Moonrise Kingdom Technical Styles Compared to Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
The 2012 hit indie film, Moonrise Kingdom, directed by Wes Anderson, can be compared to the 1969 classic western film, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, directed by George Roy Hill. In Anderson’s film, he takes a unique approach to telling a story about two rebellious children, and uses the techniques of film to create an artistic approach to portray the story. Hill’s Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, an action filled story about two robbers that appear as heroes in the film, also has a warm comedic aura to it, similar to Moonrise Kingdom. Similarly, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid has impressive cinema verite, which makes this film a rival to Anderson’s more modern film. Moonrise Kingdom and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid have different technical styles and limitations, yet they both tell great stories.
In Anderson’s Moonrise Kingdom, he uses a large amount of formalist technique and editing montage to create a unique feel. The style of cinematography used in this film creates many opportunities for an old school formalist style of film. The large amount of wide shots gives the audience many sight gags. The facial expressions of the two child actors, Jared Gilman playing Sam and Kara Hayward playing Suzy, were able to craft several funny scenes with the use of sight gag shots. The seriousness of the characters, during these shots is what made theses scenes especially funny. The main characters in this film are talented when it comes to mimesis, showing what happens. For example, shots where the camera is still and shows one or more of the goofy characters doing an action, it turns a simple scene where only a few words or actions happen and the scene becomes humorous. One scene that portrays this technique is towards the end of the film when Sam, the main character, is running away from the rest of his Khaki scout troop. The camera does a wide shot of a grassy field and shows the kids running in circles, making the intense chase seem less intense and more comical. Then Sam heads for a pile of rocks and stands up preparing to fight, only to be struck by lighting. Next, a medium wide shot shows the troop standing over the newly blacked Sam, with looks of concern and confusion in their faces, only to have Sam sit up, clean off his glasses and say, “I’m alright” and continue to flee. This method of taking what could be a serious, life threating situation, and turning it into a comical situation through Anderson’s cinematography is what makes his technique stand out. In Butch it is obvious that a large amount of effort was focused on having unique and dramatic lighting for many of the shots. Many scenes were shot in the “magic hour”, the time of day when the sun is setting or raising and makes the sun’s illumination less direct. This time of day can also cause the sun create a warmer/golden hue that highlights certain aspects of the shot, making it more dramatic and ascetically beautiful (Shannon 1). One instance where this occurred during the film was during the initial chase scene that involved Butch and Sundance riding their horses through the desert in order to escape to law. In particular the film shows them riding through some small sand dunes and the light perfectly illuminates the sand being kicked up by the horses. The use of editing montage, showing a variety of shots from different angles is a commonly used technique in this film The film will cut from a close up of the horses’ hooves to a wide shot of both men riding across the desert. Both films were created in separate eras with different technology, but both have a similar visual theme (Humphrey 1).
Moonrise Kingdom and Butch use a cinema verite style, where the portable cameras move around for active shots. In Moonrise Kingdom, there are many panning and rotating shots that are less realistic than some of the shots in Butch. For example, during the intro of Moonrise Kingdom the camera turns to face a different axis showing different walls in a room. Which is not something the human eye would normally do due to the speed of the camera’s motion. In Hill’s western film there are many backcountry shots of the two outlaws riding, hiking, and train hopping through the rugged west. The cinematography does an excellent job of having smooth panning shots of these actions, even though the camera used is a large Panasonic 35mm film camera. Where the small high tech/high quality “Super 16” camera used in Moonrise Kingdom is much easier to move around, allowing for more creative angles. Another reason Anderson’s crew used this small camera was to make it less intimidating for the young actors, which was not an option for Hill’s film. Hill’s film has an old school and grainy look to it, even though it is in color, which appeals to some. Moonrise Kingdom also has an old school type feel to it, even though it was filmed in more recent times (Lane 1).
In conclusion Moonrise Kingdom and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid are two films that utilize the technical skills of their time to enhance each film. Whether it be the advanced sideway tracking shots used in Moonrise Kingdom or the fact that the crew on Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid were able to bring a camera to such rugged locations, they both excelled in the technical dimension of film. Another aspect that allows one to compare the films this the common theme that the outlaws of society, even though they may be quirky characters, are the heroes of their time, and we can relate to them in our modern society.
Works Cited:
Diffner, Shannon. Wellons, Alexia. “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.”
Scarletlettercopy. Web. 6 Nov. 2013.
Humphrey, Tom. "OPINION: Bill, Butch and Sundance poised at the edge of the cliff."
Knoxville News-Sentinel, The (TN) 03 Feb. 2013: Newspaper Source. Web. 6 Nov. 2013.
Lane, Anthony. “Stormy Weather.” The New Yorker. Vol.88, Issue 16. Web. 1 Nov.
2013.