I recently watched Petite Maman, which I must stress at the beginning I absolutely adored, and a shot near the beginning of Nelly feeding her Mother made me consider the different rhythms and timings available in animation and their application in live-action.
It's a beautiful and caring image and ultimately the physicality of the girls, especially as they begin to interact, serves the film well but I can easily imagine a much more precise and snappier version of the shot enabled by an adherence to the rhythms of animation. This is espiecially true with Sciamma's allusion's to Miyazaki during the press of the movie. Obviously the reasons for these difference in rhythm are self-evident but, beyond more overtly stylised examples, the adoption of these rhythms can be seen in live-action. And example of this is in The French Dispatch.
Of course Anderson is coming of two animated features so the intricacy he's bringing is well learned. I can't say definitively a quicker shot in Petite Maman would be better for the movie but it did make me reflect on my own instincts. Animation is a big influence on me and I think the potential of its specific rhythms will influence how I operate, at least in non-dialog scenes. There's still a lot to learn about how to achieve it though!
I've got a couple more stray thoughts about the films;
- Though its physical appearances are brief, the way Anerson has rendered Kansas, the orginal home of the magazine, really stuck with me. It's this sort of collection of structures sprouting out of a never-ending sea of corn.
- Jeffrey Wright's segment is certainly my favourite - including it's kinetic own animated sequence! - and the relationship between him and Stephen Park is so affecting and well observed.It's made all the more potent by Wright's "I couldn't agree less," there is so much of audience and what is common experience in it.
- Finally, coming back to Petite Maman, the way leaf-cast shadows are used is incredibly pretty.
The French Dispatch of the Liberty, Kansas Evening Sun, 2021 - Wes Anderson
Petite Maman, 2021 - Céline Sciamma
Now I'm going to be on to Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, the only Miyazaki film I have yet to properly watch.