HOMEWORK due TR June 11:

Maude Lebowski: What do you do for recreation?
The Dude: Oh, the usual. I bowl. Drive around. The occasional acid flashback.

I desired to describe the introduction to my all-time favorite: The Big Lebowski - but I cannot find the introduction online or my DVD copy at this moment - so I pulled out another classic - Wes Anderson's 2001 The Royal Tenenbaums.

First, let me state that this description is heavily biased and based on the fact that I am simply in love with Wes Anderson movies and have watched Rushmore, The Royal Tenenbaums and Bottle Rocket about a million times.

The best way to describe Wes Anderson pictures - I think - is with this word: meticulous. Starting one of his movies is like walking into a very neat and orderly room, one where every little thing fits neatly into its place. Each little thing in that room may be a little tarnished or seemingly broken in a distinct way, but nevertheless it fits nice and neatly into the little Wes Anderson room that he has created.

The Royal Tenenbaums begins with symphonic music and the classic Touchstone Pictures introduction (blue font and lightning bolt). The first image is an over head [c.u.] shot of a light wood table with a date stamper on the right side frame. Immediately, a pair of hands places a book down flat on the table with the green cover upside down, another set of hands reaches up and turns the book right side up so that we (the viewer) can see the book is titled The Royal Tenenbaums. The second set of hands opens the book, takes out a card and stamps the book (with what looks like "November 7th, 2001") and the card (library style) and then takes the second card with their right hand and immediately it cuts to the title sequence of the film, a tiled makeup of that same green book cover. As soon as the new shot begins so too does Mark Mothersbaugh's (Wes Anderson's music man) "111 Archer Avenue"



[The above is NOT the introduction to the film - rather the music to which I am referring.]

The music works perfectly with the visuals, which change right on beat - finally we reach the perfect title credits of the movie. All pink, all caps "THE ROYAL TENENBAUMS" about a white notecard on an ornate plate that reads: "Cordially request the pleasure of your company at home . . .". The title has been imprinted on the film but it leads directly into what is written on the card. The color scheme matches that of the book you first saw, which is pink, green and white. There are two candlesticks in this shot, one on each side of the note card, and a cute little white mouse with pink ears and a pink tail to the left of the ornate plate. All of this is before a green curtain (the backdrop). The next seen is the "PROLOGUE" and begins as though you had just opened up the book - Alec Baldwin begins reading the book aloud as a voice over and the film begins.

It is difficult to describe just how spot on Wes Anderson makes everything appear. Each shot is so meticulous and precise, the actors in this particular film seem to have been written perfectly for their roles as well. This film is not aiming for action/suspense/romance cliche audiences - this film is ALL Wes Anderson and you either love it or (I assume) hate it.

I happen to be a movie fanatic and even if I did not love all the actors and the story line and the scenery of Wes Anderson's films, I would simply marvel at his perfectionism. I love when filmmakers take their work this seriously, and yet make hilarious material. He lets no detail go lightly, and yet his film is not so serious that you don't want to quote it or laugh at it all the way through. It is a rare feat to be able to accomplish what he does with this film.

To teach film/editing techniques, I would go through exactly what I just described above and have a lesson where we sit and try and get to the bottom of how Wes Anderson did what he did. Perhaps I would then be able to let them each try and shoot a 5 or 10 second film with a video camera and edit it using iMovie (or another film editing type of software) and try and create that same attention to detail - which not only would allow them to see how difficult it is - but to appreciate such detail in the future when they see it.

I posted my commercial analysis on Web Vista - I could not post it here - so here is The Link - and you just have to look under "week one discussion" to find it!

Small description: I analyzed a commercial about a "dumb blonde" in a library. She asks for a take-out order - thinking that the library is a fast food restaurant. The point is - at the end they show a brand new Mercedes - she is dumb and pretty, where a Mercedes is very pretty and very smart. Kind of creative, I thought - it utilizes and perpetuates stereotypes which is sadly the commercial world norm.