I didn't like Wes Anderson at all until this movie. The stageyness of his directing of live actors just felt so contrived, I couldn't enjoy it at all. I thought the animation medium brought out everything good and none of the bad in his directing style.
There was a premiere event for the movie here in San Francisco and the art director was there. We had fun getting some beers afterward. He told a few interesting stories about creating sets in ways that aren't usually done for stop motion animation. For example. A scene with one of the young foxes seen from below used forced perspective (something you will see in set design for creatively made stop motion animation, like Nightmare Before Christmas), except it also used a set with ceiling at an angle that was not conducive to the puppet armatures. I think it had to do with the way armatures are usually tied down to a floor plane that has hidden pegs or magnets that keep them anchored so they don't slide around from frame to frame.
Apparently Wes had his ideas of how to make the medium fit his vision, not the other way around... good for his movie, while possibly awkward for working with experienced artists used to certain methods. I had an impression that he was not easy to get along with as a director and it may have caused conflicts, but I can't confirm. Such is the nature of auteur driven film making. When it succeeds, it looks original and brilliant- when it flops, it looks like indulgence and vanity. Some train wreck movies are hard to watch but super interesting that way. (I still have to see the director's cut of Heaven's Gate.)
I didn't like Wes Anderson at all until this movie. The stageyness of his directing of live actors just felt so contrived, I couldn't enjoy it at all. I thought the animation medium brought out everything good and none of the bad in his directing style.
There was a premiere event for the movie here in San Francisco and the art director was there. We had fun getting some beers afterward. He told a few interesting stories about creating sets in ways that aren't usually done for stop motion animation. For example. A scene with one of the young foxes seen from below used forced perspective (something you will see in set design for creatively made stop motion animation, like Nightmare Before Christmas), except it also used a set with ceiling at an angle that was not conducive to the puppet armatures. I think it had to do with the way armatures are usually tied down to a floor plane that has hidden pegs or magnets that keep them anchored so they don't slide around from frame to frame.
Apparently Wes had his ideas of how to make the medium fit his vision, not the other way around... good for his movie, while possibly awkward for working with experienced artists used to certain methods. I had an impression that he was not easy to get along with as a director and it may have caused conflicts, but I can't confirm. Such is the nature of auteur driven film making. When it succeeds, it looks original and brilliant- when it flops, it looks like indulgence and vanity. Some train wreck movies are hard to watch but super interesting that way. (I still have to see the director's cut of Heaven's Gate.)