The first train along the Shore Line East to Grand Central
Terminal. Burgers for lunch. Nothing to do in West London on a Saturday
morning.
On TikTok, people are romanticizing ordinary activities by
recording and editing them into videos that try to imitate the cinematic style
of Wes Anderson, an American filmmaker known for an eccentric style
characterized by symmetry, distinctive color palettes, and a bit of quirkiness.
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The short videos, often the products of meticulous editing,
have drawn tens of thousands of views each. In some cases, they’ve drawn
millions. Ava Williams, 26, a photographer from Brooklyn, made a TikTok video
of a train ride from Connecticut to New York this month. Since she posted it on
April 8, her early morning journey on the Shore Line East has been viewed more
than 12 million times.
Her homage to Anderson — featuring a deadpan stare into the
camera, then quick cuts of a ticket stub, her sneakers and other ordinary
objects — soon inspired others. Northeastern University shared a stroll through
its Boston campus, featuring saturated images of different buildings. The
Democratic Party even created a video of President Joe Biden at the White
House.
Anderson did not respond to a request for comment about the
new trend, but here is how to make your life into a Wes Anderson film — on
TikTok.
The dullest part of your day can be Wes Anderson-edThese videos often feature everyday events — commuting,
having lunch with a spouse or making a sandwich. But when edited into quick
shots with a dynamic instrumental soundtrack, even a day at work in a wood shop
suddenly looks almost as cinematic as Anderson’s “The Darjeeling Limited” or
“The Grand Budapest Hotel”.
When Williams started making her video of a 6:45am train
ride to New York, she said, she was tired and did not get to visit her family
for as long as she wanted.
“I didn’t want to end on a sour note,” Williams said of her
trip. Instead, as a fan of Anderson’s films, she said, she decided to pretend
to be in a Wes Anderson movie to make herself feel better.
Over the past couple of weeks, Williams said, it’s been
surprising and also heartening to see so many others make similar videos.
“Even the very normal things that we do are rewarding in
their own ways,” she added.
Wally Koval, author of the photograph book “Accidentally Wes
Anderson,” said that in making these videos, “people are finding this beauty in
the mundane”.
“You’re looking at your world through a slightly different
lens,” Koval said.
Start with a title sequence. Make it punchy
Like many of Anderson’s films, these TikTok videos almost
all start with a title sequence, often delivered in three or four quick cuts,
establishing where the subjects are, what they are doing and what time it is.
In Williams’ video, the title sequence is fast with pink
text on a lighter pink background.
“The first train”
“Along the Shoreline East”
“To Grand Central Terminal”
“6:45 AM.”
Do noy forget the music.
The instrumental music used in the trend is a track called
“Obituary” by Alexandre Desplat, a French composer, which was part of the
soundtrack to Anderson’s film “The French Dispatch”.
The clip of the track used in most of the TikTok videos
starts at about 1 minute and 10 seconds in.
Symmetrical framing and color are key
Koval’s book features remarkably symmetrical photos from
around the world, along with a foreword from Anderson.
“What is the Wes Anderson aesthetic?” Koval said. “The way
that I always define it is that there are certain elements of it that you can
put your finger on. There’s symmetry. There is a certain color palette.”
Still images from “Asteroid City,” Anderson’s forthcoming
film, for example, clearly depict a focus on light shades of blue and peach.
Williams said that, for her video, she made sure colors were
consistent. Adding a shot with red in it to video that already had a lot of
blue, for example, “wouldn’t really work,” she said.
“Paying attention to the color palette that you’re using
already naturally, and then accentuating that, will sort of push it to be more
Wes Anderson-y,” she said.
Deadpans and quirks are your best friends
Two features of Anderson’s films are deadpan faces and
quirks, as depicted in the opening scene of “The French Dispatch,” when Arthur
Howitzer Jr, a fictional news editor played by Bill Murray, fires someone and
then tells him not to cry.
Howitzer Jr. is stone-faced, looking straight ahead into the
camera. The camera then quickly pans to the words “No Crying” sketched above
the doorway in his office.
“As long as it’s deadpan, then you’re golden,”Williams said,
adding that characters in Anderson’s films often “act more in body language as
opposed to showcasing any real emotion.”
In Williams’ video, she first appears with a deadpan stare
directly at the camera, standing in front of the train. She then puts her train
ticket in a holder, pauses, and adjusts the ticket slightly to the right.
In another video, of a man who takes his wife to lunch,
there is a short clip of his wife trying to steal a French fry, before he
quickly swats her hand away.
“Those are the kind of elements that are tossed in out of
the blue, and ultimately create the Wes Anderson aesthetic,” Koval said. “You
know it when you see it.”
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