Blog Assignment Six: Storyboard Imitation

This post is a storyboarding exercise based on the "By way of the Green Line Bus..." scene from The Royal Tenenbaums, referenced in an earlier post on this blog.

Storyboard

Essay

                As per usual, in the aforementioned scene, director Wes Anderson followed all of the rules of framing and composition perfectly, which is after all a hallmark of his style.

Both sequences in this scene follow the 180 degree rule, though they work around it differently. The first scene, wherein Richie takes the picture with the fans, follows the rule simply by dollying down the 180 degree line that is established when the fan first talks to Richie. Even when other character enter the frame, Anderson continues to dolly down the original line. In the second sequence, wherein the bus arrives the camera runs on Richie’s left throughout, starting in front of him to the left and cutting to a left-side OTS.

This scene is also a perfect example of the Rule of Thirds as the first four shots are all divided into meticulously measured vertical thirds. The ground below the characters makes up the lower third, the characters themselves make up the middle third, and the space above the actors (divided nicely with the “Royal Arctic Lines” sign) makes up the upper third. The final shot changes the arrangement into horizontal thirds, in order to show the disruption Margot’s arrival makes in Richie’s demeanor. Richie’s shoulder marks the edge of the right third and the bus ends at the edge of the left and middle thirds.

Finally, Anderson follows the 30 degree rule in shots four and five (shots 1-3 are filmed in one take and thus are exempt) by cutting from a shot which would be at 30 degrees of Richie waiting to the over the shoulder shot which would fall around 170 degrees, well exceeding the “greater than 30 degrees” stipulation of the aforementioned rule.

Wes Anderson is critically acclaimed for his impeccable framing of shots, with every shot either being perfectly symmetrical or perfectly arranged into thirds. His perfectly executed cinematography is often used to make the ridiculous plotlines of his films have a more natural feeling. The Royal Tenenbaums is the perfect example of this technique, in which Anderson creates a beautiful world where everything is visually impeccable, but every character is absurdly flawed.