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The Blue Umbrella is a different kind of magic. Kulsoom Middleton talks to animation supervisor Ross Stevenson and supervising TD Chris Burrows

Some people would say that the only thing as good as a new Pixar movie is the short animation thats screened before it. These shorts are not only superb examples of short-form storytelling, but they also offer Pixar a way to test new technologies and launch new directors.

This is all certainly true of The Blue Umbrella, the short accompanying Monsters University, and proves that Pixar still has the ability to tell charming stories with only a couple of everyday objects. The short tells a simple love story between a blue and a red umbrella in a magical city that comes alive with expressive faces when it begins to rain. It's the brainchild of technical artist Saschka Unseld, who has worked in Pixars camera and staging department since 2008.

To create the photo-realistic animation style, Pixar had to develop new special effects techniques. "The photographic look of the film was a substantial departure for Pixar," says supervising technical director Chris Burrows. "To accomplish it, we were fortunate enough to use some new illumination techniques developed within RenderMan for Monsters University." (Find out more about Pixars new lighting and rendering techniques in Monsters University on page 34.)

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