Wes Anderson

Biography
Wesley Wales Anderson is an American film director most known for Bottle Rocket (1996), Rushmore (1998), and the animated feature Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009). Anderson was born in Houston,Texas on May 1st, 1969 to his dad Melver Anderson and his mom, Texas Ann Burroughs. He has two brothers, Mel and Eric. Their parents divorced when he was eight and eventually found a passion for storytelling. He loved to read and often made short films on a Super 8mm camera starring his brothers.

In the late 1980s, Anderson enrolled at the University of Texas at Austin. There he met actor and fellow writing partner, Owen Wilson. The two met in a playwriting class but found common interests in movies. Wilson and Anderson eventually became roommates and wrote the first feature together, Bottle Rocket.

Aesthetic Strategies
Within the last 6 of his feature films, any movie directed by Wes Anderson has become quickly recognizable. He uses a cocktail of ingredients that contribute to his quirky style that become easily noticeable with his work. Anderson uses an array of different techniques that he has built over his years of making films. His style has adapted into a carefully orchestrated placement of on set props, setting and various elements of mise-en-scène. Anderson believes that his style is so noticeable based on how he films sequences. Anderson's style of crafting a movie is said to be "direct directing". Every placement of props, camera, and blocking have been thought about beforehand and contribute to the entire look of the film. Anderson is very intentional about camera placement and the interaction between actors and the camera. The blocking, or the movement of characters, also contribute to the specific style Anderson excels at.

Color Palette
One of the most notable aesthetic strategies Anderson uses in his films in color. His films Fantastic Mr. Fox and The Grand Budapest Hotel have an extensive use of color that add to the entire look of the film. Fantastic Mr. Fox is a story about a family man who's profession is a bandit, getting revenge on some farmers who threaten to take the land that belongs to his family and friends. This movie is set in the backwoods during the fall season. Because of the setting, there are many warm tones that make up the film. Many uses of browns and oranges that help portray the fall feeling. The Grand Budapest Hotel is an amazing story of a young boy who catches the attention of an esteemed hotel manager and helps him though his journey. This film has a vast color palette and does a fine job of displaying them. Anderson uses pink, purple and orange extensively in this film. Anderson and his team are masters at the use color palettes and how they interact with audiences. See more at Yellow in Film

Set Design
Anderson's acute attention to detail has earned him much fame and a unique way of story telling. Most of his films consist of a carefully crafted world in which the action takes place. Anderson and his team do an exhaustive amount of pre-production work to ensure that the world in which the story is set in is believable. Anderson, being a lover of film history, uses the miniature effect and forced perspective to achieve out of this world shots. Throwback to the early days of filmmaking, Georges Méliès’ used this same technique in his film A Trip to the Moon. The use of mini sets became popular as the technology for CGI had not been invented yet, but allowed filmmakers to control every aspect of what the set looked like.

The use of props is what pushes the look of films over the line. The attention to every detail contributes to the reality of the fictional world and makes it seem tangible. Anderson has worked closely with Adam Stockhausen as his production designer. Stockhausen has worked with other notable names such as Steven Spielberg and Steve McQueen. He's received four nominations for the Academy Award for Best Production Design, winning for The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014).

Unique Camera Techniques
Even though Wes Anderson is quoted on not having a style, he seems to have very specific shots that he continues to use over and over again. His director of photography, Robert Yeoman, is an integral part and has the responsibility in of the overall look of his films. In many of his films, he uses an overhead shot to introduce a segment within his film. These shots can be as simple as just a title card or a very ornate array of props carefully placed. The composition is very simple. The subject being filmed is placed directly underneath the camera and is filmed parallel to the camera. These shots are quirky but help to pinpoint the aesthetic strategy of Anderson's films. These shots are often referred as "birds eye" shots.

Yeoman and Anderson are also very fond of filming on flat planes. This means while the shot may be very complex in terms of what is within the frame, the camera placement is perpendicular to the action. In other words, the actor is placed right in front of the camera while the set is behind them. This is an effective way of shooting a story as it allows for each shot to seem as if it is moving in a circle. Once one shot is done, they edit the final film to make it seem as if the next shot is 90, 180, or 270 degrees from the shot just before. These shots are often referred to as "tableau shots." These shots make it easy for the audience to get a sense of the space within the film and the space in which actors are moving in. Tableau shots are further strengthened by a static camera and central framing that creates symmetry physically and drama.

Another highly stylized shot that Anderson loves to do is using symmetry to his advantage. Since tableau shots are shot with the actor or actress placed in the center this immediately creates symmetry within the shot. If there are two actors within a scene, the actors will just split center to create the symmetry. Symmetry and balance with the shots are imperative to create the style of Wes Anderson. A balanced composition is a compositional choice in art in which the frame feels balanced. This means that while the shot may not be symmetrical based on placement of characters, what is happening in the shot may juxtapose in a way that gives a sense of equality. For example, something may be happening in the foreground while something equally important may be happening in the background. Not necessarily symmetrical but balanced.

Awards and Reception
Early in 2023, there was a trend that came across social media giant,Tik Tok. This trend had users film their everyday life as if they were in a Wes Anderson movie. The recreation videos featured subjects and settings that were very symmetrical along with the score of Grand Budapest Hotel. Many jumped on the train and it quickly rose to popularity as numerous videos featured many different activities that seem mundane but in the style of Wes Anderson.