Cast of Characters: Wes Anderson and Pure Cinematic Characterization

Abstract

Ned Plimpton (Owen Wilson) hangs from the side of Steve Zissou’s (Bill Murray) boat, the Belafonte, by one arm. The flickering of a projector is heard beneath Mark Mothersbaugh’s score. The use of Ektachrome film stock creates bright and overblown colors, forming saturated, flat blocks of ocean and sky, as though filmed on 16 mm. Steve Zissou narrates: “Kingsley Ned Zissou. 29. Junior grade diving tech, executive producer. Energetic, spirited, youthful.” The projector stops as the camera cuts from the film within a film to the film we are watching, Wes Anderson’s The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004). As they sit in the editing room, Steve suggests to “probably [his] son,” Ned, “This is what I’m talking about. A relationship subplot. There’s chemistry between us, you know?” The chemistry Steve refers to is not the relationship between a prospective father and son, but an affinity that will appear appealing onscreen. In this sequence, Anderson notes the necessity of character alignment in both documentary and narrative film. He reminds the audience of the constructed nature of character identification in cinema as a medium.1

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