Casablanca

Casablanca - Lewis Urquhart

Production Facts

• “TWO CASABLANCA TV SHOWS HAVE BEEN MADE.
  There have been two short-lived Casablanca TV series, one that aired in 1955 and 1956, another from 1983. The latter show, a prequel, featured Starsky and Hutch star David Soul as a young Rick Blaine and featured Hector Elizondo, Scatman Crothers, and a twentysomething Ray Liotta in supporting roles. It shot five episodes but was cancelled after two.”
• Ronald Reagan was originally cast as Rick.
• “Here’s lookin at you kid” was supposedly improvised by Humphrey Bogart  in an early scene and then written in later.
• Early draft of the script was titled “Lisbon”
• The movie went $100,000 over budget.

The relationship between Sam & Rick is important as both on & off screen the friendship of white and black people was still frowned upon by the racist wider population. The movie was made in 1942, twenty one years before the first civil rights act. The fact that the producers chose to depict a friendship between these two men was very ahead of it’s time.

The year of release is important as it is before the conclusion of the war they are depicting nor the actors or the writers know whether they will be triumphant in the war. It is also the same year the US decided to get involved in the war effort, in order to gain support for the war producers were making many patriotic films.

The Shining Case Study

Plot Overview

"Writer Jack Torrance takes a job as winter caretaker of the Overlook Hotel in the remote Colorado mountains. He moves in, along with his wife Wendy and son Danny, in the hope that the isolation will cure his writer’s block. But as the weather isolates them, Jack descends into madness. And then apparitions from the hotel’s past appear, imploring Jack to kill his family." - Film Affinity

Stanley Kubrick
"Born in New York City on July 26, 1928, Stanley Kubrick worked as a photographer for Look magazine before exploring film-making in the 1950s. He went on to direct a number of acclaimed films, including Spartacus (1960), Lolita (1962), Dr. Strangelove (1964), Clockwork Orange (1971), 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), The Shining (1980), Full Metal Jacket (1987) and Eyes Wide Shut (1999). Kubrick died in England on March 7, 1999." 
- bIO. 

Recurring Themes

- Duality
Duality is a common theme in The Shining. Duality is the philosophical or literal contrast between two concepts or objects. For example, Jacks character is a direct contradiction, his personality changes between a loving family man and a crazed murderer. The switch between the two become less regular as the film progresses this is to show Jacks decent into madness. The two even overlap at some points, for example the scene in which Jack is sat on his bed and Danny enters, his actions are that of a loving father yet something is definitely out of place in his personality. Duality is also found in Danny, he is an innocent child and yet Tony talks with the cynicism and harshness of an adult. (In Steven King's sequel novel Doctor Sleep 2013 it is revealed that Tony is Danny from the future and he is trying to communicate with his younger self.) Duality is also found in the colour palette of the film, Red Vs Blue, early in the film when everything seems ordinary the Torrence's are dressed in blue as we further the story and darker events take place they wear red and darker clothing. Duality is manifested as both the real vs the unreal and Insanity vs the supernatural. For example, when Mr Ullman is explaining the past murder that took place he references the sisters that are killed as aged 8 and 10, the real, and yet we see them as twins leading up to believe this isn't real. Another example of the real vs the unreal is Mr Ullman names the past murderer Charles Grady yet when Jack meets him in the bathroom he introduces himself as Delbert Grady, this leads us to believe that most of these events are unreal and are taking place in a very different scenario. Insanity vs the supernatural's most obvious event would be The Golden Room party, it is easy to write this off as Jack's insane fantasy as he is the only character present, it is not until the last frame of the movie when we are faced with evidence of Jack being at this party that it seems to change to a supernatural real event.

- The colour Red
In The Shining the colour red is a character in its own right, a largely red frame spells danger for any character within it.
Early in the film Jacks clothes are absent of red and his surroundings in the overlook are red, for example the pillars in the hallway before his interview and the employees clothes, as the movie goes on Jacks appearance becomes more red and the shots focus more on other colours in the frame. A significant point in which both Jack and his surroundings are red is the bathroom scene with Delbert Grady. This is the scene in which Jack decides to "correct" his wife and son. Red signifies insanity and as The Overlook changes and claims Jack the red of the building spreads to him. Red also enacts a feeling of danger and gore in the viewer making it an effective metaphor for insanity. Kubrick's films always find interesting ways to use the colour red including dark themes like death, blood, danger, anger and war, but also erotic notions like passion, desire, love and sex, all of which are present in Kubrick’s films.
As shown in the following clip: https://vimeo.com/112129153

- Native Americans
Native American influences are found throughout The Shining. First being that Mr Ullman says that The Overlook was built on an "Indian burial ground" and that they had to fend off attacks during construction. 
Native American art is displayed throughout the film and Jack Torrence violently throws the tennis ball against it, some speculate this to be a reference to violence against Native Americans at the hand of the white European settlers.
During the genocide of the natives agreements were made with the surviving tribes to resettle on reservations, and allow them to continue their way of life in a safe area free from persecution. One of these reservations contained The Black Hills, a historic sight within the Sioux tribe, some settlers discovered gold in the hills and began flocking there in the thousands. The Natives were worried about the sanctity of their land so began attacking small parties that ventured into the hills looking for gold. When the government heard of this they ordered the execution of hundreds of thousands of Sioux Natives and reclaimed that reservation. This is one of the most significant losses of life in Native American history.
This is explored in The Shining through Jack's experience in The Gold Room. 
It is in this room that Jack is convinced to murder his wife and son, this room also contains the bathroom with the red walls which could signify blood.

- Mirrors and Reflections
Reflections within The Shining reveal a characters true self, for example the lady in the bath is only revealed to be decaying when Jack looks into the mirror. Jack only encounters supernatural beings when a mirror or reflective surface is present, Delbert Grady is in the red bathroom, Jack even looks into the reflection to confirm his identity, the woman in the green bathroom and Lloyd the bartender. Kubrick does this so that Jack is forced to attempt to regain self awareness. Some speculate this to mean that all of these characters are reflections of Jack himself and are just manifestations of Jacks self image. Danny and Jack are the only characters that are seen staring directly into a reflection of themselves signifying that they are the characters that we are to identify with, our protagonists. Other non literal reflections are found in some of Kubrick's shots, many hallways are almost perfectly symmetrical. Some speculate this to be an attempt to show that the walls are closing in.

- Photographs
The photographs are shown in the backdrop of many scenes, the audience doesn't realise the significance of them until the very end despite the fact that they hold the entire frame a number of times.
The characters in the film also overlook the photographs.
The shots in which they appear are framed in a very similar way to the last frame of the movie, Kubrick did this to foreshadow the end and help the audience understand that something as passive and seemingly insignificant as the photographs on the wall can add a large narrative clue. The photographs also tie into the theme of reflections as the inhabitants of The Overlook are constantly being watched.

- "Wrongness"
Throughout The Shining there are many instances in which what we are told and what we see simply do not add up, for example the size of the Torrence's car and the amount of luggage they arrive with, we also see out the back window of the car during the interior shots and no luggage can be seen. This theme shares many aspects with the sense of Real Vs Unreal that I talked about previously. For example the fact that the twins were supposed to be aged 8 and 10, the changing of Delbert/Charles Grady's first name mid film and the floor plan of The Overlook Hotel.
Kubrick sabotaged these details to keep our brain working overtime, we expect to be told a fact that furthers our knowledge of the narrative and then this fact will be supported visually, but by removing this perfect link we are learning to distrust everything any of the characters say as the reality, or the illusion, that we are presented with may be completely different.
This creates a theme of blurriness between the subjective and the objective, for example characters that can't possibly exist in the bounds of what we've been told are shown in full conversation, giving the implication that they are real, at least to Mr. Torrence.

- Repetition
The Shining is full of repetition, whether it's a type of shot, architecturally or a colour, we find ourselves inundated with the same or similar images.
When Mr Ullman is giving the Torrence's a tour of The Overlook we are shown three similar shots, framed almost identically in three different locations. This happens again later in the film when we see a shot of Jack entering the office that is framed exactly the same as when we see him arriving for his interview.
There is also significant repetition of dialogue such as Wendy's story of Jack hurting Danny, it is repeated by Jack at the Bar with a slight change to the time frame.
An example of literal repetition is in Jack's writing, the thousands of pages of the same sentence, "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy".
I will further discuss the narrative themes of repetition in my next section The Cycle of Violence/Reincarnation Theory.

- The Cycle of Violence/Reincarnation Theory
The last frame shows Jack Torrence in the Golden Room photograph from 1921. A popular opinion is that this proves that Jack Torrence is reincarnated by the hotel to repeat a cycle of violence. Other references to repeated violence are when Wendy tells the hotel staff that Jack hasn't had a drink in 5 months due to an incident, later in the film Jack tells Lloyd the bartender that he dislocated Danny's arm 5 years ago. Kubrick makes these events seem similar to give off the impression that Jack has hurt Danny many times creating a repeat cycle of violence. Other factors supporting the reincarnation theory include when Delbert Grady tells Jack he has always been the caretaker at the hotel. The hotel management foreshadow the exact violent actions of Jack when they explain a past incident. Kubrick is trying to create an air of repetition. In a recently uncovered alternate ending the hotel manager visits Wendy and Danny who are recovering in hospital and gives Jack's tennis ball to Danny, many has speculated that this is the passing of Jack's madness to his son, cursing him to repeat the violent cycle.

Architecture of the Overlook Hotel
The Overlook Hotel is impossible. It is filled with architectural flaws and impossible rooms, for example, when Jack first enters The Overlook he turns right at the entrance and left halfway down a hallway, at the end of the hallway we can see a left turn and yet as soon as Jack enters Mr. Ullman's office there is a large and brightly light window that simply cannot exist in the bounds of what we have been led to believe is there. Another example of spatial impossibilities would be when Dick Hallorann, Wendy and Danny enter the freezer, they leave from a door across the hallway from the door they entered. The hotel rooms are also impossibly large, when we see the hallways there are many doors extremely close together that indicate small rooms, yet when Jack enters room 237 it is a large space with multiple rooms. The maze at the front of the hotel also suddenly appears after the first act after previously not being there, Mr Ullman also states that the maze is extremely old indicating that Kubrick did this on purpose. The gold room is far too large of a space to even fit inside of The Overlook Hotel given the exterior we are shown at the beginning. Kubrick did this deliberately to have the audience subconsciously second guessing themselves as you may not take notice on your first viewing but your brain certainly does, and its inability to map out the environment makes a viewer feel trapped and lost without realising why.

The Overlook is Hell
A popular opinion is that The Overlook Hotel is actually a manifestation of Hell.
Evidence to support this is the ever-present colour of red, primarily on the walls and on either side of our characters.
We cognitively associate Hell with fire, the afterlife, pain and madness which are all things that are either literally red or have been previously lead to believe are manifested as such within the film.
Another piece of evidence that largely supports this theory is the character of Lloyd, moments before his appearance Jack is quoted as saying "I'd give my god-damn soul for just one glass of beer". Almost instantly we are given a portrait of a new menacing looking character dressed smartly in red. This leads many people to believe that Lloyd is actually an embodiment of the Devil. Lloyd also tells Jack that his money is no good here and that the payment has been taken care of, implying that the Devil has accepted his offer and is taking Jack's soul in return. This takes place just before Jack becomes devoid of emotion, after this encounter we no longer see the family man Jack Torrence of the first act.

Kubrick Is Jack Torrence
A popular fan theory that surfaced following the release of Vivian Kubrick's behind the scenes documentary was that at this point in his life, Kubrick was Jack Torrence.
Obsessive, mean one moment and soft natured the next with an easily accessible temper are just a few Torrence-esque characteristics exhibited by Kubrick in this documentary.
Kubrick could've created Jack as a deliberate reflection of himself or his own struggle with duality could've slipped into his work.
Behaviour exhibited by Kubrick towards Shelly Duval (Wendy Torrence) is the most telling of this theory. He tends to be consistently domineering and verbally aggressive towards her at the slightest mistake. This has been reported as a deliberate move by Kubrick in order to make Duval extremely emotional before scenes. He supposedly made Duval shoot a difficult screaming scene 100 times before even putting film in the camera.
Vivian Kubrick's documentary was initially described as semi scripted which leads some to believe that Kubrick exhibited these characteristics on purpose to even further blur the lines between the real and unreal in and surrounding this film.

Baphomet
Baphomet is a satanic idol that represents the duality of man and the binary opposition of morality. In the last frame Jack is shown holding the same stance as the idol, this has lead to the theory that Kubrick deliberately created parallels between his protagonist and this figure in order to further develop the hints he was dropping that The Overlook is Hell. Some theories range from Kubrick using Baphomet as an archetype to create the narrative all the way to Jack Torrence being the literal embodiment of this satanic idol. Jack relates to personal duality and holding an opposed morality in his struggle between being a loving family man and an insane psychopath filled with murderous rage.
Many extremely radical theorists believe that this frame alone is proof that Stanley Kubrick was a member of the occult power the 'illuminati'.
I guess he did fake the moon landing after all...

Scene Analysis - The Gold Room Bathroom
The Gold Room bathroom scene in which Jack first encounters Delbert Grady, is perhaps the most identifiable and revered in the entire film.
It serves as the final nail in the coffin for the redeemable side of Jack's character, as Delbert Grady convinces Jack to execute his family in the same fashion as he did.
Kubrick uses a number of unorthodox filmmaking methods in order to help the audience understand that this is no regular encounter. 
He breaks the 180 degree rule otherwise known as the axis of action, this is normally frowned upon but works to the advantage of this scene as it supports the dialogue.
For example, moments after Grady says "You've always been the caretaker here" we get a break in the rule. Kubrick did this in order to create confusion about the identity of each character. We are lead to believe that Grady is the killer yet Jack is seen taking his place.
Kubrick also used a limited amount of close ups. A one to one conversation within film tends to be filled with close ups so the audience can see the most subtle of reactions, to the encounter, by the characters. As most of the scene is filmed in a wide shot the viewer struggles to identify with either character which furthers the idea that Kubrick wants us to see these characters as one and the same, and to take in their similarities as opposed to their differences. The rare close ups we are given are only when both characters are discussing extreme violence, leading us to believe that this is whats most important to them.
Kubrick also utilises an extremely low cutting rate. Kubrick smashes what an audience is used to in continuity editing and by doing so can put an audience on edge as they are uncomfortable with how long they have been presented with a shot.
The use of the colours red and white are clearly present throughout the scene both in the room and in the dress of the two characters.
This link is to support the idea that these characters have been claimed by the hotel. 
The fact that the scene is shot in wide and has a slow cutting rate means that we get to see more of the characters surroundings and make this connection between The Overlook Hotel and it's murderous caretakers.

By Lewis Urquhart

Count: 3,013 Words 17,343 Characters

References

Stanley Kubrick's The Shining (New Trailer 2016) - In cinemas for Halloween | BFI -https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6lClewZeGV0

Film Affinity - The Shining - http://www.filmaffinity.com/en/movie-relations.php?movie-id=598422

BIO. - Stanley Kubrick - http://www.biography.com/people/stanley-kubrick-9369672

'Seeing Red: The Use of Red in The Shining' -http://www.academia.edu/7668353/_Seeing_Red_The_Use_Of_Red_In_The_Shining_

Red: A Kubrick Supercut - Vimeo - https://vimeo.com/112129153

Filmtank.org - The Overlook Is Hell - http://filmtank.org/forum/forum/film-development/films/1641-the-shining-stanley-kubrick-1980-the-overlook-is-hell

IMDB - The Shining - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0081505/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1

Kubrick's The Shining(1980) - Rare Behind The Scenes Footage - Youtube -https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8o-n6vZvqjQ

The Visions of Stanley Kubrick - Vimeo - https://vimeo.com/140956104

Room 237 - Netflix - https://dvd.netflix.com/Movie/Room-237/70229061

No Film School - The Shining - Justin Morrow - http://nofilmschool.com/2013/05/seriously-exhaustive-analysis-the-shining-kubrick

Staircases to Nowhere - Vimeo - https://vimeo.com/66584974

The Shining - Netflix - https://dvd.netflix.com/Movie/The-Shining/959008

The Shining Last Frame Theory

Ballroom Photograph Theory

The last frame of The Shining (1980) shows Jack Torrence in an old ballroom photograph from 1921. I believe that this goes ways to prove a popular opinion that Jack Torrence is reincarnated by the hotel to repeat a cycle of violence. Other references to repeated violence are when Wendy tells the hotel staff that Jack hasn't had a drink in 5 months due to an incident, later in the film Jack tells the bartender that he dislocated Danny's arm 5 years ago. Kubrick makes these events seem similar to give off the impression that Jack has hurt Danny many times creating a repeat cycle of violence. Other factors supporting the reincarnation theory include when Delbert Grady tells Jack he has always been the caretaker at the hotel. The hotel management foreshadow the exact violent actions of Jack when they explain a past incident in the hotel. Kubrick is trying to create an air of repetition. In a recently uncovered alternate ending the hotel manager visits Wendy and Danny who are recovering in hospital and gives Jack's tennis ball to Danny, many has speculated that this is the passing of Jack's madness to his son, cursing him to repeat the violent cycle.

Auteur Lecture - Martin Scorsese Analysis

Martin Scorsese's films are full of the similarities and codes that would make him an Auteur. Specifically the narrative many of his films follow, Many of his movies including Goodfellas and Casino follow the story of a white male in poverty who uses criminal methods to rise to the top of a syndicate or amass a large amount of wealth. Other films that follow this narrative include Wolf of Wall Street and Gangs of New York.

Scorsese is known for using a narrative voiceover from the protagonist in most of his films, this is present in all of the films previously mentioned. Casino is the only film that uses a duel character voiceover from both De Niro and Pesci's characters, this is to show the audience that both characters are equally important to the story. Many of Scorsese's films include a specific type of character development, many of his protagonists become more unhinged and on edge as the storyline progresses. All of his films include a white female love interest, they tend to have an unconventional or dysfunctional relationship. For example in Wolf of Wall Street Jordan Belfort cheats on then divorces the two love interests throughout the film. In Goodfellas Henry Hill is a chauvinist who sleeps around and cheats on his wife. In Casino Sam Rothstein is unrequitedly in love with his wife Ginger Mckenna. In Taxi Driver Travis Bickle is seen as a stalker who pressures Betsy to date him.

Scorsese tends to repeatedly use similar actors in his films, three stand outs are, Leonardo Di Caprio, Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci.

Spaced Season 2 Episode 5 Analysis

Spaced

Contextual information

Spaced is a British television sitcom written by and starring Jessica Stevenson and Simon Pegg, and directed by Edgar Wright. Two series of seven episodes each were broadcast in 1999 and 2001 on Channel 4 on a Friday night.

Analysis
At the twenty minute mark we see an exchange of close ups between each character within the scene. This is used to help the audience identify with the characters.
The footage was shot and edited in opposing angles, this is to show the different sides of a conflict. The same technique is used in big budget movies, it allows the audience to immediately understand the allegiances of characters within a scene.

This is immediately followed by a fast cut action scene. In order to simulate urgency Edgar Wright created a quickly paced scene that includes many cuts and includes many action devices such as shot reverse shot, zooms, repeat shots and quick panning shots. 
This scene is a parody of classic action sequences, this plays into Wrights philosophy of visual comedy. By taking something familiar to an audience and using most of the trademark components to mock it Wright has been credited with revitalising visual comedy in cinema.

Throughout this scene Wright has edited non-diegetic sound of guns loading and bullets being fired. This is used for a similar reason to the previous point, it's exaggerated and overly-dramatic. 
This scene also uses a classic score highlighting the parody and making the scene feel more like a legitimate war movie.

Lewis Urquhart

Sherlock meets Irene Adler - BBC - Gender & Power Analysis

Sherlock meets Irene Adler - Sherlock Series 2 - BBC 

How is gender and power represented in the above scene?

In the following essay I will discuss the many ways gender and the power balance between these characters is shown throughout this scene. Including how the dialogue, camera angles, direction and acting influences the audiences perception of each character.

The clearest example of power and gender in the scene is the fact that Irene Adler is naked for most of it. In the beginning Adler has the upper hand, she has surprised Sherlock and immediately seen through his plan, it is clear that Adler's power can be determined by how sexualised the character is. As the scene progresses and Sherlock gains the upper-hand, he confirms where the photos are located and has information she wants about a case, Adler is covered up with Sherlock's coat removing her power and dominance over him.
This is included to add depth to Sherlock's character and show that he can be challenged. 

Irene Adler shows women to be powerful in this scene. This is a rare case as it manages to sexualise a character without objectifying her. Adler isn't used to appease male audience members she is shown to be confident and cunning as she immediately disarms the smartest male character on the show by utilising the female form as a weapon.

At 1:25 we see a point of view shot from Sherlock. It shows his inability to pick up any signs from Adler's appearance. this is a demonstration of the power gender has over Sherlock's ability to tap into his intellect, this is a rare moment in the show in which we see him unable to read someone, this is because he is both confused by his own feelings toward Irene and is shocked at being intellectually bested. 

The actors physical language is also very important to the scene. They literally switch positions mid scene. When the dominance changes between characters Sherlock stands up and Irene sits. This could have been a directorial decision as it clearly signifies where the scene is going.

The dialogue of the scene is very slow and methodical as if each character has carefully pre-planned each word. Both characters are constantly verbally sparring meaning the power balance seems to be constantly going back and forth between them almost a mental game of chess. There is also many flirty lines such as when Adler says "would you like me to try" this again shows how Adler uses her sexuality as a tool to get what she wants.

A notable use of props within this scene is shown at 0:35. In this moment we see Adler bite down on the clerical collar Sherlock was using to hide as a vicar. This could be to show him as who he really is by literally removing his disguise. She remarks "now we're both exposed" this is a clever use of dialogue as the usual connotations of the word 'exposed' are negative but we see it used to signify the illusion of transparency as neither character is giving anything away.

The camera angles used for shots of Adler change throughout the scene. In the beginning of the scene we see a low angle to show how Adler is dominant and has the upper hand. Later in the scene when Adler covers up and sits down we get a high angle shot this is to demonstrate that there has been a shift in power and the protagonist we follow is now on top.

In conclusion I believe that gender and power are represented as tools for attaining what you desire. For Irene Adler she uses her gender to undermine Sherlock and show her power over him, as for Sherlock his gender was initially his weakness as he fell victim to an uncharacteristically primitive side to himself.

Lewis Urquhart 

Fantastic Mr Fox

Review

Wes Anderson's first foray into stop motion animation is a success. This is a movie full of trademark quirks that mean it can comfortably keep up with its peers in the stylistically mesmerising filmography of Wes Anderson. This telling of Roald Dahl's 1970 classic of the same name will not invoke the same sense of desecration we seem to get at every recent adaption of classic literature. This movie is a colourful and delighting ride through the combined creative minds of two very quirky story tellers.

Fantastic Mr Fox was a love letter to the stop motion classics that Wes loved as a child, he snubbed CGI for a more traditional method of production which gives off visually stunning results. Particularly during the 'Whack-Bat' scene in which we get a long shot of the overcomplicated sport. The sheer spectacle of the visuals are not merely a gimmick as the characters in this movie are likeable and easy to root for. Noah Baumbach and Wes Anderson's script acts as a brilliant foundation for this charming adaption adding depth to each character and a wacky plot that manages to both stay true to Dahl's vision and be refreshing at the same time.

George Clooney in typical wise cracking mode puts in a fine vocal performance as Mr Fox making it hard to picture anyone else giving life to the character in quite the same way. He is supported by an A list cast that includes Bill Murray, Meryl Streep, Jason Schwartzman, Owen Wilson, Adrien Brody, Jarvis Cocker and Willem Defoe. A highlight performance is Jason Schwartzman as Ash, Mr Fox's angsty son, from his delivery of scolding insults aimed at Eric Anderson's Kristofferson to his rants about his bandit hat Schwartzman remains as witty as ever.

In an interview with MTV Movies Schwartzman remarked that Anderson had "brought the genre to him" which I think is the perfect way to describe most of his projects, the outgoing film-maker cannot be confined to the limits of a genre as proven by his continuous output of original and high quality films. His latest triumph is full of emotion and humour just simple enough to access the hearts of viewers of all ages. Fantastic Mr Fox will go down as one of his great successes due to its brilliant characters, style and direction.

Lewis Urquhart

Production

Revolution Studios had the idea to adapt Fantastic Mr Fox(1970) into a feature film in 2004 when they bought the film rights to the Roald Dahl classic. It took a few years to get the project off the ground but in 2006 Mark Mothersbaugh of New Wave band 'Devo' revealed that he was working on a soundtrack to the film. Shortly after this Wes Anderson signed on to direct giving a huge boost to the stature of the project. Anderson needed to rework the original plot to make the story compatible for the big screen. He added small plot points preceding and succeeding the events of the novel to create the beginning, middle and end of the script. 

Wes Anderson used some unorthodox methods when creating this film, according to MTV Movies interview with Jason Schwartzman instead of recording the audio separately, all the starring actors lived in a house with one another for a week during the recording process. He also recorded much of the audio in places similar to that of the story setting places such as forests and even underground. In 2006 Revolution Studios closed down and the project moved to Twentieth Century Fox.

Producing the first puppet reportedly cost $50,000 due to amount of different prototypes they worked with. They chose a fully posable design with a silicon skeleton, this allowed them to have full control over small details such as eyebrows and cheekbones to make the characters really come alive. Each character had four different sized puppets, a large one used for close up shots, a medium one for general use, a small one for full body shots and a micro one used for long distance shots.

Fox Searchlight - Youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q5pQvytHIEE 
Public Forum - Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fantastic_Mr._Fox_(film)#Production
Larry Carroll - MTV Movies http://www.mtv.com/news/1619463/the-fantastic-mr-fox-jason-schwartzmans-favorite-wes-anderson-film/



Themes

Upon first viewing Fantastic Mr Fox's deeper themes are hard to pick out, but if you look past the glossy surface you'll find a tale of poverty, depression and crime. Mr Fox is a former criminal who has settled down to start a family, in his mid-life he grows tired of his new job and living standards and decides to make a change. This change involves manipulating both his new neighbour & nephew into helping steal from three businesses. This clearly immoral act leads me to believe that we're not following the 'good guy' of the story and that the antagonists may deserve more sympathy than we're giving. An overlying theme could be that the class system forces people to commit crime due to their quality of life, distinctly the scene in which Mr Fox is shocked by how much cider is in Bean's basement. He can't believe that while he struggles to make a living other people have hoards of food and he feels this is unfair.