A small trash-compacting robot is left alone on an abandoned Earth. He falls in love with a scout drone and accidentally sets off humanity's return home. The film spends its opening stretch as a silent comedy. Then it becomes a critique of consumerism and environmental collapse.
WALL-E is a 2008 animation, adventure and romance film directed by Andrew Stanton. This breakdown covers 4 techniques (2 narrative and 2 cinematography), each with the scene where you can see it. If you like how it is made, Sleeper uses several of the same techniques.
Opening the film with a long stretch that has no dialogue. Images, sound and performance alone set up the characters, their world and what is at stake.
How this film uses it
WALL-E's opening act has almost no dialogue. Using only images, Stanton gives you a complete character, a complete world and a complete emotional situation (loneliness, curiosity, love). The silence is an achievement in craft. It also says something about what is left when language fails.
Where to see it
WALL-E's daily routine. You get to know him fully through what he does and where he lives, without a word.
Borrowing the physical comedy of silent films, such as pratfalls, precisely timed gags and expressive body language. It is a nod to where cinema came from.
How this film uses it
WALL-E is openly Chaplin's Little Tramp in robot form. He is small, earnest and in love with someone out of his league. He takes the world's indifference with dignity and humor. Stanton studied silent comedy closely. The robot expresses everything through eye movement and body language, which is a tribute to that tradition.
Where to see it
WALL-E's collection of human objects and his nightly ritual. It has the Chaplin kind of sadness, where someone treasures what the world throws away.
Bringing live-action camera thinking and fine detail to animation, with realistic landscapes, lenses and varied frame rates. The images feel more physical than a drawing usually does.
How this film uses it
Roger Deakins worked as visual consultant and advised on lighting and atmosphere. You can see the live-action camera look in the racking focus, the lens flares and the barrel distortion in the ruined Earth scenes. The film was made on computers, but it was designed to feel like it was shot with a real camera.
Where to see it
The ruined Earth scenes. The racking focus, the lens flare and the barrel distortion feel like a live-action camera at work.
Mocking a specific world, such as an industry, an institution or consumer culture, by exaggerating what is already there. A sci-fi future built from present trends can do this with no direct argument.
How this film uses it
The Axiom scenes skip the argument that consumerism is destroying the planet. They just show you a world where it already has. The humans are obese, glued to screens and riding hover-chairs, surrounded by corporate branding. They are a comic exaggeration of where things are heading now. You are meant to recognize them, so no case needs to be made.
Where to see it
The Axiom. It is a floating shopping mall full of people who have forgotten they have legs.
Questions
WALL-E: quick answers
What filmmaking techniques does WALL-E use?
CineCode breaks down 4 techniques in WALL-E (2008): Dialogue-Free Opening Act, Silent Comedy Homage, Animated Realism Craft and Environmental Satire.
Who directed WALL-E?
Andrew Stanton directed WALL-E, released in 2008.
What films are similar to WALL-E?
Films that share techniques with WALL-E include Sleeper (1973), The Lego Movie (2014), Modern Times (1936), Your Name (2016).
