Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger

Fuck the auteur theory. No single man or woman makes a film. A film is the product of intense collaboration between a team of talented individuals, all bringing their unique skills, in hopes of elevating the whole. Nowhere is this better exemplified than in the contrast between Bottle Rocket the short film and Bottle Rocket the feature.

During the two years that elapsed between the short and the feature, Wes Anderson and Owen Wilson were subjected to an intense film bootcamp administered by the legendary James L. Brooks. Over the course of those two years, Wilson and Anderson developed a much stronger sense of narrative and structure. It was also during this time that Wes met cinematographer Rober Yeoman as well as the design duo of David and Sandy Wasco.

Now I'm not saying that Wes and Owen were a couple of country rubes who were whipped into shape by the Hollywood machine. In their short you can see protian forms of everything that would eventually come to bear in the features. Especially that tone. That tone is all them. What I am saying is that with the right collaborators, good artists can become great.