The majority of animated films that we see in cinemas and on streaming platforms streaming They use the same technique to give voice to their characters. THE the actors record their dialogues in professional sound studios and soundproofed thanks to high quality microphones. There, the technicians correct breathing, adjust the volume and above all eliminate annoying noises. But what if ambient sounds could work well in the film?
Perhaps this is the question that was asked Wes Anderson when he was supposed to launch Fantastic Mr. Foxthe film was released in theaters in 2009 and is probably one of the animated films using the technique stop the movement most popular in recent years. The director, known for titles such as Hotel Grand Budapest (2014) or The Tenenbaums: a family of geniuses (2001), decided to put a revolutionary technique into practice.
Recording with George Clooney and Meryl Streep
In Fantastic Mr. FoxAdapted from Roald Dahl’s classic 1970 novel, a group of animals living near three ruthless farmers begin stealing their property to feed their families and the community. THE actors who voiced foxesthe main protagonists of the feature film were George Clooney and Meryl Streep. In a recent interview for ScreenRantthe actor recalled how this recording with Anderson had a profound impact on him.
“It was very exciting to do because it was done in such an unconventional way. We weren’t in a studio doing voiceovers“, said the Oscar winner. The actors who were part of the dubbing moved to real settings, such as farms and forests, where they played their characters. The microphones picked up the sounds of the environment, which gave a unique and very natural touch to the animated protagonists of the film.
The team didn’t trust Anderson
This very particular way of approaching animated films It was not easy for the team to accept which was part of the film. This is what Wes Anderson revealed at the beginning of the year in statements collected by Variety. “My ideas about how to make the film were probably unconventional, in ways that I wasn’t aware of…And so I ended up doing a lot of things that made it a lot more difficult,” the filmmaker began.
Instead of working from storyboards, Anderson and Noah Baumbach wrote the script as if it were a live-action film. But it didn’t stop there and, instead of recording with the actors in sound studios, they decided to move them to real sets to collect their voices. “I guess people thought it was a bad idea because we weren’t going to get clear recordings. With the stop the movement“The important thing is to bring the interpretation to life,” he admitted.
The hardest part of all this is that Anderson he directed a large part of the film remotely. “I think the group was surprised by my lack of presence, but my desire to guide them. It’s one thing to not be present and just point out and say ‘okay’ and ‘here are some suggestions,’ but it’s another to control everything from email,” he confessed.
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