What filmmaking techniques does Isle of Dogs use?

CineCode breaks down 5 techniques in Isle of Dogs (2018): Secondary World Construction, Untranslated Dialogue, Stop-Motion Animation, Cultural Musical Identity and Black Comedy as Political Weapon.

Who directed Isle of Dogs?

Wes Anderson directed Isle of Dogs, released in 2018. CineCode also covers Bottle Rocket (1996), Rushmore (1998), The Royal Tenenbaums (2001), The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004), The Darjeeling Limited (2007), Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009).

What films are similar to Isle of Dogs?

Films that share techniques with Isle of Dogs include The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001), Black Panther (2018), Dr. Strangelove (1964), Pan's Labyrinth (2006).

Animation · Adventure · Comedy

Isle of Dogs

Wes Anderson, 2018

In a future Japanese city, the mayor exiles every dog to Trash Island during a canine flu outbreak. A boy named Atari flies there to find his bodyguard dog, Spots, and teams up with a pack of strays. Watch how stop-motion puppets carry both a political satire and a sincere boy-and-dog story.

3 Narrative 1 Cinematography 1 Sound

At a glance

Isle of Dogs is a 2018 animation, adventure and comedy film directed by Wes Anderson. This breakdown covers 5 techniques (3 narrative, 1 cinematography and 1 sound), each with the scene where you can see it. If you like how it is made, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring uses several of the same techniques.

Narrative

Secondary World Construction

Building a fictional world with its own consistent rules, history, culture and visual detail. It feels like the world keeps going beyond what you see on screen.

How this film uses it

Megasaki and Trash Island have their own politics, ruins and dog tribes. Spots leads an isolated tribe of former lab test dogs, and the island feels like a place with a history. The world seems to keep going beyond what you see.

Where to see it

Trash Island: Atari flies to the island and teams up with Chief and a pack of dogs.

Narrative

Untranslated Dialogue

Leaving a character's language unsubtitled so you follow tone, gesture and context. You share the position of someone outside that language, and the language keeps its full weight.

How this film uses it

The human characters speak Japanese with no subtitles, while the dogs' barks are translated into English. When people need to be understood, an interpreter or a translation machine steps in. You are placed with the dogs, reading tone and gesture. Some critics call the choice a fantasy of Japan, and others read it as a comment on translation.

Where to see it

The mayor's decree: Mayor Kobayashi exiles all dogs to Trash Island, and the film relies on an interpreter and a translation device to carry what people say.

Cinematography

Stop-Motion Animation

Animating physical puppets one frame at a time, with small handmade imperfections left in. The creatures and performances look tangible and storybook.

How this film uses it

The film used about 1,105 animatable puppets and around 20,000 faces, with very little CG. Production began in October 2016 at 3 Mills Studios in London. You can see the handmade texture in the fur and the expressions, which makes the dogs feel both silly and fragile.

Where to see it

Spots and his tribe: Spots, now the leader of an isolated tribe of former lab dogs, is the one Atari came to find.

Sound

Cultural Musical Identity

Writing music with its own instruments, rhythms and melodies for each culture in the film, or drawing on a real culture's musical traditions. The score tells you about the people.

How this film uses it

Alexandre Desplat's score leans on taiko drums, and the soundtrack borrows music from Kurosawa films such as Drunken Angel and Seven Samurai. The sound tells you this fictional Japan is built from love of its cinema.

Where to see it

The opening drummers: After a woodcut-style prologue, taiko drummers play as the opening credits appear.

Narrative

Black Comedy as Political Weapon

Using absurd humor, farce and caricature to attack a political target. The jokes make the target look ridiculous and get past defenses that a serious argument would hit.

How this film uses it

Mayor Kobayashi blames dogs for a flu outbreak and sends every one of them to a garbage island, and student activist Tracy Walker digs into the conspiracy behind it. The jokes about elections, press events and fear-mongering make the target look silly while the stakes stay real.

Where to see it

The re-election ceremony: The cure is shown to work, Atari's haiku changes public feeling and the mayor repeals the decree.

Questions

Isle of Dogs: quick answers

What filmmaking techniques does Isle of Dogs use?: CineCode breaks down 5 techniques in Isle of Dogs (2018): Secondary World Construction, Untranslated Dialogue, Stop-Motion Animation, Cultural Musical Identity and Black Comedy as Political Weapon.
Who directed Isle of Dogs?: Wes Anderson directed Isle of Dogs, released in 2018. CineCode also covers Bottle Rocket (1996), Rushmore (1998), The Royal Tenenbaums (2001), The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004), The Darjeeling Limited (2007), Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009).
What films are similar to Isle of Dogs?: Films that share techniques with Isle of Dogs include The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001), Black Panther (2018), Dr. Strangelove (1964), Pan's Labyrinth (2006).

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