Short Film Analysis - Lifted

The short film Lifted is an animated short played before the Pixar film Ratatouille. The film is a comedy and follows an alien taking its abduction test.

The film starts off at a cottage on a plains. There is silence and you can here crickets chirping until all of a sudden a white light blasts through the window and you see a UFO. This sudden change quickly sets up the premise of the film as an alien abduction is an idea shown throughout many stories and things in pop culture. As the human gets lifted and carried towards the window slowly, the non-diegetic background music is has a heavy slow drum beat with lots of strings. The piece builds up suspense as the man is carried by getting faster, louder and higher but is suddenly cut off when the man misses the window.

The film then cuts to the UFO where a rare weedy looking alien is struggling and failing to abduct the man. The instructor is huge and the complete opposite of the little alien which instantly asserts his dominance. His obvious note taking makes the student intimidated. The intimidation also comes from the comedically large control panel with no marks as well as the large empty room the exam is being taken in.

There is no dialogue at all in the film so everything has to be shown obviously. It makes it easier as the situation is a parody of driving tests which is something that people are very familiar with. People are able to relate to the alien despite it being such an unrealistic concept.