Hey guys, I’m here, let’s get technical.
I love Wes Anderson.
He just dropped the first trailer for his upcoming movie, Isle of Dogs, which comes out in 2018,
and it just is another reminder of how simply phenomenal he is as a filmmaker.
Why?
Maybe it’s because, in his movies, every single shot is a beautiful work of art that
makes me go like “woooooaaaaah,” or maybe it’s just his hair, but Wes Anderson really
is a hallmark of our time.
The first Wes Anderson film I watched was Moonrise Kingdom.
I was, like, 10 at the time, and I honestly do remember something being special about
that film.
I remember sitting there being captivated by what I saw, which is a truly magical feeling.
Wes Anderson has a very unique and noticeable style, and today, I wanna not only identify
what techniques Wes Anderson uses in his films, but also explore why is uses them and why
they work.
Let’s dive into Why Wes Anderson Films Look So Good.
Because Wes is the best.
I saw that in a YouTube comments sections, it was too good not to put in.
Let’s begin.
*MUSIC*
Wes Anderson is famous for his world defining colour pallets.
Colours that immediately jump out include
the yellows of Moonrise Kingdom, the blues and the red caps of The Life Aquatic,
the dark blues, greens, and reds of Rushmore, the browns and reds of Royal Tenenbaums, the
blues, reds, and beiges of The Darjeeling Limited, and the pinks and purples of The
Grand Budapest Hotel.
In 2015, Vaughn Vreeland wrote the phenomenal paper “Color Theory and Social Structure
in the Films of Wes Anderson.”
It’s published in Elon Journal of Undergraduate Research in Communications, and you can click
the i to read the full paper, but here’s the summary.
There’s this theory in film called auteur theory also known as auteurism.
Alexandre Astruc, 1950s French filmmaker, was the first practice this.
He called it, get ready for me to butcher this French “as le caméra-stylo,” which
basically means for the director to use the camera like the author would a pen; as a mean
of self-reflection.”
Wes Anderson himself is a big admirer of Jean-Luc Godard and François Truffaut, pioneers in
this theory.
Thus, it makes sense that, quote, “Anderson writes and directs films that directly pertain
to his experiences, thus utilizing color as an expression of society through his personal
lens.”
While each movie does have its distinctive colour pallet, the 2 colours that are most
popular throughout his entire filmography are red and yellow.
Vreeland argues that red represents the boyish dominance of fathers, looking to Steve Zissou,
Royal Tenenbaum, and Herman Blume as examples, and yellow represents optimism and peace,
looking towards the Khaki Scouts, the sky in The Fantastic Mr. Fox when the foxes are
happiest, and Steve Zissou’s submarine, one of the only things that brings him happiness
until he finds the yellow sea creature he had been looking for.
Ultimately, he concludes quote, “Anderson offers unto viewers a “childlike absorption
in the all-too-adult bittersweetness of the world,” neglecting reality and projecting
fantasy.
This notion directly correlates to the reasons why his darker screenplays are treated with
brilliant color palettes and humoristic undertones....
The use of color in his set design and his costuming is masterfully engineered to ingrain
itself into the minds of an audience and establish a certain mood for a film....
Anderson’s auteur style hinges on his experiences as a child.
Without disappointment in his own adolescence, he would have never been able to craft these
extravagant stories.”
This is why colour is so influential in Wes’s films.
They not only reflect the themes Wes wants to communicate in his art but also reflects
Wes himself.
*MUSIC*
Let’s move onto another one of Wes Anderson's most notable techniques, framing.
Quick definition: framing, when it comes to filmmaking, is the way the stuff in the shot
is arranged.
There’s two notable framing strategies that Wes and his long time Director of Photography
Robert Yeoman employ.
First, symmetry.
There’s an excellent Vimeo video looking at some the shots where Wes uses symmetry,
but finding symmetry in a Wes Anderson film is kinda like opening a book and trying to
find words.
If you’ve opened up a book before, finding words is not that hard.
If you haven’t opened a book before, uhh, would recommend checking them out, they’re
gr8 m8 r8 8/8.
Anywho, Wes Anderson constantly uses symmetry when framing his shots, he’s famous for
it, and it looks so good.
SO GOOD!
Why?
Our brains love symmetry.
Alan Lightman, physicist and author, has written Quote, “The answer [to why we love symmetry]
must be partly psychological.
I would claim that symmetry represents order, and we crave order in this strange universe
we find ourselves in.
The search for symmetry, and the emotional pleasure we derive when we find it, must help
us make sense of the world around us, just as we find satisfaction in the repetition
of the seasons and the reliability of friendships....
Symmetry is simplicity.
Symmetry is elegance.”
The second framing strategy: the rule of thirds.
Whenever he’s not shooting symmetrically, Wes likely shooting in this, utilizing something
called the Rule of Thirds.
Fairly self-explanatory, but basically, the rule of thirds is when you divide the frame
into thirds *gestures duh* and position things accordingly. Get it? It's the rule of thirds and you divide things into...
Using those types of framing, he employs a wide variety of shots, like tracking shots,
wide shots, slow motion shots, whips, and this, which some people think is a bird's
eye view shot, but it’s not, it’s a POV or point of view shot, there’s a difference,
literally just look at the definitions.
Sorry, folks, that really salts my apples.
It’s important to note that these shots by themselves aren’t particularly Wes Anderson-y, uhh, Wes Andersonian? Yea, that sounds right. These shots themselves aren't particularly Wes Andersonian,
it’s not like Wes Anderson is the only director ever to use wide shots, but these shots combined
with his framing is what’s unique.
As for what inspired him to frame his shots like this, it’s really his own personal
taste.
When asked about this in an interview with CinemaBlend, quote “that’s really the
photography that I like.
And it’s not even the photography I like, it’s the photography I like to make.
Lately I’ve been thinking about the best analogy for it.
To me it’s sort of like handwriting.
I’ve sort of developed my own handwriting and with each movie I want to make a different
setting or world for the story, but, at the same time, as much as I feel like I’m doing
something completely different in terms of the world, I don’t want to force myself
to change my handwriting.”
By the way, Symmetry and the Rule of Thirds can also be found all over the new Isle of
Dogs trailer.
Stop-motion really is an ideal medium when it comes to framing your shots because you
truly have complete control over how everything is arranged.
A matter of fact, let’s talk about that.
*MUSIC*
>> CLONE: Uhh, Alex, you know you have a video to make?
>> ALEX: I’m watching the new Isle of Dogs trailer.
>> CLONE: Ok, while Alex watched the Isle of Dogs trailer for literally the 20th time, let's go to Alex from PlayTheMind tell us more about stop-motion.
While he’s on, we’ll think of a good joke relating to how both of our names are “Alex.”
>> PLAYTHEMIND: Hey Alex!
You're talking about Wes Anderson, right?Well, let me tell you, that is one director who loves stop motion animation.
His 2009 feature film “Fantastic Mr. Fox” was his first stop motion film, and now, 9
years laters, he’s making another stop-motion film, “Isle of Dogs.”
This video, right now, is shot in 29 frames per second, which means that 29 frames, 29
individual still images are shown every second.
What's mind blowing is that these 29 still frames are shown so quickly in succession that they give the illusion of motion, which makes this a video.
A lot of videos on YouTube are shot between 24 and 30 frames per second, and stuff like
live sports and The Hobbit are shot in 48-60 frames per second.
However, Fantastic Mr. Fox was shot on 12 frames per second.
Why is it so low?
Wes Anderson really wanted people to notice and absorb the stop-motion medium.
Clearly, Wes Anderson loves stop motion, as he elaborated on in this interview.
>> INTERVIEWER: Why did stop-motion appeal to you as a way to make a film?
>> WES: Well, I was always interested in stop motion, I just like the handmade feeling,
or, it is handmade, and I also always liked stop motion that has a lot of texture in it.
I think when it’s texture you sense that you’re looking at miniatures, and there’s
something sorta magical about that too me.
>> ALEX: Thanks, me!
Get it?
>> CLONE: No, I got it, it just wasn’t that good.
>> ALEX: Oh, ok.
If you want to learn more about movie soundtracks, check out the video I made with Alex. Click that i!
Knowing Wes Anderson’s love for stop-motion, it just makes everyone more excited for Isle
of Dogs.
*MUSIC*
It’s important to understand the people Wes Anderson usually works with.
Adrian Brody is in 3 Wes Anderson Films, so is Willem Dafoe, Jeff Goldblum, Anjelica Huston,
Harvey Keitel, Edward Norton, Tilda Swinton, and Luke Wilson.
Jason Schwartzman is involved in 6, so is Owen Wilson, his college roommate and long-time
friend, and Bill Murray is in 8, all of Wes Anderson’s films except his very first,
Bottle Rocket.
But it’s not just the people you see on screen.
Robert Yeoman is the Director of Cinematography of 6 Wes Anderson films, Alexandre Desplat
is the Music Director of 4, Milena Canonero is the Costume Designer for 3, and Adam Stockhausen
is the production designer for 3.
He talked about why he does this in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter.
Quote, “I like having some continuity.
I sort of have some unusual methods of working that have developed -- you know, that we sort
of stumbled into over the years that I like, and we all are kind of in sync with them,
and, you know, I like having a reunion of a lot of cast members on each film.
It’s also nice to bring in some new voices.
But there’s something kind of more free about having friends on a movie together.”
Not to mention, when filming, all of the actors lives together because Wes likes to build
a sense of community between everyone in order to create more of a bond between actors so
the scenes seem more real.
And it does definitely come across.
You know, I’ve always loved Wes Anderson, and researching, writing, and making this
just made me appreciate and respect his genius so much more.
If you listen to Wes Anderson in interviews, and try, to your best ability, to get a sense
of how he’s like, you’ll see that he approached everything with a special childlike fascination
and imagination.
No wonder his films appealed to 10-year-old me and still amaze me to this day.
Here’s to Isle of Dogs, and many more.
Thanks for watching, DFTBA, and explore on.
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