Do you think the character placement and proxemics is for a definite purpose, or it just happened that way?
Thursday, October 30, 2014
The Royal Tenenbaums
Usually in films, everything and everyone is placed in a certain way. These placements can either be solely for filming so that everyone is seen in the shot, but it may also be to get a point across to the audience. In The Royal Tenenbaums, the use of proxemics plays a very big role in how Wes Anderson tells the story of the Tenenbaum family. There always seems to be a reason why the characters are placed in the locations that they are. It can show what a character thinks about the situation and how much they want to be involved. In the scene where the doctor tells the Tenenbaum family what Royal's fate is, they are all placed very specifically in the hallway.
Chas and Richie are the closest to the doctor so that they know exactly what is to become of Royal, but for two different reasons: Richie really cares about what will happen to his father, and wants to do anything to take care of him, while Chas has always acted very passive aggressively towards Royal, and wants to know what will happen so he can figure out what to do with him, or to get him out of the house. Etheline is placed behind the brothers because although she isn't with Royal anymore, she was still with him once before, and she cares about what happens to him. I think Henry is further behind Etheline because although he doesn't really care what happens to Royal, he cares about Etheline and wants to take care of her and make sure she is okay to take any news about Royal's health. Margot is in the strangest placement of all the characters; she is slumped and leaning in the corner like she is being forced to be there. Since Royal never made an effort to love Margot, I think she feels like she has to be there to hear the news because she is his family, but she just doesn't care about anything the doctor has to say.
Do you think the character placement and proxemics is for a definite purpose, or it just happened that way?
Do you think the character placement and proxemics is for a definite purpose, or it just happened that way?
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I really liked how you used a one picture to sum up the relationships between the characters. I completely agree with everything you said about the relationships along with the use of proxemics. I think that proxemics play a key role in The Royal Tenebaums, not only in the picture you included, but in the film as a whole. For example, where they sit at the table in some scenes tells a lot about their place within the family. For example, when Richie sits at the head of the table, where Royal used to sit, shows how Royal is no longer included in the family. So therefore, I think character placement/proxemics does serve a definite purpose and how Anderson did this was not accidental.
ReplyDeleteI think that the proxemics and character placement were definitely on purpose. I liked that you related the proxemics used to the characters and relationships between them like in the hospital scene with Margot in the corner in the background. I also agree with Caroline, for example when Royal tells his children that he and their mother are getting divorced, he is at the head of the long table and the three children are the the other end. The director purposefully places Royal at a distance to symbolize the weak and distant relationship he has with them.
ReplyDeleteI definitely think that the use of proxemics in this film was used for creative purposes. In the scenes where Margot is on the "outside" of her family physically, I think Wes Anderson is commenting on a greater meaning relating to her adoption and how Royal views her as being his "adopted child". I think that his distinction from the rest of her siblings resonated with her throughout her life in a detrimental way for she lost motivation in her creative playwriting and gave up on herself entirely.
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