Released in 2006, Flutter is a Canadian short film by Howie Shia about a boy and girl who, to make their own dreams come true, leave each other behind.
Tropes used in Flutter include:
- Animesque: At first glance, it's subtle but there are some anime influences in the way the characters move and drawn. At one point, the short won the Open Entries Grand Prize at the Tokyo Anime Awards because of this.
- Flashback: Most of the short takes place when the Boy and Girl are kids.
- Generic Graffiti: In a way, with the way the title is styled in the opening scene. Later, in the short, the girl does abstract art in her urban dwellings.
- Girlish Pigtails: The Girl, as a kid wears these. When we do briefly see her as a adult (see page image), she wears her hair loosely.
- Mime and Music-Only Cartoon: Besides the sound effects and a few bits of dialogue, there's no speaking. Taking it further, when the girl gets chastised about her graffiti on the wall, she spray paints an exclamation point.
- Mythical Motifs: The Boy has paper wings on his shoes, a reference to the Greek god, Hermes, who has wings on his feet.
- No Name Given: Neither the Boy or Girl are named in the short, nor the credits.
- Virtual Soundtrack: A non-fanfiction case happens with the Boy's headphones playing "Flutter (Only Delinquents Fall In Love)" and it tends to start up especially when he's running with his headphones on.