Video tech-Wes Anderson write up PDF

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This was a write about a film I worked on in a group project. It is a reflective essay....

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Film Link- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wZa7H8bxP78 -by Jay Humphreys

Our film was inspired by the style of Wes Anderson. Wes Anderson’s films have a very distinct and unique feel. His shots contain perfect symmetry, he uses whip pans, warm and vibrant colours and witty dialogue. We implemented this into our film by taking lots of time to set up the camera and to perfectly position the actors in the centre of the frame, with objects perfectly each side of them, to achieve the look of symmetry. There is also a scene in a graveyard, inspired by The Royal Tenenbaums (Wes Anderson, 2001), where the two main characters sit on a bench which we made central between two graves by moving the camera and framing the bench centrally. The whip pans were difficult to achieve and took several takes to get right. I was operating the camera was trying to get the opening frame and the closing frame to both be central, like in a Wes Anderson film. To achieve the colour palette Anderson uses we were influenced by The Grand Budapest Hotel (Wes Anderson, 2014) and the way the film overexaggerates the use of colour to create a glossy, dream like atmosphere. We mixed blue and red, found trees with yellow leaves and just tried to find the most attractive objects we could. Post-production was the main tool to used to attempt to achieve this look through colour grading. Colour grading took some time to perfect but watching lots of Anderson’s films really helped as there is a common them throughout of very bright, warm, vibrant, pastel colours that surround the sets of his films. We then did our best to follow this theme.

After finishing our film, we were able to then compare it to the filmmaker’s work. I think we were successful in recreating the shots of symmetry and the movement of the camera. The colour was a lot harder to achieve and while I do think it looks very similar to an Anderson film, I do think it does not feel as glossy or as dreamy as it should. This is due to where we shot and still needing some editing experience. I also think the dialogue was slightly rushed

and causes confusion in the narrative for the audience. I feel that once you watch our film it is pretty clear we are replicating Wes Anderson and his style through the techniques we used like characters being central in the frame, the use of whip pans and the colour. Overall, I think that the film holds up and meets the style and conventions of Wes Anderson’s filmmaking techniques.

During the shoot my main role was switching between cinematography and sound recording due to having a small set and two of the crew were acting. Every time we set up the camera it was my duty to check all the settings were right; making sure the frequency was at 50Hz, the frame rate was 25 and completing the ABB. After putting the actor in position, I then went ahead and changed the ISO and Aperture to capture the image clearly with zero noise. We were then ready to shoot the scene. We did shoot at 50 frames in one scene as we wanted to do a slow-motion clip of a character running, something that Anderson uses a lot. However, this scene was cut due to timing issues. When recording sound, I had to double check that the boom microphone was receiving the sound and then asked the camera operator where I could place the microphone without being in the frame or ruining the shot with shadows. However, after our first shoot we foolishly did not attach a microphone to the camera to sync up the audio in post-production, meaning we had to reshoot the scene and this time we were able to sync the audio up. The first shoot we were not very organised and slightly rushed everything. On the second shoot we learnt from our mistakes and were to get sound and know what we were doing and when, we had a plan. This resulted in much better footage and sound. It editing we then synced the audio up and began to piece the scenes together, cutting what didn’t work and was too long and then colour grading.

Originally, we were going to hire an actress for the film. We ended up posting the advert too late and not giving people enough notice to be able to take part, so some changes to the script had to be made. This has taught me that I need to be more organised next time. The main I learnt it has technical filmmaking really is. You need to know how to use the equipment and to make sure everything is running smoothly. We focused too much on the creative side and I realise for next time that the technical side is just as important, if not more. I think that this experience has been great for helping understand how a film set works, the technicality of it all, using cameras, editing and being able to overcome several problems to make the film work and to be successful. There were many issues like people not turning up, equipment having low battery, background noise being too loud, people walking into shot, roadworks where we wanted to film, continuity errors, losing files, having too much footage, too much dialogue, sound not being recorded and trying to stay perfectly in frame. All these problems have really made me realise how hard and demanding filmmaking is. I believe I am now prepared in future and will be more organised and planned for the next film shoot I take part in.

In conclusion, our film successfully captures the style of Wes Anderson’s films. His unique vision of symmetry, character and colour are felt heavily in our film. I have learnt to be more organised and to be prepared for any type of issue that could slow the project the down. It has been a very useful and important learning experience that will help me in the future.

Reference listThe Royal Tenenbaums. (2001). (film) Directed by W. Anderson. Buena Vista Pictures. The Grand Budapest Hotel. (2014). (film) Directed by W. Anderson. Fox Searchlight Pictures....