I assumed that it would be a short segment that told a story about a trip to Jamaica with Barbie and her friends. It turned out to be a film trailer for a movie that is now available on DVD.

The actual animation techniques are identical to those used in all of the other clips on the website. Solid and bright colors are used, each scene has very little movement, and the scene transitions help to create the illusion of movement. What stood out to me about this clip was how different it is from any other movie trailer that would be shown on tv. Aside from the fact that the subject matter is Barbie, you can still really tell that the clip is directed toward a very young audience. Unlike many film trailers that are shown on tv, this trailer doesn't simply show scenes from the movie while playing a faceless narration in the background.

The clip begins inside a movie theatre with the narrator (a character from the website) right in front of the camera speaking to you, the viewer. She states the title of the movie as it is displayed on the theatre screen behind her, and then it cuts to clips from the movie. Having the narrator right in front of you on the screen creates a much more intimate atmosphere. It's like she is personally inviting you as a friend to watch the film. That approach is probably very effective with the audience for this website.

As the clips are playing through, she hints at critical parts of the film with questions like "will Barbie and River break up?", and "who will win the Beat to Beat Band competition?" The animator of this clip speaks to his or her audience making the assumption that they are familiar with the website and all of the characters and their relationships to each other. Those questions and short clips are just enough to instill the right level of curiosity in the minds of the young viewer. This clip was created to encourage kids to go and purchase the DVD of "Jammin' in Jamaica" and the final product was well thought-out and very well done.