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🎬 THE WES ANDERSON STYLE EXPLAINED 🎬

The Wes Anderson style is hard to miss. From his cinematography, production design, color, and music, there’s just no mistaking Wes Anderson movies. His creative and stylistic fingerprints can be found in his work from top to bottom — and this is what makes him a true auteur.

Story
It's known that Anderson crafts his stories from the perspectives of young adults. But the other thing Anderson does so well is building ensembles of flawed misfits. They're also walking contradictions. The children act like adults. And the adults act like children. If you want to build a story like Anderson, write flawed characters with selfish desires and make them walking contradictions.

Production Design
The production design in Wes Anderson films is undeniably unique. He does this primarily through costumes and set design, which are meant to act as representations of either the characters or the story. Take the costumes in The Royal Tenenbaums. Chas's life has been chaotic. His father tormented him as a boy, his wife was killed in a fire, he is running from his past. So, Anderson dresses him and his sons in jogging suits. Anderson knows it's the clothes that make the man. Anderson also makes sure that his settings are also characters. In The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, the set dressing is robust, implies a rich history, and helps to build mood and tone. Anderson knows that Steve's boat is a character. So, he shows you the layout, the personality, and its flaws.

Color
Anderson builds his worlds around color. The browns and yellows of Moonrise Kingdom, or the blues and reds of The Life Aquatic. His use of pastel shades supports his charming and vintage sensibilities. Color can effectively build mood and tone, but color can also be used as a narrative device, like the colors in The Grand Budapest Hotel. In the early years when the hotel was in its heyday, notice the color choices: bright red walls, rich purples, soft and inviting pinks. Now look at the colors when it's past its prime: burnt oranges, drab greens, wood tones. The change in color presents the status of the hotel. As the prestige faded, so did the colors.

Cinematography
Wes Anderson is known for his symmetrical framing. It's a constant throughout his works. The symmetry is a nice calling card, but it's just one aspect of Anderson's style. A large part of what makes a Wes Anderson shot is how he frames for mise-en-scène, where every element in the frame is carefully considered and functions to depict space, time period, theme, plot, and character. As a result, he uses composition, blocking, and camera movement to create a complex ballet. It is also important to notice the change in aspect ratio throughout The Grand Budapest Hotel. In the a980's intro, it's in 1.85; in the 1960's, it's an anamorphic 2.4; and in 1930's, it's the academy 1.37. Anderson uses his aspect ratios to suggest the time period and mood of the story.

Music
The music in Wes Anderson's films are often a mixture of folk and euro rock. This can include original scores, but also songs from his childhood. The music choices are all about reinforcing the energy of the scenes. Take the music from The Life Aquatic. The film uses a combination of an original score composed by Mark Mothersbaugh, but also David Bowie, with covers by Seu Jorge. During the shootout, he leverages the adrenaline kick of "Search and Destroy" by Iggy and the Stooges, but during a particularly sad moment, he uses "The Way I Feel Inside" by The Zombies.
The Wes Anderson Style Explained © Studio Binder

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