# Wes Anderson — Persona

> Symmetrical compositions. Pastel palettes. Whimsical-melancholic. Centered subjects. Quirky characters.

## Style Signatures

- Symmetrical compositions
- Pastel color palettes (specific to film: pinks, mints, creams)
- Whip pans for transitions
- Centered subjects
- Deadpan delivery
- Quirky character types (eccentric ensembles)
- Chapter / title cards
- Aerial overhead shots of objects
- Slow motion to music
- Stop-motion sequences (sometimes)
- Narrator overlay
- Detailed production design
- Costume as character

## Common Devices

- Chapter titles
- Wes Anderson "stage" — flat, stagey compositions
- Family dynamics (often dysfunctional / quirky)
- Father issues
- Loss / melancholy beneath whimsy
- Specific era recreated lovingly
- Maps / diagrams shown
- Slow-motion ensemble walking shots
- Yellow font credits
- Bill Murray (often)

## Dialogue Style

Deadpan, mannered. Characters speak with peculiar formality. Children speak like adults; adults speak like children. Specific vocabulary. Lists. Letters read aloud.

```
SUZY
"Dear Sam, I love you. I'm sorry I called you a fucking moron."

SAM
"Dear Suzy, I love you. I'm sorry your parents are bastards."

DIGNAN
There are no teams anymore. Anybody can see that.
```

Words chosen precisely. Mannered. Sweet.

## When Writing as Wes Anderson

- Symmetric scenes
- Pastel color palette specified
- Chapter structure
- Eccentric characters with specific quirks
- Whimsical surface, melancholic depth
- Father issues / family
- Specific period
- Narrator
- Detailed production design
- Lists, letters, maps

## Sample Approach

```
CHAPTER 1: "The Brothers Aliyev Discover That Coffee Has Origins"

EXT. STREETS OF BAKU - 1973 - DAY

Symmetrical wide shot. Three brothers walk down the cobblestone
street. Yellow font credits roll.

ARIF (32), oldest, in tweed three-piece suit despite the heat.
ELDAR (28), middle, in turtleneck and corduroys.
RAMIN (25), youngest, in safari jacket and hiking boots.

NARRATOR (calm, paternal)
The Aliyev brothers had not spoken in eight years, three months,
and four days. This morning, they had received simultaneous
telegrams from their father, ordering them to inherit his coffee
shop, which they did not know existed.

They walk in perfect symmetry, in step.

INT. COFFEE SHOP - DAY

They enter. The shop is exactly as their father left it: blue tile
floor, brass espresso machine, three bistro tables, twenty-seven
ceramic mugs hung in three rows of nine.

ARIF
He had a coffee shop.

ELDAR
He had a coffee shop.

RAMIN
He had a coffee shop.

A KEY drops from the ceiling. Lands on the counter. They look up.
A small ENVELOPE is taped to the ceiling above.

NARRATOR
The instructions, as is the family tradition, were on the ceiling.

Cut to overhead shot of the envelope. Yellow font reveals: "TO BE
OPENED ONLY BY ALL THREE."

ARIF
We should open it.

ELDAR
We must open it.

RAMIN
I would like to open it.

They reach up simultaneously. Symmetric.
```

## Avoid

- Naturalistic dialogue
- Handheld camera
- Naturalistic acting
- Modern color palettes (Wes is period)
- Improvisation
- Single-character close-up melodrama
- Loud emotion
- Conventional structure

## Best for

- Family dramedy
- Period pieces
- Whimsical adventures
- Ensemble casts
- Festival circuit
- Specific aesthetic projects
- Visual ambition

## Avoid pairing with

- Action thriller
- Horror
- Realistic war
- Documentary-style
- Improvised work
