.
Wes Anderson is one of the most influential filmmakers of his generation. With storybook-like imagery, and highly stylized production design and cinematography he is the definition of an auteur and certainly one of my favourite filmmakers working today. His stories are as fun and interesting as his visual flair so it isn’t hard to see why he is nominated for an Academy Award this year alongside his Moonrise Kingdom co-writer, Roman Coppola for Best Original Screenplay.
While I feel I have a natural predisposition for visually bold filmmaking I’ve also fallen in love with Anderson’s aesthetic due to his wide variety of influences which uniformly affect his work. Peanuts, Orson Welles, Louis Malle, Jean-Luc Godard, Francois Truffaut, Martin Scorsese, Richard Lester, Mike Nichols, Hal Ashby, and of course, J.D. Salinger, as discussed in this great essay from The Museum of the Moving Image, penetrate his work. As a cinephile and pop culture junkie it is that kind of attention to detail in all of his films that make him stand out in the crowd. What fascinates me most I suppose is what Matt Zoller Seitz refers to as “material synecdoche—showcasing objects, locations, or articles of clothing that define whole personalities, relationships, or conflicts.” This alone cuts to the core of what production design is and why Anderson’s films are so well-designed despite being logistically ambitious and overtly in your face.
Some may not like his singular vision of a quirky universe none of us will ever know but thankfully that has never stopped him. In a cinematic landscape often overloaded with over-rated cookie-cutter films made to sedate a seemingly unaware public, Wes Anderson’s films are a welcome breath of fresh air in my books.
Without further ado, here is this months ‘Production Design Porn’:
.
BOTTLE ROCKET (1996)
.
Logline: Bottle Rocket focuses on a trio of friends and their elaborate plan to pull off a simple robbery and go on the run.
Production Designer: David Wasco | Art Director: Jerry Fleming
Set Decorator: Sandy Reynolds-Wasco
.
RUSHMORE (1998)
.
Logline: The king of Rushmore prep school is put on academic probation.
Production Designer: David Wasco | Art Director: Andrew Laws
Set Decorator: Sandy Reynolds-Wasco
.
THE ROYAL TENENBAUMS (2001)
.
Logline: An estranged family of former child prodigies reunites when one of their members announces he has a terminal illness.
Production Designer: David Wasco | Art Director: Carl Sprague
Set Decorator: Sandy Reynolds-Wasco
.
THE LIFE AQUATIC WITH STEVE ZISSOU (2004)
.
Logline: With a plan to exact revenge on a mythical shark that killed his partner, oceanographer Steve Zissou rallies a crew that includes his estranged wife, a journalist, and a man who may or may not be his son.
Production Designer: Mark Friedberg | Art Director: Stefano Maria Ortolani
Set Decorator: Gretchen Rau
.
THE DARJEELING LIMITED (2007)
.
Logline: One year after their father’s funeral, three brothers travel across India by train in an attempt to bond with one another.
Production Designer: Mark Friedberg | Art Director: Adam Stockhausen
Set Decorator: Suzanne Caplan Merwanji
.
FANTASTIC MR. FOX (2009)
.
Logline: An urbane fox cannot resist returning to his farm raiding ways and then must help his community survive the farmers’ retaliation.
Production Designer: Nelson Lowry | Art Director: Francesca Berlingieri Maxwell
.
MOOONRISE KINGDOM (2012)
.
Logline: A pair of young lovers flee their New England town, which causes a local search party to fan out and find them.
Production Designer: Adam Stockhausen | Art Director: Gerald Sullivan
Set Decorator: Kris Moran
.
Which of Wes Anderson’s films is your favourite?
.
Rose Lagace | @artdepartmental
.
Sources: The Museum of the Moving Image, Film Grab
