How Wes Anderson uses miniatures

Рет қаралды 1,892,509

11 ай бұрын

In order to go big, sometimes filmmakers go small.
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Miniatures in movies are way more common than you may realize, and one of the most stylish filmmakers keeping them alive is Wes Anderson. In this video we spoke to Simon Weisse, prop maker and model marker for some of Wes Anderson’s recent projects, like The Grand Budapest Hotel, The French Dispatch, and Asteroid City.
Older movies, like 1977’s Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope, had no choice but to use miniatures to make their worlds feel real. But even in the modern day of CGI, filmmakers are still using minis - just look at projects like The Mandalorian, Blade Runner 2049, Harry Potter, and The Dark Knight series. In those movies, miniatures are used for expansive sets that establish the world of a film, otherworldly vehicles like spaceships, and more.
But fully fabricating a 1/18th scale hotel is just the beginning. Then filmmakers have to film it in a way where it looks huge, or, at least, life-size - using the movie magic of cameras, lighting, and forced perspective.
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Пікірлер: 409

@charlieg2262 11 ай бұрын

Weird that everyone in the comments is only complimenting Wes Anderson. Simon Weisse is clearly a master at what he does!

@granturismoKL 11 ай бұрын

Same here! Scrolling through the comments, hardly anyone mentioned him

@unworthy.potato 11 ай бұрын

Well, the topic of the video is Wes Anderson, so it’s gonna make sense for all the comments to be on Wes anderson

@SPNMEDIA 11 ай бұрын

Agree, I was fortunate enough to see the french dispatch minature set with Simon and his whole team are true artists

@blindedeathh 11 ай бұрын

the video should have just been about simon

@iflick7235 10 ай бұрын

Frankly, I watched about forty minutes of this and it bombed. Characters attempting to be eccentric appeared simply dull. I happened to have been born in the 50's. Even with poetic license, people didn't behave that way. I was bored with it and shut it down.

@ohshamelessgravity 11 ай бұрын

Simon Weisse is a genius and a master at what he does. Wes Anderson on the other hand is equally smart for actually wanting people to recognize that he's using miniatures for his films and at the same time they're conveying a sense of realism. I salute them both!

@linksauce_1 11 ай бұрын

I always can spot the miniatures in his films, but I’m never bothered by it like I am with most other movies. It’s that Wes Anderson Magic™

@jamesmcinnis208 10 ай бұрын

"actually"

@ICharlyl 11 ай бұрын

Ive always felt like wes Anderson's movies are just pure passion, movies filmed, acted and edited with pure joy and love for cinema.

@petschitt2252 10 ай бұрын

That is the very reason I love his films. ❤🎥

@sweetbabyrodney 6 ай бұрын

Like you know that he put his absolute best in his movies!

@las1147 11 ай бұрын

These miniatures and practical effects is what makes the Lord of the Rings movies hold up so well 20 years later

@elizabethpatitsas565 11 ай бұрын

Also why 2001: A Space Odyssey still holds up 55 years later

@LizziesLukas 11 ай бұрын

but the Hobbit series are gonna feel outdated much sooner

@gasdive 11 ай бұрын

I was surprised that you could make a film about large scale miniatures and not mention Weta.

@alexpotiomkin 11 ай бұрын

I was waiting for this commentary. LOTR was groundbreaking in every special and visual effect technique available, including miniatures. The camera movements are fantastic!

@TreeStump-and-CheeseKetchupIT 11 ай бұрын

There's the opposite effect in LOTR too! Some shots used an oversized ring to bring out the details.

@nigelcarren 11 ай бұрын

My name is Nigel Carren and I am a professional miniature medieval armour maker. I typically working in 1/6th and 1/12th scale and each hand-forged steel knight is typically comprised of 73 separate parts. WE enjoyed this video immensely thank you! Best wishes from me and all the mice in the workshop. ⚒️🐭🐁🐭🐁

@christinaapplegate5281 3 ай бұрын

Yes it’s so wonderful to see a resurgence in the art form overall. And your hobby and passion can truly become a career if that’s your goal. I just enjoy making my Miniature houses, rooms, and all the things that go inside. And now that I’m no longer working I enjoy the company and knowledge of fellow miniaturists at my local miniature society. ❤

@5MadMovieMakers 10 ай бұрын

Great video about the pros and cons of a unique filming method!

@nerd26373 11 ай бұрын

We Anderson is a brilliant filmmaker with a vast color palette. His films are willing to go the extra mile. The cinematographies and stories all work together seamlessly to create masterpieces onscreen.

@mareecuree 11 ай бұрын

i love love miniatures. it excites me to see the whole process on how these artists put all those tiny little details to make every piece look and feel realistic.

@RapidActionAnimations 10 ай бұрын

It’s unfortunate that miniatures aren’t used as often as they once were as they are an amazing art form. Practical effects just made films so much better.

@wxlurker 11 ай бұрын

I absolutely love the craftsmanship that goes into making miniatures and props.

@ojtheaviator1795 11 ай бұрын

Miniatures feel real not because they fully authentic to our world but because they are fully authentic to their own. They are a 'real miniature'. And there's a charm to that which can't be understated.

@theawesomer 11 ай бұрын

So happy to see that miniatures and practical effects are being preserved by masters like Simon!

@mikesouthworth 11 ай бұрын

This video was really well done. Great job of showing the process in layman's terms while still making it exciting and interesting.

@Aloddff 11 ай бұрын

Physical effects are really captivating

@zaneverovati 11 ай бұрын

The thing that had me fall in love with Wes Anderson's filmmaking is the fact that I feel like I'm constantly pulled in through the screen onto the set, most of the time by the miniatures but also by the feeling that the film sets, and then I get into this sort of swaying back and forth, back onto the seat in the movies as a spectator watching a film, and then back inside of the set, and so back and forth, it makes me enjoy his films on a whole another level. And the miniatures themselves make a part of that feeling, being made in such a glorious way that they don't interrupt that feeling, yet still making themselves apparent - I know they're miniatures, but they're made so good that it doesn't matter, the momentous "okay, it's a miniature, but it's a part of the story so it's just another way for Anderson to convey his storytelling" is there for a second and it just makes the miniature blend in and feel as a natural part of the story. It's apparent that it's a miniature, but it's not tacky, B-movie style, but rather gloriously made sculpture, put there to help with telling the story.

@user-rr7vq4xk1b 11 ай бұрын

Wes Anderson films are the romance of Film making, just beautiful.. So much respect for these artist .

@andybearchan 11 ай бұрын

Can you do a video on matte paintings? So many movies from the 80s and 90s had amazing detailed paintings. Do they still exist? Do people collect them?

@chas4life 11 ай бұрын

Asteroid City is a photographic masterpiece. The details in the sets are genius.

@TheFatblob25 8 ай бұрын

Absolutely beautiful filmmaking for a relentlessly boring & confusing plot.

@mastermavrick 11 ай бұрын

Great video, miniatures like stop motion are rare but amazing artistic works and this goes over why you get that feeling from it.

@davidcashin1894 10 ай бұрын

Always love to hear about model building for movies and set building in general. There are a lot of us tabletop wargamers who work in scale models all the time and it is fascinating to see what other model builders do. Especially people who have limitless budgets ;-) compared to a game that is.

@artlovepeace42 11 ай бұрын

Thank you so much for showing this! These artists are the epitome of talent! Would be an incredible video to go to a model shop and show all the departments and artists working through a large scale model, start to finish.

@Thebreakdownshow1 11 ай бұрын

Wes Anderson films are the romance of Film making, just beautiful.

@bigsam653 11 ай бұрын

Using miniatures for Blade Runner made all the difference. The buildings with real fog looked super good

@Harleylover14 11 ай бұрын

I have the greatest respect for any director who can and will still use practical effects. It's truly an art.

@milonso650 11 ай бұрын

i was lucky and got to see the grand budapest model in weisses workshop before it was even used. such stunning work done by these guys... feels surreal somehow.

@rickfazzini22 11 ай бұрын

I’ve always been in love with the art that is miniature model making. Thanks for sharing this great little film, what’s a treat!

@pocketrocket6494 11 ай бұрын

As someone who is into the hobby of large scale rc cars everything here is literally flipping awesome

@ALIBIMusicLibrary 28 күн бұрын

Something about this style emits so much happiness. Even if its intended to be creepy its always endearing

@heckensteiner4713 10 ай бұрын

Miniatures are my absolute favorite form of film trickery!

@JJadx 11 ай бұрын

just delightful to look at these, i wish scale models where more commonly used as an art form the way paintings on a wall are.

@Noumm 11 ай бұрын

Asteroid city was excellent and all the projects this amazing Simon Weisse worked on Anderson's movies !!! Love his way to talk about his work you can feel the passion !

@rohitmishra670 11 ай бұрын

its amazing to hear from Simon Weisse . I can feel the enthusiasm he has and emotion of fun he has doing the work.

@JAVTROOPER 11 ай бұрын

Finally I understand how they create those spectacular scene in box office movies in the era of early computer

@joiedevivre9861 10 ай бұрын

makes me respect directors like wes anderson & christopher nolan all the more for how much they know about & show their love for filmmaking :') loved this insightful vid!

@tomwatts703 11 ай бұрын

Having grown up on Thunderbirds and other Gerry Anderson shows, I've always had an appreciation for miniatures and practical effects like this

@harrazmasri2805 Ай бұрын

man this doubles the work, it's amazing just how much effort they spend for such movies

@passtheparcel2007 10 ай бұрын

Quite amazing! All together now, "It's a small world after all"...

@Sabotage_Labs Ай бұрын

His work with Wes Anderson is just amazing. It has to be I suppose with Anderson's incredible attention to detail. He tells such great stories on so many levels.

@alastairbattson5123 11 ай бұрын

I am glad that people like Simon Weisse are still around and doing the work allowing the likes of Wes Anderson to make the movies in the style and techniques he would wish, especially as a movie every 2 years from Wes probably doesn't offer Simon enough work to live off.

@RafaelBernatto 11 ай бұрын

Disclaimer: Just because tightening the 'aperture' 5:38 "decreases how much light you let into the camera" does not mean that by "reducing the light" you'll end up with a wider depth of field ("every part of the model" in focus). There are a bunch ways for you to decrease light: ND filters, faster shutter speed, light absorbers/black flags and so on... It's not about decreasing light. It's about the >aperture< and the way it filters and shapes the light passing through the lens. Also, the bigger the sensor or film format, more shallow the depth of field. Aperture doesn't (just) mean less light. 🇧🇷

@drlong08 10 ай бұрын

I can't show this to my photog/ film major son because his comment will go on for at least an entire 15K words on this one...yes, he's on the scale.

@thewillsfamilyaccount6486 11 ай бұрын

I glad I found this rediscovered this channel! Did not realize how good it is and how vast the subjects are.. Nicely done!

@theraphman 11 ай бұрын

This magic is the reason why I enjoy watching movies 🎥…

@YanceyLu 11 ай бұрын

Really love to see more stories of amazing people with amazing craftsmanship.

@StrawberryFeildsforNever 11 ай бұрын

I pray that they sell these. There’s nothing that I wouldn’t do to get my hands on the grand Budapest hotel

@OxburgerStudios 11 ай бұрын

Long live miniatures, stop-motion, and other traditional visual effects techniques! This was a great watch, thanks for putting it together VOX.

@DippedInInk 9 ай бұрын

The world of miniatures and dioramas are amazing. As an artist to be able to capture realistic things in a small scale is truly a talent.

@freds3265 11 ай бұрын

The clip you used of the Millennium Falcon taking off at 3:18 isn’t actually a miniature. That scene was added in the special editions of a new hope so the Falcon is actually a digital model in that shot. Nice video, just a funny mistake.

@dathorndike4908 11 ай бұрын

I remember the original Star Wars trilogy and how they used mostly miniatures for alot of the ships. It was a great example of making more out of less in film.

@pushbikeman 11 ай бұрын

This video was simply fascinating I loved Asteroid City funny amusing and visually abstract looking like a model railway table.

@kazpaapzak8637 11 ай бұрын

The novelty of computers and perfection is wearing off and we are now moving towards a place where the character and artistic style of a film is once more the most applauded aspect. It’s the same with camera lenses, cinematographers want hand built anamorphic lenses over the ‘perfect’ new lenses because they have more character and add to style of the film

@passtheparcel2007 10 ай бұрын

I remember being suitably impressed, when that space ship (Star Wars) passed overhead, it was huge! I had never seen anything so big an it took so long to pass...

@xaviconde 11 ай бұрын

The Millennium Falcon bit in the video is actually CGId, not the model. That scene was added in the Special Edition of Episode IV.

@EdBabb 11 ай бұрын

VFX Artist here -- that shot of the millenium faclon you used was CG, not a model, from the reissue Lucas did in the 90's.

@Durmomo0 11 ай бұрын

It was a beautiful spaceship, glad they went with the green...

@AAWagner 6 ай бұрын

I’ve always been fascinated by miniatures and how they are used in all ways including cinematography.

@michaelhollinger7034 11 ай бұрын

Weirdly brought up Game Night and I worked on that film. I drove through that neighborhood that you referenced as use of models. I’m pretty sure we used Tilt Shift to create that look and not models. Don’t remember ever seeing models in our Art Department.

@sabersight908 11 ай бұрын

with a video all about bigatures im surprised it has not been mentioned ones that they are not miniatures but bigatures xD great video about the mini world in the film industry i already knew quite a lot but i keep learning some new things.

@Blasharga 11 ай бұрын

feels wrong not to mention Lord of the Rings in this context. Minas Tirith especially.

@cedricklyon 11 ай бұрын

Don't forget to visit the miniature and cinema museum in the old town of Lyon, France !

@withconfettiinmyhair 11 ай бұрын

Been really enjoying every Edward Vega essay I've seen so far!

@DCDSG 11 ай бұрын

I love that a lot of the old stuff is not dying yet and maybe still has a bright future ahead. Like vinyls. Thrifting. Etc. Might not be super commercial / popular but will keep an important place.

@BobJillJackZorroKhoshekZuko 9 ай бұрын

I love miniatures, I hope they make more movies using them. My favorite is stop motion, the pink house in Coraline is so good,

@GERntleMAN 11 ай бұрын

I'm not entirely surprised he is German since building miniature stuff is almost embedded in our older generation. Basically every grandpa built everything in small scale and the bestest grandpas of them made it the smallest and most realistic. Many attics are still filled with a lot of miniature worlds.

@survivingworldsteam 11 ай бұрын

Not restricted to Germany though. It was, and still is popular in the UK, North America, Japan, and elsewhere. Check out large scale miniatures like Miniatur Wunderland, Northlandz, Grand Maket Rossiya, Our Home and Miniature Land, and Madurodam. Thankfully the art of model building and model railroading is alive and well; 3-D printing has breathed new life and new possibilities into the hobby.

@nazru8 10 ай бұрын

still remembering nolan did the plans crash in TENET, where he completely avoided miniatures.

@thecasualfly 10 ай бұрын

I love practical effects and all the artisans who are involved with it.. miniatures are so rad too.. great stuff

@martinstent5339 11 ай бұрын

It's a shame they didn't mention the ultimate model in terms of looking real: The 2001 spaceship. At F22 every frame over 1 minute!!

@Deecosta 6 ай бұрын

Thought I was just going to watch something entertaining - but ended up learning a good few things I can apply to my miniature making endeavours! Well done on a great video. 🎉🙌

@bazza5699 11 ай бұрын

wow i'd love to have the skills to be able to build models like that

@WrvrUgoThrUR 4 ай бұрын

Fascinating! Thx. This kinda stuff got me into media production some 50 years ago as a 10 year old who had just seen Star Wars in the theater.

@DOI_ARTS 11 ай бұрын

There is this old show in Discovery Channel Movie Magic, I love it so much they explain the movie techniques and made me understand how movies were shot.

@-Alberto-Bolanos- 11 ай бұрын

again this is a introduction of a master class filming....... merci beaucoup

@jucaropis 7 ай бұрын

Magnificent video, a talent on the part of the team of layout designers as well as the filming team. They are cinema geniuses!

@sjbechet1111 11 ай бұрын

The size of the APERTURE defines the depth of field - not how much light you let in. The amount of light can be less or more with aperture but this can also be controlled with cutters/screens, ND filters and shutter speed.

@toddjones1480 10 ай бұрын

It's actually possible to make extremely convincing miniature bricks and concrete, but maybe not at 1/18. At 1/12 any defect will give away the game so you'll need to scrap about half of what you make. Bigger scales are more forgiving.

@andrews. 10 ай бұрын

Is Lord of the Rings considered old now? They used HUGE miniature sets to bring the story to life. The Rivendell Model is amazing if you have seen it.

@DrawnInk1 11 ай бұрын

Fascinating upload thanks.

@zakariajaiathe Ай бұрын

Was great to film with Wes Anderson and see how he works closely.

@bitspacemusic 11 ай бұрын

4:54 Long lenses only crop more. Perspective (compression) is the same for all lenses when shot from the same position.

@wallball5 11 ай бұрын

I'm surprised 3D printing wasn't made a big deal in this video

@AlbertaRose94 6 ай бұрын

The use of miniatures in Asteroid City added to the old time vibe.

@yay-cat 11 ай бұрын

I once heard that for the lord of the rings miniatures of like rivendell they used salt flowing to mimic the waterfalls because water wouldn’t have looked right

@blackparadoxx9656 11 ай бұрын

Didn't know Wes Anderson was so old.

@dada-pm5cd 11 ай бұрын

2:28 he's soooo real for using the metric system bc same

@bySterling 11 ай бұрын

So much respect for these artist 💯👏🏻🎉👍🏻

@skycaptain3344 11 ай бұрын

I am still impressed to this day with the miniatures used in True Lies.

@DOI_ARTS 11 ай бұрын

The Florida keys bridge explosion and the Terminator Judgement Day Nuke scene

@Oisin2 11 ай бұрын

Great video! So entertaining and informative :)

@protorhinocerator142 4 ай бұрын

In Asteroid City, I could absolutely tell that the mountains in the background were mini. At first they looked good, but then those sideways crawl shots allowed me to parallax the distance better. They weren't miles away like the movie implied. They were very close. If they had instead done a spin shot or a pan up, it would have hidden the real distance much better.

@jj-if6it 11 ай бұрын

It's so weird to hear miniatures pronounced that way so many times. In Australia we say it like "mina-tures"

@adriennefortune210 11 ай бұрын

We do as well. He is saying it strangely.

@johnterpack3940 11 ай бұрын

So that's where you got the extra "I" you put in aluminum. Neat.

@dathorndike4908 11 ай бұрын

I hope they save alot of these. Is there a movie miniature museum somewhere?

@WShawn 11 ай бұрын

Very nice video and explanation. Something funky going on with your credit list, though, at 9:19. Two slightly-different versions of the same screen. Oh, well.

@ajo510 11 ай бұрын

This is fascinating

@matthewbenoit3098 10 ай бұрын

Big fan of models!

@MattWinchell 11 ай бұрын

You guys somewhat touched on this, but I'd love to see a video on motion-control/go-motion.

@jozetkrekel7625 11 ай бұрын

Loved the item!

@VietVuHunzter 11 ай бұрын

Wes Anderson is when you can do what you really love and the audience happen to love it. too.

@KhanStopMe 11 ай бұрын

Love the video! A small correction: 5:39 - You say “you need to decrease how much light is let into the camera” which is not exactly true. You need to reduce the size of the aperture of the lens in order to bring more of the image into focus, the side effect of that is less light is let into the camera but just dimming all the lights in the room for example isn’t going to deepen the depth of field even though you have decreased how much light is let into the camera

@elyornoyovanna5482 8 ай бұрын

Creí que hablarían del estilo pausado y caricaturesco tan característico que tienen sus películas Stop motion Al presentar el ambiente no satura la pantalla de tantos elementos, ésa simpleza es increíble