After featuring two of his posts in Friday Round-Ups, we figured it was time to (virtually) sit down with Dustin Sohn and ask him about his experience as an intern in the Set Decoration department on Moonrise Kingdom.
Tell me a little about yourself.
I was born and raised in the Pacific Northwest, attended Bellevue High School, and in a few days, I will be graduating from the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) with a BFA in Illustration!
How did you find out about the internship?
I found out about the internship through a mass email that was sent out to the Illustration department and I decided to send my resume on a whim. The heads of various other majors (Film/Animation/Video, Industrial Design, etc.) reached out to their departments about the opportunity as well. Moonrise Kingdom was filming in Rhode Island, so it only made sense that they reached out to RISD to recruit interns.
When did you find out you would be working on Moonrise Kingdom?
Well, I didn’t expect to hear back when I sent in my resume. In fact, I forgot I even applied until I received a call for an interview a few weeks later!
Join us on the other side of the jump for the rest of the interview. Continue reading “Interview with Unpaid Moonrise Kingdom Intern”
Friday News Round-Up 5/25/12
It’s here, it’s finally here! It’s opening day! Buy your tickets early and often to support Wes and luxuriate in his newest cinematic masterpiece (and confidentially, as few of our editors have already seen the film, we can confirm it’s as wonderful as you had hoped.)
With that said, it’s time to get down to brass tacks, here’s your Friday Round-up:
- Slate’s Wes Anderson Bingo cards will be a fun addition to your (many, many) viewings of Moonrise.
- Wes Anderson’s list of 10 favorite New York movies has a few surprises. (Hannah and Her Sisters over Manhattan or Annie Hall? Blasphemy!)
- Jason Schwartzman is still a charmer in his brief Guardian interview, discussing his role in Moonrise.
- The New York Observer’s extremely negative review (click if you dare) is thankfully an outlier. Moonrise Kingdom is currently at 96% on Rotten Tomatoes.
- Forbes has an interesting article, What Wes Anderson Can Teach Us About Advertising, that espouses the power of successful branding.
- In honor of opening day, Skull and Stripe did a Moonrise-inspired fashion round-up.
- For something a bit sweeter, Green Wedding Shoes did a Moonrise-styled elopement photoshoot, including a reenactment of the romantic, “I will meet you in the meadow” scene.
- Finally, we fully endorse the New Yorker’s headline: What To See This Weekend: “Moonrise Kingdom,” Twice. The glowing review isn’t bad, either.
How Wes Anderson Soundtracks His Films
If you’ve ever enjoyed Wes Anderson’s keen sense of pairing just the right song with justthe right scene, you have Randall Poster to thank. NPR has a wonderful interview with Poster that focuses on his work with Wes. Poster has worked on all of Wes’s films post-Bottle Rocket, after meeting through a mutual friend.
While walking around a farmer’s market, Anderson told Poster about a piece of music that he wanted to use for Bottle Rocket but couldn’t because of a rights issue.
“I was so smitten with the film that I basically promised to get any piece of music that he ever wanted to use in a movie,” Poster says. “And that kicked us off.”
Randall Poster’s interview with NPR is a real gem and offers a very different perspective of working on an Anderson film. To learn even more about Poster’s work, a 2007 interview with the Guardian has some great blurbs about working on WA films and others.
Image of Poster on the set of The Darjeeling Limited from moviefone.
W Magazine on the Moonrise Kingdom Set
W Magazine just released a slideshow of behind-the-scenes images shot during the filming of Moonrise Kingdom. The pictures offer a peek into the filming process and the captions, provided by Wes, exemplify his dry wit. See the brief article and the rest of the slideshow over at W Magazine.
Sam and Suzy Shine in the Spotlight
Jared Gilman and Kara Hayward sat down with USA Today to discuss their experience on set including their hobbies, family lives, and their shared first on-screen (and real-life) kiss. The pair seem to be as precious in reality as onscreen:
When Jared mentions a recent film obsession — the 2010 superhero spoof Kick-Ass— he feels obligated to politely mouth the second half of the title.
The video of the stars only increases their appeal:
Read more about Kara and Jared at USA Today.
The Guardian’s Interview of Wes
The Guardian has a nice interview with Wes regarding his style, his critical reception, working with children, and his frequent collaborators. Regarding the last, he says:
“I don’t think any of us are considered ‘normal’ people,” he says. “It’s probably more a family of crazy uncles. But there’s an energy that comes from people who are friends. Whatever chemistry is on set is going to be there in the movie, and you want some electricity that you don’t really control.”
The rest of the interview can be read over at The Guardian.
Friday News Round-Up 5/18/12
Here we are again with another edition of the Round-Up. The heat is definitely on press-wise as the movie’s actual premiere date gets closer. Let’s get to it:
- Above: Illustrator Laura Perm-Jardin distills down Suzy and Sam to their bare threads. (See more MR posters here.)
- The illustratographer received some fantastic Khaki Scout badges for his work on the movie.
- The Museum of the Moving Image in Astoria, Queens will be hosting a Wes Anderson retrospective titled “Wes Anderson’s Worlds” from May 18-27. Movies include the usual suspects and The Magnificent Ambersons, the film from which The Royal Tenebaums was largely inspired.
- Total Film somehow chose the 15 Greatest Wes Anderson Moments, a feat if I’ve ever heard one.
- French band Pony Pony Run Run turned to The Life Aquatic for the inspiration for their latest music video for “Sorry”. (via MTVIGGY)
- Chuck Klosterman chose Rushmore as one of his top ten Criterions.
Slate’s Interview with Wes Anderson
Jacob Weisberg sat down with Wes for an extended interview to discuss his auteur style, his commercials as mini-movies, stop-motion animation, and the pleasures of working with Bill Murray, along with answering Slate reader questions for the Conversations with Slate series. Two installments have been released so far, with others to be added as the week goes on (and TRA will be there to update this post!)
Here is the first installment, in which he discusses the casting of the adolescent leads, his childhood experiences, and his love-affair with Francois Truffaut:
See the second installment after the jump. Continue reading “Slate’s Interview with Wes Anderson”
Friday News Round-Up (5/11/12)
- Above: Jared Gonzolez (aka Meximerican) reinterprets Sam.
- Wes Anderson has a talent for casting “not very good actors.”
- Esquire thinks Bottle Rocket is among the 75 movies that every man should see.
- Wes graces the cover of this month’s Sight & Sound Magazine.
- The invitation to the exclusive premiere of Moonrise Kingdom for cast, crew, and friends unfortunately has all of the information blocked out. (via the illustratographer)
Friday News Round-Up 4/27/12
A little slow this week, but enjoy the lull while you can. Next week is May which is release month. This week’s round-up:
- (Above) A great vector poster of Moonrise Kingdom’s Khaki Scouts by Society 6
- For all his Titanic love, James Cameron seems to have a soft spot for the Belafonte
- From ThinkProgress, The Preciousness of Moonrise Kingdom and Wes Anderson’s Approach to Privilege
- A roundup of Anderson posters (and DVD art) on the Poster Collective
- Have you always wanted to be a Tenenbaum? Well, now you can! Or at least be drawn into a family portrait.
- Jason Schwartzman will attend the White House Correspondents’ Dinner
- A playlist for Sam and Suzy — I Will Meet You in the Meadow