The Art of Stereoscopy: Michael Taylor – ‘Boy with Apple’

By Michael Taylor

Some 12 years ago I was approached by film director Wes Anderson to create a priceless renaissance ‘masterpiece’ for his forthcoming movie, ‘The Grand Budapest Hotel’. The painting, around which the plot revolves was to be called ‘Boy with Apple’ and is currently on display (behind bullet proof glass!) in the exhibition ‘Wes Anderson : the Archives‘ at the Design Museum in London. According to the museum catalogue it has now ‘reached cult status’, but what is not mentioned in the catalogue or in the display was my use of stereoscopy during its creation.

So, as a small contribution to Stereoscopy Day, here is a brief account of the process along with a few stereos rescued from the wreckage, a couple of stereo conversions (apologies if not perfect) followed by a selection taken at the exhibition itself.

Attentive followers of this blog may remember that I have long used stereoscopic transparencies as a studio aid, but for this project they were to prove crucial. One of my stipulations for taking it on was that it should be a real portrait done with a real sitter, as most paintings in films appear to have been knocked up from photographs at the last moment and I wanted to avoid this. The studio found the perfect model in Ed Munro, a 13 year old dance student, decking him out in suitable velvets, furs and a prominent codpiece. Rather than let them build me a studio ‘set’ to work in as they suggested, I commandeered the dining hall of Hanford School for girls, a beautiful Jacobean house near my home in Dorset. It was the school summer holidays, so we had the place to ourselves.

Ed and his mum Sarah came down and stayed with us for sittings, but his dance commitments (he was in a West End production of Singing in the Rain at the time) meant that I had to be able to work on the painting when he couldn’t be there. Anticipating this, I made sure I took stereoscopic transparencies at every stage using a Sputnik for 120 film and my old canon FTb on a slide bar for 35mm.

When using stereos for working from I ignore the usual niceties like composition or window violations to concentrate on exposure and raw information, which means that while they are often rather unlovely photographs, they prove extremely useful by providing me with a little virtual model frozen in time.

I had built a little studio in one corner of the school hall with a curtain, pewter plate, bird skull and, to deter unwanted interference, I had stuck a little label up declaring it to be ‘Van Hoytl’s most excellent corner. Verily’. (I had been cast as Johannes Van Hoytl the younger)

As the painting progressed, we started to mix up different elements from different costumes; the sleeves from one or the bodice from another and for putting this together convincingly the stereos were a great help.

But they really came into their own as shooting approached and Wes asked for some last minute changes after Ed or the school hall were no longer available. The expression got changed, and the pewter plate and curtain rail went, as did the painting of a castle (to be replaced by an enigmatic little bit of paper “yes yes….we must have the little bit of paper!”). To make these changes I could rely on the stereos rather than having to make things up. In the end it all worked out OK, and the film went on to be nominated for 9 Oscars, Ed grew up and is currently dancing round the world on stadium tours with the likes of Dua Lipa, and I could get back to my own work!

The exhibition ‘Wes Anderson – The Archives’ at the Design Museum is truly astonishing and well worth a visit, and has been extended to 16th August before embarking on a 4 year world tour. If you would like to know more about the making of Boy with Apple, there are quite a number of accounts online including this interview for Little White Lies magazine, and an interview with the BBC.

I finish with some hastily taken random views of the exhibition…..