Wes Anderson is a well-known American screenwriter and film director whose distinctive style will be copied on TikTok in April and May 2023. How good an artist is is always shown by how often he is copied. Anderson has always been revered, currently also by young people who show their respect in the form of short videos on the video platform TikTok.
In April 2023, Internet users recorded short films that have since gained cult status. Several short films experimenting with Anderson’s typical style are also circulating on YouTube. Within a few weeks, their number has exceeded the million mark. The TikTok and YouTube films try to reproduce the characteristics of Anderson’s films in their own way. They succeed more or less well, but they almost always hit one point: the quiet irony that resonates in Wes Anderson’s films.
Filmmaker Wes Anderson’s style conquers TikTok
Back in 2021, when Andersen’s film „French Dispatch“ was shown at the Cannes Film Festival, a photo featuring actors:ing Tilda Swinton, Bill Murray and Timothée Chalamet became an Internet meme. The Internet corporate phenomenon 2023 is a not really explicable recreation or continuation of this event. No one can escape the remarkable aesthetic of Wes Anderson’s films. The films of users:inside, which are accompanied by the music of Alexander Desplat, attract particularly much attention in the spring of 2023. These are posted online under the motto „You better not act like you’re in a Wes Anderson Movie when …“ („Better you not act like you’re in a Wes Andersen movie when …“).
The music magazine „Rolling Stone“ also dealt with the Anderson trend in detail and declared Ava Williams as its originator. Many other accounts have since „jumped on the bandwagon.“ There are even instructions on how to best realize the Wes Anderson style. For a long time now, you can also find films on the net in which typical Anderson characters have been realized with the help of AI.
What are the distinguishing features of Wes Anderson’s films?
Andersen’s films have an individual signature, clear themes and very specific stylistic features. One of them is the pastel tones that Anderson prefers. (One of his most famous films is „Grand Budapest Hotel“).
You can recognize the Texas filmmaker’s signature from just one shot. His films are not only visually distinctive, they are also peppered with numerous allusions to famous novels, films and records. They seem like dollhouses come to life, enchanting, lovingly crafted down to the smallest detail.
Another important design feature is symmetry. People as well as objects are always shown in symmetrical constellations. The interior of the film is meticulously selected and arranged, and the characters often appear somewhat quirky. They all have a fine sense of humor. Like hardly any other contemporary director, Wes Anderson succeeds in making people of different generations laugh with his films.
Who is Wes Anderson? Short biography
Anderson was born with a love for film. His father already worked in advertising. Already as a child, Wes, together with his brothers and friends, made films with his father’s Super-8 camera.
During his studies (philosophy), he met Owen Wilson, with whom he is still close friends and who has starred in all of his films to date. Shortly after finishing his studies, Anderson shot the SW short film „Bottle Rocket“, which earned him enough money to make his first 90-minute film in color. Since then, Anderson has shot many more films, is extremely prolific.
His commercials are also exceptional and worthy of awards. Most of them feature well-known Hollywood actors. Three times Andersen’s scripts were nominated for the Oscar, he himself once as best director and one of his films also as best film. Wes Andersons always strives to create something new and not to repeat himself in his productions. Style and details are more important to him than story and characters.