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Blue Cooler


Blue Cooler, an oil painted animated short film, captures small moments of life in Hawaii through a montage of richly painted and colorful brush strokes, sounds and images. Like home movies that spark an atmosphere or feeling, the moving paintings in Blue Cooler pop with familiar experiences and vivid observations. The animation is hand painted frame by frame using oil paints.

  • Laura Margulies
    Director
  • Laura Margulies
    Producer
  • Starr Kalahiki
    Key Cast
  • Kanani Seward
    Key Cast
  • Lawrence Seward
    Key Cast
  • Iʻokepa Seward
    Key Cast
  • Oahu Films LLC
    Sound Design
  • Pacific Music Productions
    Sound Design
  • Project Type:
    Animation, Experimental, Short
  • Genres:
    animation, experimental, painting, tropical, slice of life, humor
  • Runtime:
    7 minutes 40 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    May 20, 2021
  • Production Budget:
    12,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - Laura Margulies

Laura Margulies (Ukulele Pictures, LLC) has been creating hand painted animated films and commissioned work for more than 30 years. Her work combines motion, color, texture, live action, rhythm and sound to create astonishing and expressive films. Laura's award winning work has been screened worldwide at The Sundance film festival, The Margaret Mead Film Festival, Anima Munde, The Hawaii International Film Festival, Cinedance Festival, Ann Arbor Film Festival, Annecy, among others and has aired on The Sundance channel, MTV, PBS, VH-1 and more. Her film Rolling Down Like Pele has recently been chosen to air on Hawaiian Airlinesʻ "In Flight Programming" in 2021. Laura produces, directs and animates on projects in Hawaii and beyond. Besides making films, Laura has taught animation at New York University, The School of Visual Arts, Pratt Institute, Punahou School and Hawaii Women in Filmmaking. She is an Assistant Professor of Animation at the University of Hawaii at Mānoa in the Academy for Creative Media.

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Director Statement

Ten years and thousands of paintings later, Blue Cooler finally emerged into the world. It was born in Hawaii from gesso boards and oil paint, filmed under a camera in a stop motion style. One painting alters minutely to the next and so on creating the animated motion of canoe paddlers, a Mom and child shopping and surfers crossing highways. The film swims by like a colorful, painted collage.