Wes Anderson’s number one skill, ahead of even writing, directing, and dressing like the boy prince of Preciouswoodshire, is production design. Even his worst movies (*cough* Darjeeling Limited! *cough, cough*) tend to have a unifying sense of visual design. This succinct supercut (it’s only a minute long) is dedicated to one of the most oft-repeated tenets of Andersonian composition, the center-framed, ceiling-down, above shot. It’s a pleasure to watch, and helps explain why I can’t help but love Wes Anderson, even at his twee-est, most ascot-y ponciness. I imagine a Wes Anderson/Quentin Tarantino collaboration would involve some characters looking down into a trunk, followed by an annotated above shot of them carefully placing bodies into it.
I only hope that one day, there’s enough material for a Shirtless-Bill-Murray-holding-an-axe-and-a-bottle-of-wine supercut.
[Supercut from Vimeo via The Daily What]
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Wes Anderson has a patch on his field jacket with a skull wearing an army helmet that says “LIFE FROM ABOVE”
Is it my imagination or is Bill Murray wearing a thong under his pajamas?
Please, who doesn’t imagine Bill Murray wearing a thong under his pajamas?
When the guys and I get together for an Wes Anderson marathon we call it “Wessin’.”
Partly because we’re watching Wes Anderson films, but mostly because we’re oiling our holes.
No, Wes Anderson and Quentin Tarantino would enter a death match over creative differences*.
*differences over which foreign 1970s music should play as a character gets brutally murdered
If only Wes Anderson’s movies were as good as the trailers for his movies. Unfortunately they are always just the good bits from the trailers surrounded by hipster navel gazing. I suppose people who mistake being odd for having talent need someone to look up though…
Anderson is a hack piece of shit and you’re a fucking clown.
Weird, I couldn’t find Wes Anderson’s name on the credits for set design. Oh wait, because Hollywood director’s don’t do their own set design. Which is why Kris Moran was hired, because he is a set designer. Your blog is going downhill, sir.
I can’t tell if you’re being cute or not, but Wes Anderson has had at least three different production designers in his career and even more set designers, and all his movies have a similar feel, and similarly neat composition. Therefore I credit Wes Anderson for it, him being able to tell the rest of the creative department what to do and all. Also, when you say “Kris Moran was hired,” what film were referring to? You do realize this supercut was of a bunch of different Wes Anderson movies, right? Kris Moran only worked on Royal Tenenbaums, Life Aquatic, and Darjeeling Limited. And I imagine it was generally Wes Anderson and the DP telling him how a shot was going to be framed, not the other way around.
I was referring to his newest film in reference to Kris Moran, and no I don’t watch the supercuts bc I hate reruns. Having an idea in your head is not the same as physically making that happen. Without Yeoman and any of the other 100 or more skilled professionals on his Hollywood funded sets, his movies would still look like Bottle Rocket and no one would care. Just credit the professionals actually in charge of making the awesomeness occur, as it is unlikely Wes Anderson had anything to do with actually constructing the shots outside of making two opposing L’s with his hands and blankly describing what he wanted. Besides, his films are just cut and paste at this point, I have a hard time believing anyone working in any of these positions ever wonders what the shots are expected to look like. Unless you WANT to come off as a film school undergrad, imagining a set where the director runs around doing everything themselves and the other names that scroll by are just for show. In that case, keep up the good work!!!
Cool, lodge a complaint about something you didn’t watch. And yes, every time I compliment a filmmaker on his output from now on I’ll be sure to list 300 people responsible for creating each and every shot so I don’t look like such an amateur.
“it is unlikely Wes Anderson had anything to do with actually constructing the shots outside of making two opposing L’s with his hands and blankly describing what he wanted.”
First, how the fuck do you know that? This is an honest question, because if you have actual knowledge on the subject, THAT would be a helpful comment. Just point to the spot on the doll where Wes Anderson hurt you.