Written by: Beijing News reporter Zhou Huixiaowan Image source: Film party provided and network New Media Editor: Xu Qiaoyang
Every frame of a movie can be used as wallpaper
The stop-motion animation film Isle of Dogs, released on Friday, became the best animated film of the year and is likely to be one of the best animations of the whole year of 2018, with director Wes Anderson paying tribute to Japanese director Akira Kurosawa and Japanese films. Since its release on Friday, the film has grossed a total of 25 million at the box office, and it seems that Chinese audiences still lack the patience to appreciate too beautiful works, although it is the norm in the market that box office results are difficult to match with the quality of the film, but the incomparably exquisite production and aesthetic creativity of "Isle of Dogs" are still worth learning from Chinese films.
Through a semi-fictional Japanese background, a Japanese comic book-like plot structure, and themes such as nature, heroism, redemption, technology, and honor, Inuyasha Island naturally flows out of the film, and it is a tribute to the famous Japanese film directors (From Yasujiro Otsu to Akira Kurosawa to Kiyoshun Suzuki) and echoes the monster movies of Japan in the 1950s and 1960s and the film frenzy they caused. Anderson has mentioned the worship of Akira Kurosawa many times, and he has told the outside world that this film that comprehensively refers to Japanese filmmakers and Japanese culture, of which Akira Kurosawa is undoubtedly the most important influencing factor. It is undoubtedly difficult to quantify the influence of Akira Kurosawa on film, his film style includes a variety of genres: Bushido, film noir, Shakespeare and melodrama, etc. In "Isle of Dogs", it can be seen that Anderson mainly refers to Akira Kurosawa's contemporary urban films, and can find the shadows of "Wild Dogs", "Drunken Angels", "Heaven and Hell" and "Sweet Dreams of Evil Men". These vibrant films bring crime and corruption to life, each transcending the dark side of the modern world with a sincere and human character.
In addition, the image of Mayor Kobayashi in "Isle of Dogs" was created based on the face of Masayuki Sen in "Sweet Dreams of a Bad Man".
Mayor Kobayashi vs. Xeraya.
Some of the scenes in "Isle of Dogs" I think are similar to Akira Kurosawa's films, but until these scenes are filmed, I realized that I did not deliberately imitate them, but got inspiration from his films, because when shooting, we think about what will happen in the next second, what will happen to the characters, and it can be said that Akira Kurosawa is affecting us more or less all the time. (Dictation: Anderson)
The master printmakers of the Edo period had a profound influence on the color of the picture
Katsushika Hokusai surfs the Kanagawa River
Another inspiration for Isle of Dogs came from the 19th-century and Edo period printmakers: Hiroshige Utagawa and Katsushika Hokusai, whose prominence of color and lines had a profound influence on European Impressionism. Their "ukiyo-e" artworks aim to capture their fleeting atmosphere of joy around natural landscapes, long-distance travel, plants and animals, geisha and Kabuki performers. It is worth mentioning that before the filming of this film, Anderson went to the Victoria and Albert Museum in London several times to collect a wide range of collections, and as a result, he collected a large number of woodblock printmaking images and storyboard artists, and then subtly integrated the Japanese folk style into the physical handicraft style of stop-motion animation.
Utagawa Hiroshige's ukiyo-e
Beijing is deeply in the style of ukiyo-e painting
On April 12, 2015, I received the script for the film from Vesna, along with a series of reference images and videos of Japanese prints and pictures of dogs, as well as a picture of a dog statue in Japan. In the video, three drummers violently beat the taiko drum, and the drum beat rhythm sets off the atmosphere. (Dictation: Isle of Dogs animation editor Edward Bochi)
The influence of close-up films on live-action production
Hondo Inoshiro's 1954 Godzilla
Isle of Dogs created 240 compelling scenes: from the city hall dome painted in red, to the monochromatic science laboratory, to the garbage island full of gray-and-white ruins and its garbage transport cable car in the air — a huge project that even the waves, clouds, smoke, fire, poisonous smoke, sweat and tears that make up the film must be made into physical objects.
In addition to Akira Kurosawa, art director Paul Hadro also referenced the close-up films and monster films directed by Hondo Inoshiro (a friend of Akira Kurosawa), who directed the original Godzilla, Raton, Mothra, and Frankenstein's Monster: Sanda vs. Gaira, for example, the film has robot dogs and flying machines, which are actually shadows of the Earth Defense Force, and they also refer to Inoshiro's lesser-known films, such as "Demon Star Gorath" and "Monster Gila".
I'm very immersed in Japanese movies, which is a regular reference point. Early in the project, Wes talked to Weiss about how to make the theme of the film echo Akira Kurosawa's film, so we specifically referred to "The Lazy Sleeper" and "Heaven and Hell", and I also used some of the ideas from "Drunken Angel". (Dictation: Art Direction: Paul Harold)
Absorb the special "sense of tranquility" of Japanese animation
Hayao Miyazaki's Totoro
In addition to Akira Kurosawa, Anderson also mentioned Miyazaki's influence on "Isle of Dogs", as early as the preparation of "The Great Fox Daddy", he went to the Ghibli Museum, not only watched Miyazaki's works but also collected all the DVDs, conducted in-depth research on Miyazaki's works, "His films have their own ecological views, the most important thing is to be very clever in the proper presentation of nature, the protection of nature is always the theme of the film." A major theme of "Isle of Dogs" is also the interpretation of the peaceful coexistence of man and dogs, and Anderson draws a special "sense of tranquility" from Miyazaki's films, revealing a deep and restrained style from the color to the soundtrack.
Hayao Miyazaki is a character we talk about all the time along the way to making movies, and from an American point of view, he is an international film master who has had a very big impact on our generation. I've always thought it would be fitting that the story of this movie takes place in Japan, plus the level of animation in Japan itself is very strong. Someone asked me why I didn't shoot in Japan, in fact, as far as the film form of stop-motion animation is concerned, there are very few countries or regions in the world that do professional, so I thought about the feelings of Japanese film, but once again chose to shoot in the Uk. (Dictation: Wes Anderson)
Isle of Dogs is Anderson's ninth film and his second stop-motion animation film. This is a great adventure set in the context of the future of Japan, which is related to the canine crisis and anti-dog sports. In the film, in the distant "Crazy Garbage City" called Garbage Island, a group of aggressive exile dogs gathered to survive are surprised to find that a human pilot who has been forced to land on the island will lead them on a fate-changing journey. In fact, the birth of "Isle of Dogs" is mainly due to the legacy of Akira Kurosawa and the history of stop-motion animation, "Akira Kurosawa and his small team of screenwriters jointly created the story and constructed the script." This approach is also common in Italian cinema: the films are created in a screenwriting room. Similar to the way TV shows are created. We also try our own way on this basis. The story was created from a fantastic inspiration at the beginning to a more concrete and shocking "Tokisaki City", a garbage island full of garbage, and strange and interesting characters including dogs and humans, "We wanted to make a futuristic story." We want a bunch of leading dogs who are all leaders. We want them to live on a garbage island. The setting in Japan is entirely due to Japanese movies. We loved Japan and wanted to be inspired by Japanese movies, so we ended up merging this movie about dogs with a Japanese movie. ”
After deciding to make Isle of Dogs into a stop-motion animation film, Anderson knew what awaited him, and he needed to have patience, skill, and a management process, all of which came from his experience in making The Amazing Fox Daddy. That being said, every element in the film is different. The world he designed and constructed in his films is not based on original material, but is larger and more complex, even involving different colors with less saturation and photography styles. The production of "Isle of Dogs" lasted two years, and the production team had more than 670 people, including a puppet production department of more than 70 people and an animation department of 38 people, Anderson said, "We did not set it up, nor did we design it to shoot again." We shoot in the design process, and we design in the production process. For example, there are 50 different scenes, different scenes require different animators to do different character prototypes, such as dolls, we have prepared a scene, we will shoot this scene; but some scenes, such as what kind of scenes to shoot in a year, are not set in advance. ”
Dialogue: Wes Anderson
Isle of Dogs takes place in Japan, but more like the United States
Beijing News: Where is the inspiration for this movie?
Wes Anderson: In fact, the origin of the film is from Europe, where there have been many small groups of people or minorities who have been expelled and exiled, and in this case the majority is against the minority, and it is easier for humans to be manipulated and used to achieve the political intentions of certain people. In fact, the whole process of making the film I felt more like the United States, because a lot of what happened in the United States is a bit like our story. That is to say, the film is set in Japan, but more like the United States.
Beijing News: Why do you want to take a dog as the protagonist?
Wes Anderson: The nature of dogs is very simple: they are loyal and they need love and companionship, which is the best trait for anyone. If you use dogs to do animation, using this species to expose human characteristics is easier to reflect human characteristics than in real life. In addition, my old partners Jensen Schwartzman and Roman Coppola both wanted to make a movie with dogs abandoned in the garbage, plus we had a common hobby of Japanese movies, especially Akira Kurosawa, so we realized in the fantasy stage that the story should take place in Japan.
Beijing News: Red is used as a representative color of the city and the municipal government in the movie, how did this concept come about?
Wes Anderson: Because red is more eye-catching, it is used to make it visually stand out. Most of the island's hues are white and gray, the sky in the film is not pure blue, most of which are a mixture of gray and white and dark tones; red is more special in color spectrum and can also highlight human rights. In fact, we see different scenes and pictures, all of which are designed and produced with the production process, and there are constantly new discoveries and applications in this process.
Beijing News: Some commentators think that the traces of Japanese culture in this movie are very heavy, what do you think it means to you?
Wes Anderson: I would think the origin of this story is set in Japan, because I like it. In the process of production, I also did a lot of preparation, research, every space in the film, every model, etc., these inspirations need to be thoroughly understood and studied, which is a process of continuous improvement of the knowledge system. After making the film, I also learned more about Japanese culture. The interesting thing for me is that no matter what the film is about, what the theme and background, I will explore it, and these research, experience accumulation process is of interest to me. Making a movie is like raising a child, and for what I say, this movie is like my child.