A new viral TikTok trend of creating “my life in the style of a Wes Anderson film” is creating countless mini-films that pay tribute to the auteur’s creative vision and unique style.
Presumably, it all started with this TikTok, in which user @AvaWillyums made a cute little Wes Anderson-style movie of her commute with the opening caption: “You better not be acting like you’re in a Wes Anderson movie when I get there.”
The video features lovely, symmetrical shots of Ava standing outside the train, riding in her seat, and showing off her shoes, a drawing, and the passing landscape. Everything is set to the song “Obituary” by Alexandre Desplat, which was composed for Wes Anderson’s film The French Dispatch.
This short TikTok has inspired a viral trend in which people film everyday moments from their lives in a style that is reminiscent of Anderson’s films.
What Makes a Video Look Like a Wes Anderson Film?
Although some people would describe Anderson’s style as “I know it when I see it,” there are several common elements to his creative vision.
Collider lists the following 8 common visual tropes in his movies:
- Symmetrical visual composition
- Many of the same collaborators over and over
- An intentional color palette (which is often red, pink, blue, purple, and yellow)
- Slow motion shots
- Music from the 60s and 70s
- A structure that involves chapters with title cards
- Dysfunctional family dynamics
- Quirky and unusual costumes
TikTokkers are using many of these elements to film their own short videos.
Some of the Best Wes Anderson-Style TikToks
In the 2.5 weeks since the original “you’d better not act like you’re in a Wes Anderson movie” video was posted, countless TikTok users have made similar videos. The audio has been used in over 28,000 TikToks as of today.
Here are some of the best ones:
Lunch at Honest Burger with My Wife by Keith Afadi
The Shop by Josh Rimmey
Down the Old Town by Gagaulala
Trip to Brighton with Ellie by Erica Draws Badly
How to Make Your Own Wes Anderson Video
A website called Her Campus has put together a How-To Guide on creating your own Wes Anderson-style video, including how to find the audio, what kind of shots to get, what colors to watch out for, and how to edit it together.
If you want to see more of these videos, you can go to any of these posted videos and click on the page for the audio. From there, you will see everyone’s videos based on this sound — and there are so many to choose from!
To find the audio page from the TikTok app, you can click up on the little rotating circle at the bottom righthand corner of the video.
If you are using a mobile browser on a laptop or desktop, click the title of the song underneath the video and you will get to the same audio page as anyone using the app.
Happy filmmaking!
