Isle Of Dogs
“In their set design and camerawork, their use of stop-motion, maps, and models, Wes Anderson’s films readily, even eagerly, concede the “miniature” quality of the worlds he builds.” - Michael Chabon
It is a truly wonderful feeling to find oneself invested in a movie before it comes out. This is most commonly down to an enticing teaser here and some clever marketing there, however, nothing in recent memory has come close to the levels of fever pitch we experienced when queueing to get through the doors of the ‘Isle Of Dogs’ exhibition a week before catching the real thing at our local multiplex.
We still don’t know whether Wes Anderson’s latest stop motion spectacular ‘Isle Of Dogs’ is actually any good, we’ve heard some glowing things; it is testament to his ability of creating compelling other worlds (and loveable, miniature, furry protagonists to fill them) that the exhibition has commanded queues around the block for Isle Of Dogs: The Exhibition’ all week in the build-up to the official UK release.
*EDIT - A reported 40,000 people came through the doors of the wonderful 180 The Strand building to admire the movie set models built in the heart of East London’s Docklands. Also, and we’re sure quite significantly, the temptation of ramen and sake in a life-size replica of the bar in the film was a significant magnet.
“Part of the thing of making a movie is what you learn from your research – what you discover – that you can then share. You end up changed when it’s all done because you had this experience with something new. I wanted language to play a role without it becoming an obstacle...” - Wes Anderson
The attention to detail of Anderson’s vision is always eye-watering and Isle Of Dogs is clearly no exception. The models are absolutely stunning. Built (and shot) in Three Mills Studios in East London, the exhibition only acted to further whet our appetite for the film proper.
Whether it’s a gang of wonderfully dressed animals dancing in the sewers or a pack of dogs on Trash Island, Anderson carries the torch for an *almost* long-lost form of filmmaking, where the grandest moments are outshone by the analog bones; those real ‘how on earth did they do that with stop motion?’ illusionary moments end up being the most celebrated by audiences…
“They also created toxic fumes and clouds using cotton wool, and to make the puddles they would wrap perplex with cling film. These are technique that Harrod says are age-old favourites in animation set design.” - HEKKTA
It’s all in the detail.
On the future of stop-motion filmmaking, speaking to Canon, Isle Of Dog’s Director Of Photography Tristan Oliver is feeling positive. So long as the fire is still burning in Wes Anderson’s belly, we feel positive too…
"I think it's as healthy as it's ever been at the moment. Aardman is still there, producing feature films. Laika [the animation studios behind Coraline, ParaNorman and The Boxtrolls] has come onto the scene, which is a great game-changer in terms of stop motion. It can run two movies at once, and I think it's made as many features in the last eight years as Aardman has made in the last 20 years – it's huge."
*UPDATE - We travelled to Barnet’s brilliant Everyman Cinema to catch the Isle Of Dogs movie shortly after visiting the exhibition. The film is a mesmerising watch from start-to-finish and signature WA.
Anderson clearly learning / taking a huge amount from his 2009 adaptation of Fantastic Mr Fox and extra-fine-tuning the edges to ensure his dogs tale has even more emotional and technical snap than his previous outing. We fell so in love with the universe that we grew obsessed with getting our hands on one of the figurines released in line with the movie (only 200 sets available across the globe). We took to eBay, on more than one occasion…
(we will not tell you how much we spent on our very own KING.)
King