Drama - Wes Anderson

Wes Anderson - Director

Key Films

The Royal Tenenbaums (2001)

The Life Aquatic (2004)

The Darjeeling Limited (2007)

Wes Anderson is a major influence on the style of our film we are hoping to achieve. As visual arts director I am mainly interested in his use of props and costumes which create an amazing nostalgic feel of the mid/late 70’s era. This is something that Lucy (Director) enthusiastically shares with me so I am extremely looking forward to hunting for props and costumes in charity shops that resemble this nostalgic feeling we are trying to acquire, which I believe will definitely make the look of our film extremely attractive for audiences to view.

The use of dialogue in Wes Anderson film’s use is also perfect for the emotion we are going to achieve with a style of deadpan, cold, blunt humour.

Wes Anderson’s use of camera framing is also a major influence for our drama as every frame is greatly considered and given much thought. The outcome of this makes every frame look like a professional aesthetically appealing photograph.

Another major influence from the films of Wes Anderson is the camera movement. Especially during scenes where characters are transferring dialogue to one another, this is because most of his shots break out of the generic camera work that audiences usually expect when a conversation is happening in films. Instead of the two characters being in shot at the same time or the shot cutting from one character to the other, Wes Anderson instead introduces a fresh take on this. Usually one character will be on screen for their lines then there will be a smooth pan to the other character for their lines, the camera will usually pan back and forth while each character are delivering their lines.

Another camera technique I like that Anderson uses is that the camera will usually stay static just using one frame where the actor will walk in and out of shot while delivering lines. Another interesting camera technique that Anderson uses (especially more so in The Life Aquatic and the Darjeeling Limited) is a whip pan to quickly reveal what characters are talking about or looking at, which usually reveals an odd, unexpected and sometime humorous occurrence of events that are happening.

These camera techniques and the use of a nostalgic mise en scene to represent a retro 70’s vibe will create what I believe to be a fresh, unconventional and rhythmic style to our film that will grab our audience’s attention for all the right reasons and keep them hooked.