Wes Anderson is the son of Melver and Texas Anne anderson who divorced when he was a young child, an event he describes as the most crucial event of him and his (2) brothers and his growing up. This event has obviously inspired a lot of his scripts and narrative as more often than not they are a statement of men looking for approval from a parent figure often in middle/upper class society. People say you should write about what you know about and that he does.
He was educated at Westchester highschool and then St. John’s a private prep school in Houston, Texas which later provided the inspiration for Rushmore (1998) and in Rushmore he actually uses names of people he was at school with and bases them on characters in the film.
Owen wilson actually was at his uni whilst wes was studying philsophy and they made short films together the first being Bottle Rocket which went to sundance and then they got funding to do a feature length version. It wasn’t a commercial hit and more of a cult audience including Scorsese. Anderson and owen ended up writing andersons first three films together, and I think it’s very apparent because they are quite humourous, Then he colloabarated with Roman coppola for the like of The Darjeeling Limited and Moonrise Kingdom and these have a different underlying tone, and finally his latest collobarations have been with a chap called Hugo Guiness, for Fantastic Mr Fox and The grand Budapest Hotel. For my essay I’m disapproving the auteur theory and lots of people call wes anderson an auteur I think he has a very signature style but the true authors are the collobarations and the fact he always counts on the same actors(Jason Schwartzmann is Roman Coppola’s Cousin) I think his style has developed with working in these collaboaration and it means he isn’t the sole author beause the actors but there own twist on the lines he gives them and it always comes together like a big beautiful orchestra playing in harmony.
One of Wes Anderson biggest stamps on the film Moonrise Kingdom are his Rostrum Shots, which are birds eye view lingers on objects, letters, other things of importance. They add to the eccentric theme of the movie by focusing on little snippets of the two young lovers lives. This film is also a classic example of the way in which Wes Anderson is able to create a ambience/atmosphere with costumes and vintage cars and sets and really dress the screen for another lifetime. It really is a beautiful example of this.
I’m just going to show you the opening sequence of a short film for Prada called Castello Calvacanti (also starring Jason Schwartzmann) because the panning is simply beautiful and it’s mirrored going back to the action. This is a signature camera take for anderson, and he does it in a lot of films. It’s just so smooth and is like a piece of art work by itself, it leaves me mesmerized. Another signature camera style he has is all his films except for Rushmore end on a slow motion shot and these are also beautiful. Another feature I would like to mention is the lighting, in this short it is very saturated and flat and emphasises the colour of the piece. I think this is a skill that has improved throughout his filmography and much like the lighting in Fantastic Mr Fox it is simply perfect for the tone here.
Prada candy is another short (or rather series of shorts) commissioned to Wes Anderson to do. I think in these they are a bit too short to get his full signature on but I think it works best for the company because they ooze fun. I think this is because he hasn’t written the story himself he’s only directed this series. But I still think they work very well and those flawless pans are still there. I think this project will have been a lot of fun and will have helped break up the stress of The Grand Budapest hotel as he made these halfway through filming that.
Michelangelo Antonioni had the landscape specifically painted in blues and red and created yellow smoke to reinforce the feeling of Death, desolation and isolation. The only colour is on the woman who is stuck in this industrial site (green coat). He actually painted the trees a blue grey and all the barrells and steel work in red. It’s simply amazing to watch knowing how much work has gone into it. As far as cinematography goes this is breaking boundaries and won four award with two nominations for an italian film this is really good in 1964. To me this is the closest I’ve found to a wes anderson esque director. I love this film so much it’s narrative a flow of pace is a lot darker though but techniques and precision like with Wes are still there though. I think Wes’ films are more successful because when you read about what went on off screen it’s clear that there was a lot of friction between the actors and antonioi where as with wes he makes making the film so much fun with his latest film The Grand Budapest hotel he actually rented out a little hotel and cook with an editing room so the actors could live in the environment and he was never hard on ralph fiennes although he made them do lots of takes to get the right capture it sound like they had so much fun whilst working on it. I think that’s what sets him apart.
A short trailer for Wes’ Latest work and there’s so much improvement since short Hotel Chavelier(with Natalie Portman2007) and The royal Tennenbaums. The colours are so vivid, the lines are just getting more eccentric and I am just so excited to go see this film at the cinema.
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