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Alexis Smith
Dr. Ruvoli
English 104
28 January 2014
A Look at Caldera
Caldera is an animation short from creator Evan Viera. In my opinion I would
define Caldera as a haunting animation short that depicts the everyday reality of
someone who is numb to the world from medication and struggles with a mental
illness. Caldera is a visually and emotionally stimulating piece of art. The short film
is a color animation that is about 11 minutes long. The only character in the story is
a teenage girl, and her inner demons as well as her inner peace. The plot is mostly
about a girl struggling with her grasp on reality, and then leaving her overly
medicated one to explore the reality she sees. The animation is all done on
computer. Each scene purposefully invokes emotion with the use of not only
animation, but also color, and sound. The psychosis scenes are purposeful in
showing some of the fantastic and vivid scenes the girl in the short is seeing. From
the vibrant stars and galaxy she sees when she looks at the sky and her
surroundings to the bioluminescence of the ocean and sea life, as well as the
bioluminescence of the girl in the short herself. Caldera also includes some
interesting and detailed scene designs that help give the film some of its intensity.
Intensity was depicted in some of the cityscape scenes and the scenes with the girls
inner demons chasing her.
Caldera can be viewed either on the animation companys website or on
YouTube. I observed two people watching the short. The first person was watching
for a deep meaning and understanding of the animation while the other person was
just watching out of curiosity and not for a meaning behind the animation.

The animation is what gained Caldera attention for animation awards and
honors. The use of color is a primary part of how the story is told. Conflict and stress
are depicted with vibrant reds, yellows, oranges, and pinks. Detachment and the
feeling of numbness and the mundane are depicted with grays, whites, and blacks.
Blues, luminescent blues, and cool colors like purple and green are used to signify
calmness and tranquility. The use of warm and cool colors was conveyed in the
scene where the girl looks up at the night sky and is looking at the galaxy and the
stars.

Several elements come together to enhance the already amazing, and award
winning CGI graphics. Music is one of them. The short has no noise to narrate, and
like a lot of animation shorts it only had music or score to accompany it. The score
in Caldera is what helps enhance the vivid animation. The score starts with a light,
hypnotic melody. The notes swell altogether and give a relaxing overtone. Then the
melody becomes sinister, major chords go to minor and the tempo picks up. The
tempo and melody of the sinister section picks up until it almost completely stops.
Then there is a light background music, quiet and light it helps paint the image of
being numb to the world. The music is slow paced and light. Fading out of the scene
until there is almost no sound. Then the tempo and notes change again into a dark
and sinister sound. But this sound also contains noises from the city, and a dark
rumbling undertone that helps invoke foreshadowing. It helps you realize
something is going to change and the tension of the movie builds. The music is raw
and grating during this scene. The music is rough and doesnt have smooth notes or
sound. During the final and climactic scene, the music swells and builds. The notes
become higher and the music gets a more angelic quality to it. The sound of this
music is what gives the scene emphasis. It helps signify the importance, and
emphasize the event-taking place, as well as leave an impression on the viewer,
which could be the creators intention.
This piece of art is hard to compare to others in its category. This piece of art
has been selected for numerous festivals and awards for film and animation. This
piece of art is unique in the message it is trying to share; you dont normally see this
kind of story in animation.
This art is significant and I chose to write about it because of its symbolism.
The creator describes the short as the entire sequence is seen through this young
girls eyes. This girl struggles with a mental illness. The creator defines Caldera as
a glimpse into the world of psychosis and explores a world of ambiguous reality and
the nature of life and death. (Viera) This art is significant because it tries to expose
a world in which we dont understand or have to deal with. It tries to give you a
glimpse into what life is like with a mental illness. According to creator Evan Viera
In our differing understanding of reality, we blindly mandate his medication, assimilate
him to our marginalizing culture, and entirely misinterpret him for all he is worth.
Caldera aims to not only venerate my father, but all brilliant minds forged in the haunted
depths of psychosis. (Viera) In my opinion I believe the artist is present in the work. I
think the work is the artist trying to understand what his father saw.

Caldera is a unique piece of art that can either entertain someone, either by the images
and animation itself or by the plot and story behind it. The creator had intent for his
creation and hoped that his audience would receive it. In conclusion, this art clearly has
meaning and is significant because of its own unique story and animation.
Citations
Viera, Evan. "Caldera- WORK OF EVAN VIERA." Orchidanimation.com. N.p.,
n.d. Web. 29 Jan. 2014.

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