Wes Anderson

Wes Anderson (Inspired Piece)

I was tasked to work in a group to produce a short piece, inspired by the director of pastels and still shots: Wes Anderson.

Characters

Master Mind: Alex

The Hacker: Lewis

Muscle Man: Silas

Getaway Driver (Taxi): Curtis

Act 1

• The story opens to an unknown man sat in front of a book.

• The characters are seen around each other in an establishing shot standing around a table with some sort of plan laid out across it.

• Each character is introduced with their own music and activities catered to each skillset.

• The Hacker is seen at a computer working on hacking stuff.

• The Muscle man is seen doing exercise.

• The Mastermind is seen reading books trying to expand his knowledge.

• The mastermind goes through his plan with his crew.

His fingers flick the switch on the radio as the sound begins to blast out, he collapses into his arm chair, his face obscured only the back of his head shown. As the audio begins to fade so does the scene, the camera tilts up off a table, revealing multiple people standing around it. As we see the man in the middle (The mastermind) discuss the plan to the other members it focuses on each of them, l first we get a closeup of the Hacker’s face, before it flashes to show a short montage of his skillset. It happens again to the Muscle man, showing him lifting weights before finally showing the mastermind, flashing to show him reading with a pile of books. As it flashes back to the present we see what this “plan” is. As the camera tilts down to the table we see that they’re planning a heist. 

Act 2

• The crew go to the museum being driven by a driver (taxi driver unbeknownst to the situation).

• The crew break into the museum going to the twirl.

• The muscle man will knock out the security guard.

• The hacker breaks the alarm system.

• The mastermind Takes the twirl.

It was complete silence, the drive to the museum happened in complete silence, the only sound being the hum of the engine and the angered mutters of the driver as they failed to park. The sudden silence of the engine stopping caused an awkward silence, the unbeknownst driver's eyes darting back and forth in the mirror between the crew. They get out of the car, the hacker making a snarky comment as the driver got out of the car as well, reminding them they weren’t needed for this museum “visit” and to just wait there. 

They walk up to the almost daunting door, the security being far more advanced than they expected but the hacker isn’t concerned. With an inflated ego he struts up to the door and pulls something out of his pocket, after not even 3 seconds the door swings open. The other crew members would’ve been flabbergasted if they weren’t so professional, the hacker spins round to face them and flashes his malware encrypted key card, almost posing with it before regaining his composure and walking in. It was uncanny, the museum was seemingly completely empty however they knew better. If their plans were correct this place would be crawling with security so they had to be careful, the stairwells were out of the question due to the activity of the guards there so they’d have no choice to use the lift.

The lift ride felt endless, it may have just been their nerves but it felt like it was going on for hours, an endless anticipation of the “ding” of them reaching their floor. It felt like it would never come but of course it did. The Mastermind confidently walks out of the lift, the others following behind. Their footsteps echoey throughout the corridor, just as they turn the corner the mastermind suddenly stops, signalling with a flat hand for the others to do the same. He turns his head to face the muscle man and nods, the muscle man (with a blank expression) gives a knowing nod back, casually walking past him and round the corner.

Act 3

• The crew leave the museum and call for a driver to come pick them up.

• The mastermind goes to the WC.

• The rest of the crew fight about who gets what.

• The crew fight and kill each other.

• The mastermind comes back on screen and is confused as to what has happened.

• A detective appears to arrest the mastermind.

• The mastermind is in jail.

• The mastermind is released from jail as it was part of his plan.

• The mastermind is seen with the twirl.

• Book closes the end.

Shot Types (Inspiration)

Act 1:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CafgqMv_JK8 (16.10.2025).

Wide angle shot of man turning on a radio (dark room, only the shadows are appearing in frame).

Establish shot, medium shot of the master mind talking, zooming out (backwards) to see the full crew.

• Taxi driver: close up at the front of the window, going to slam his hand on the horn of the steering wheel.

• Muscle Man: (fast) working out in a gym tracking shot wrapping around him from legs to arms.

• The Hacker: (fast) sat at a computer (zooming out of the computer, turning to the hackers face).

• Master Mind:  fast zoom out from a book, showing the library.

Production Dairy

My initial role was shot list writer and over seeing the script progression. At the start of the production, we were faced with creative differences, as we all wanted to have different outcomes and different ways to film, during the production. This was due to not having a clear baseline of the production, as one of the production crew decided to make a script without any input. We all came around this by sitting down and going through the script shot by shot, line by line. This helped the production to get back on track as we all new the base of the script and what we all wanted. Me and another production crew member wanted to add a old film effect filter, which is pre-installed on the our cameras. This would help the production time keeping, when editing, as I would not have to look for a film look or mess around with colour grading, when we could set up perfect lighting and camera settings. Another problem we faced was the lighting in act 1, where I wanted different lighting to represent different characters. I chose green for the hacker, as green has connotations for lines of codes. I chose red/orange for the mastermind, as them two colours combine to make a rich blood orange, which could simbolise power in the mastermind. I then chose a blue tint for the muscle man to show a cold lighting, which has connotations for a gym essence. I did this by placing a coloured clear filter in front of a light with no softbox, as it needed to be brighter. I would then add a secondary whiter light to brighten the subject more, as we couldn't see the first subjects face (muscle man).

When filming act 1, I wanted to have a tracking shot of the 'Muscle Man' doing push ups. However, their were limited space, as we used the photography studio on the grey background. I came to a arrangement by using a circler motion starting with the feet  moving upwards to his face (handheld). This stopped the frame of the camera going out on the grey background. However, it created a vertical Issus, so instead we used a chair on wheels to zoom into his face and outwards, while moving the chair backwards. I would then leave half of the production crew to film the rest of act 1, while we got the start of act 2 sorted. We wanted to follow West Anderson 'show no violence' type of shots by showing the Muscle Man about to punch then cut to the security guard on the floor, knocked out. I would gather the crew together and review the footage. The start of act 2 footage wasn't enough of West Anderson style, which we decided to reshoot the following day.

When filming act 2 the next day, I was in charged of the camera, capturing the story. We decided as a group, since the other camera man wasn't in, due to illness, that we would use the tripod on wheels, as I found the wheels in the photography studio, as I initially wanted the establish shot of the group outdoor wheeling out but instead we used the grey screen, as West Anderson doesn't establish the film straight away it jumps into a pre short film state, then into the a upbeat music, dramatic scene.

Editing LOG

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=efzeF3g6Q20&list=RDeT4jgYQqE7I&index=20 (22.10.2025).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pO3qoDRJWlo (22.10.2025).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ves2SnmMc34 (22.10.2025).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=imLYQhmrWU0 (22.10.2025).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e28LSkIitqg (22.10.2025).

When editing the footage together, I first added the correct aspect ratio of 16:9 size. This is seen more often in West Anderson's newer films. I wanted this ratio, as I wanted to convey a cinematic 'on the run' type of feel. I found this idea from 'Fantastic Mr. Fox', which showed the a Mr. Fox on the run trying to steal from local farms. This also led me to inspiring my music to blast straight into the 'on the run' scene. During the speaking scenes in the Museum, I used background ambient Museum noise to fill/enhance the awkwardness of this piece, as West Anderson is known for his loud awkward silences with strong sound effects, like footsteps, which I used a the beguning of my piece to tease the viewer into what is about to happen in the film. Wes Anderson uses this in 'The Phoenician Scheme', bouncing between the dead body, who isn't dead and future alive body to remind the viewers and keep their attention span alive. 

• Starting with the first shot, I used a close up, which would then tilt upwards, whilst zooming out to establish the location and hint to what is going to happen in the film. 

I used a mix photographs in this piece, at the beginning to have. subtle hint to what happen to the crew after the heist. I added a camera sound effect and matched the shots to the beat of the main sound track, which is 'Pretty Woman'. The reason for the photographs is to hint to a prison mug shot, while showing who the characters are, which I would use text to show their role e.g., The Hacker. I used 'Pretty Woman' for my soundtrack, as Anderson uses music to break up the action with the non action part of the film, almost like a hint to the viewers. I would then lower the levels of the soundtrack depending on the scene. I would do this by going to effects control and manually turning down or up the decibels. You can hear this in scenes like the car shots, where I underscore it under the dialogue where it is not distracting but also adds to the performance. Following this, I would use the audio from my camera to add the car engine, turning on and off, so I didn't have to dub over the scene with dialogue and find a matching sound for the car and to keep the lips sync perfectly. 

• I then established the charters using a short video, turning into a photograph. I used 'dip to white' to act as the camera flashes. I matched the music to the camera flashes to help me add a camera flash audio file (.mp3). I did this as I wanted to hint the ending after the film that they got caught and are serving a prison sentence, as they would get mug shots.

•  I didn't add the photographs for the mastermind, as he is the star of the film and the brains behind the operation. I also did not add his photographs as the Mastermind does not go to prison because he is the smartest one of the group.

When colour correcting, I knew I wanted a orange tint with a desaturated look. As Anderson likes to have a escape reality feel with his films. This could be to Anderson seeing his work crew as family since he uses the same people on his productions. I wanted to this feel to add comedy, as it makes it less realistic, while not making it cartoon like. I did this by using the Lumetri colour panel on the basic colour correction and sliding the satiation down and upping the contrast to form a cinematic feel as well for the action. I also had to go back and add an adjustment layer to my timeline, as 2 shots were not films in the right aspect ratio. I fixed this by adding a crop effect from the effects panel and turning on the comparison view in the Lumetri panel and adjusting the top and bottom size with another shot. The colour filter we used in production helped me with the colour grading, as I JUST had to desaturate the photographs/film shots.

Finally, at the end of the piece, I would trim (razor tool) the end of the last scene to make it look like the Mastermind left the museum by walking off camera, leaving a empty shelf, where the twirl was displayed. Once trimmed I could copy and paste the last trimmed parted to match up with the ending. This would then create room for credits, that you see at the end of a film. I did this by using texts (I used 'Futura' font, as West Anderson is known for this font in his films) and key framing the start and end of the film till the text was off the screen. I would of done this but decided against it as I couldn't figure it out and would look off. Instead I would use the bottom right and top left to show the credits by one fading in and the other fading out, which I feel suits my film better as I have less credits to share, whereas big film studios have hundreds of crew members/actors to share. 

Final Evaluation

During this production, I have developed patience, when working with creative difference. This is important as there will be someone who you don't get along with or match their ideas. I have also developed my camera skills, as I got to work behind the scenes, as I was co-writer and director for this production. Following this has allowed me to try new camera shots and strengthen techniques for future projects, when writing another script to add camera shots as we write and discuss/plan the production. I feel that my main areas for improvement is to be more experimental with premiere pro, as I feel I played safe with what I know, especially with basic colour correction. I want to try using the creative panel with the shadow and highlight tint, as they are colour wheels making more creative. I also feel I need to improve my work on my voice. What I mean by this is that I need to stand strong when discussing my ideas with the rest of production crew, instead on following them like a lost puppy. 

The camera skills that I developed more of, during this production, will help with my chosen career as I want to work in the writing crew of the production, producing the script and camera shots, before they go off the director for him to oversee, as the director has final say on the shot types. My writing skills increased, when working on this production, as I had the role of reviewing the final script and putting into a script format, using writer duet and adjusting the language used in the script. This works with my chosen career path, this allows me to get a feel for a real production writing session. 

I feel that I need to improve my writing skills further. I will do this by learning the script writing terminology and frame work, such as 'EXE/INT'. I also feel I need to grow my confidence and become more assertive with my production crew to share my thoughts and generate a script I am proud of at the end of the day. I could work on this by putting myself forward more often by planning the next production on my account and be the writer first. Overall, I feel that this production lacked some teamwork skills but your going to get creative differences in every production somehow. However, I would like to keep working with different crew in each production I am apart of in the future. 

(FIRST DRAFT) Film/Timeline

(FINAL) Film/Timeline