Short-form video platforms like YouTube Shorts, Instagram, Snapchat, and TikTok keep content short, simple, and easily consumable for audiences.
Thanks to this, content creators need to get creative to get their posts to become viral, along with attracting audiences and keeping them glued to their content.
While there are certainly worse ways to do it, there are ways to create viral content and attract audiences without putting oneself in danger, like the viral Wes Anderson trend.
What Is The Wes Anderson Trend?
The Wes Andersen trend is a relatively young short-form video format trending in short-form video platforms, particularly TikTok. The format, according to The Conversation, somewhat parodies the film director's style of directing productions of quick-cutting shots moving between carefully organized close-ups of objects related to the video's subject.
These shots are similar to the ones Anderson employed for a number of his films, such as "The French Dispatch," "The Budapest Hotel," and "Moonrise Kingdom."
Unlike many trends, the Wes Anderson trend began with a content creator by the name of Ava Williams, who posted a video of her train journey from Connecticut to New York in the film director's style.
According to Rolling Stone's conversation with Williams, her 24-second-long video included nine shots of the train interior and closeups of her shoes, her notebook, and her ticket. It has a score from Alexandre Desplat's "Obituary," a soundtrack featured in "The French Dispatch."
Josh Rimmey, a self-proclaimed "nerd" for anything Anderson, described Williams' video as "like looking at a painting and feeling sucked into it."
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He also mentioned that Anderson's format and signature aesthetic is easy enough to replicate on smartphones and editing apps, making it prime real estate for content creators trying something new for their posts.
Replicating The Wes Anderson Format
While many Wes Anderson fans could easily replicate the film director's shots and aesthetic, those who haven't watched his films would have little to no idea how to do so.
Thankfully, you don't have to watch many of his films to get at least an idea of how to do it if pressed for time. All you have to do is mind some key factors:
- Camera
- Framing
- Color
- Music
- Text
According to Lifestyle Asia and Bustle's interviews with various content creators, those looking to replicate Anderson's moves should keep in mind what's called "flat space camera moves" - the camera can pan, tilt, and zoom into something, but MUST remain stationary, preferably on a tripod. Meanwhile, the framing must be symmetric, meaning everything must be equally distributed in the video's framing for it to replicate Anderson's style.
As for color, look for as many pastels as possible - Anderson loves pastel colors and uses a limited color palette. Thankfully, color is an easy aspect to edit into post-recording, though you may need the technical know-how to do so.
Last but not least, the music. While "Obituary" is a non-negotiable when it comes to background music, you may want to experiment with other Anderson-adjacent or similar soundtracks to make your video unique from others trying to do the same.
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