She and her Cat

She and her Cat by  Makoto Shinka

When looking at Studio Ghibli shorts, I came across 'She and her Cat' created by Makoto Shinka. He isn't a part of the Studio Ghibli universe but sits close next to it. This work in particular is interesting to me because of it's simplicity, yet it is conveying a message of loneliness in a heart felt way. It does away with the complex character types and focuses on a single bond that two characters share.

The beginning of the story captivates the audience with slow paced cuts and minimal movement to engage in what is going to happen. There are some slow paced shots between the point of the door being knocked and the girl approaching it. It also leads the audience astray because she is by the phone, bunched up on the flow representing fear or worry. This is a stark contrast to what the audience finds at the door- a Small cat, Chobi in a box. The suspense then, wavers.

The visuals are very tonal, with lots of contrast between light and dark to add depth to the imagery. Black and white also reflects this melancholy theme, isolation. The girls worries are not explained because we are listening from the cats perspective yet through the heavy contrast within her home, there is a sense on loneliness. Perhaps she is waiting to hear from a loved one or is suffering from a break up.

The lack of colour was also due to time and funding for Shinka. He created his backgrounds from images, using tools such as Photoshop to re-create the Japanese cartoon effect. This is a massive contrast to his hand drawn characters whose style is a lot more simplistic. This allows the characters to stand out and not get lost within the backgrounds- as well as being a faster and cheaper way of creating his first animation.

The movement was kept to a minimum, for example, a small walk to the door, or a shadow walking past the television. The cat’s movement consisted of less frames than the girl, fading from on still to the other. Even though this style is overall consisting of small movements or stills, it is effective because of its consistent pace and story tell ability. Animation style and narrative have to be balanced to create a captivating product, therefore for Shinka the animation skill resides with his good emotional timing.

Overall the narrative was interesting because it was within the perspective of Chobi. Imagery reflected how he saw the situation and was honest by what he felt. He had a deep love for this girl and states that he would never blame her for the situation about the phone call. In comparison to the initial theme of loneliness there is a sense of deeper levels of love- bonding. This non- sexual bond strengthens during the year he lives with the girl, stating: this world, I think we like it.

The year moves fast for them resembling the cat's lack of time awareness and only allows the audience a small snippet into their lives. This can be seen as a teaser to Shinka's later works where the Chobi was mention as well as his female friend Mimi within the animated short.