A Damn Good Shot

Dedicated to the art of cinematography. You can read my other blog here. Send suggestions to ADamnGoodShot@gmail.com

Tue Dec 1
Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009) Dir: Wes Anderson / DP: Tristan Oliver In the months preceding the opening of the film, controversy arose concerning the little time that director Wes Anderson actually spent on set, choosing to direct the animation via e-mail from his flat in Paris. In an October 2009 Los Angeles Times article, cinematographer Tristan Oliver was quoted as saying, “I think he’s a little O.C.D. Contact with people disturbs him. This way, he can spend an entire day locked inside an empty room with a computer. He’s a bit like the Wizard of Oz. Behind the curtain.” Informed of Oliver’s discontent, Anderson said, “I would say that kind of crosses the line for what’s appropriate for the director of photography to say behind the director’s back while he’s working on the movie. So I don’t even want to respond to it.” On the Wes Anderson fan website The Rushmore Academy, Oliver criticized the article’s tone, stating that it made him out to be a villain: “Yes, working with Wes can be frustrating but that is true of any director and I’ve worked with a hundred who were more irritating and less motivated than Wes. So let’s just lay the ghost of this particular myth and oh, it would be nice if the death threats stopped too. Thanks.”

Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009)

Dir: Wes Anderson / DP: Tristan Oliver

In the months preceding the opening of the film, controversy arose concerning the little time that director Wes Anderson actually spent on set, choosing to direct the animation via e-mail from his flat in Paris. In an October 2009 Los Angeles Times article, cinematographer Tristan Oliver was quoted as saying, “I think he’s a little O.C.D. Contact with people disturbs him. This way, he can spend an entire day locked inside an empty room with a computer. He’s a bit like the Wizard of Oz. Behind the curtain.” Informed of Oliver’s discontent, Anderson said, “I would say that kind of crosses the line for what’s appropriate for the director of photography to say behind the director’s back while he’s working on the movie. So I don’t even want to respond to it.” On the Wes Anderson fan website The Rushmore Academy, Oliver criticized the article’s tone, stating that it made him out to be a villain: “Yes, working with Wes can be frustrating but that is true of any director and I’ve worked with a hundred who were more irritating and less motivated than Wes. So let’s just lay the ghost of this particular myth and oh, it would be nice if the death threats stopped too. Thanks.”