An unusual, poetic intrusion into the real world. Something to make young and old alike dream. A great idea about the power of imagination and perfect staging. A must see. Have fun with your students from kindergarten onward, imagining and drawing new situations.
The short film “Lila” was selected for the Takorama 2022 festival organized by the Films pour enfants association.
1-How is this film different visually from classic animated films?
It is a short film filmed with a camera (live action), with drawings integrated into the images.
This technique is called compositing (in French, “composition”) and consists of mixing several image sources to make a single shot.
2-Who is the main character and what is he holding in his hands at second 53?
It is a young woman who is holding a sketchbook in her hands.
3-What is the young woman drawing and what is she doing with her drawing at 2 min 5 s?
She draws the table at which the couple is sitting, but does not draw the couple's wife. She superimposes the drawing on reality and thus creates the illusion that the woman is no longer in the scene.
4-What happens when she places her helmet design on the man’s head at 2:30?
We have the impression that the man feels something, as if the helmet was really on his head.
5-What happens when she draws a young woman kissing the young man at 3:19?
We have the feeling that the young man really received the kiss. Maybe she has magical powers?
6-From 4:02, why is the little girl smiling?
Lila drew balloons, which gave the little girl the impression that she had balloons herself.
7-From 5:18, why is Lila smiling?
Lila smiles because she is happy that her drawing helped the couple reconcile.
8-From 5:32, what happens when she draws complete sets?
She redesigns the entire city to shape it the way she wants.
9-Who are the people in the photograph she is looking at at 7:32?
It looks like a photograph of her parents and her as a little girl.
10-What does she do from that moment on and why?
She begins to draw herself with her family, in order to remember childhood memories.
11-What lesson can we learn from this short film about art?
Art transforms reality, enchants it, goes beyond absence and snatches away from death which it sublimates.
We can wonder if the adolescent does not find absent parents, carried away perhaps, just as much as she finds happy childhood memories that art has the power to bring back to life.
Extensions and references
1- Literature
- Émilie and the magic pencil, Henriette Bichonnier, 1979.
2- Feature films
- The Umbrellas of Cherbourg, Jacques Demy, 1964.
The idea of enchantment is present in Jacques Demy, and a parallel can be made between the colors dear to the director and those of the film, the care taken in the printing of the clothes and the sets.
Why not offer an extract, then compare the colors and the transformation of reality with the film Lila?
- Mary Poppins, Robert Stevenson, 1964.
For these extremely colorful sequences, like in the film Lila.
3- Plastic arts
- Create an unusual image.
What if our drawings could change the course of things?
Draw on a sheet of paper a character, an animal or an object that you will superimpose, like Lila, on your environment, and that you will take a photo of to create an unusual image.
- Transform your school.
Why not transform the school or classroom with drawings?
- Invent a story.
Students will cut out a photograph of themselves and place it in a setting designed for this purpose, inventing a story to present their choice.
Educational activities offered by Christophe and Olivier Defaye, with the advice of Anne-Marie Filho.
Created with the support of the French Ministry of Education and the French National Center for Cinema and Animated Images (CNC).
Watching the film with the family, educational activities with parents at home and with teachers in class.
