Umbrellas — Jose Prats and Álvaro Robles, 2020
In a world where all babies are delivered by umbrella to their new parents, one girl has a rough start to her life: her umbrella has a hole in it, letting in the storm, which leaves her with a fear of the rain. As her father raises her, he provides protection by using his large beard to always give her shelter from the rain.
When her excitable dog runs off into the rain, the girl and her father set off in pursuit. However, when they are separated, the girl sets off on her own with only an umbrella to protect her from the rain. She finds her dog trying to rescue its own new puppy which has become stranded in a tree over another fast-flowing river. Will the girl be able to confront her fears and rescue the pup?
Classroom Activities
Print All- Critical
- Cultural
- Creative
- Clip Details
Critical
- Before watching: The film is called ‘Umbrellas’. What do you think the film might be about? What do we know about umbrellas? What might happen in the film? Do your ideas change when you know the film is 12 minutes long? If so, how?
- Watch the film from 00:30 to 01:55. Which colours are used at the start of the film when we first see the umbrellas? How do you think these colours are meant to make you feel? How do the colours change when the broken umbrella enters the rain? Why has the director done this? When do we see a change in these colours again? Why?
- Pause the film at 03:35. What colours are used for outside/inside the house? Do the colours match the emotions of the girl inside and the children outside? Why have the directors done this? What are they trying to say without words/what is the inference? What does the change of colour at the very end of the film (09:30) show the audience?
- What changes did we see happening to the father throughout the film? Were there visible changes? Were there other changes? Why do you think the directors showed us these changes? Were they important to what we knew about the girl?
Cultural
- What does the film’s style of animation make you think of? Does it remind you of other stories you have seen?
- Watch the film ‘Battery Daddy’. How do the relationships in this film compare with the relationships in ‘Umbrellas’? Are there similarities? Are there any differences? Which film do you prefer? Why?
- What does it mean to be a parent? What skills do parents need? If you were to become a parent, what would be the five golden rules you would make sure you followed? Do these differ from your learning/shoulder partners’ ideas?
- How are families different? What different family situations are there in the classroom? Is everyone’s situation the same? Does it matter?
- Why is the father raising the child on his own? Where might the mother be? Should he continue to raise the child? What might be the difficulties with this situation? What would be the benefits of this situation? When we see single parents on the TV/media, it is, more often than not, a female. Why do you think this is?
- Is being afraid of things good? When is it good? When does it cause a problem? What are you afraid of? Why do you think you are afraid? Of these things? Do you think you will ever overcome these fears? Why do you think this? What helps you overcome fears?
Creative
WRITE
- Write about a time when you felt afraid. Think about the emotions before, during and after the event.
- Summarise the story in 10 sentences, 5 sentences and then 3 sentences. Discuss about what parts of the story are important at each stage. (Length/number of sentences can be adjusted to suit age, stage etc.)
- Plan a story where the girl was afraid of something else.
DRAMA
- Work in twos or threes to create scenarios where you are fearful of something. Different situations could be standing at the top of a cliff, being confronted by a wild animal, something falling from above etc.
RESEARCH
- Research and create a family tree, as far back as you can, following one or two lines of the tree (e.g. mum’s family name, dad’s family name). Emphasis should be put on the fact that all families are different and there are no right or wrongs. Care should be taken with this activity if there are known issues within the family e.g. recent loss, absent parents etc.
STEM
- Design a carriage that would protect the babies if the umbrella was to fall. Pupils should draw up plans, bring in resources and build the carriage using an egg as the baby.
Clip Details
| Year of Production | 2020 |
|---|---|
| Genre | Adventure, Animation |
| Curriculum Areas | Expressive Arts, Health and Wellbeing, Modern Languages, Literacy and English, Religious and Moral Education |
| Director | Jose Prats and Álvaro Robles |
| Country of Origin | Italy |
| Medium / Content | 2D Animation, Fiction, Colour, Sound |
| Themes | Feelings, Relationships, Loss / Memories, Danger / Fear, Identity / Self, Food / Environment |
| Clip Length | 12:08 |
| Clip Length | 12:08 |
| Age Group | P1-P4, P5-P7, S1-S3 |
