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This week's episode will be interrupted by a number of spectacular, linear tracking shots, all filmed with a delightful sepia-esque duotone filter. Oh, and Bill Murray will be there... probably? That's right, we're talking about the works of Wes Anderson (and fans of his work)!
Expecting LEGO? There was a bit of a scheduling mixup. Try again later.
Next week, we have special guest, SMZeldaRules to talk about the complex and fascinating world of the _Nier_ games!
## Episode outline
### Fandom Facts
**History and Origins:**
Wes Anderson is an American film director, producer, screen writer and actor known for his peculiar visual and narrative style. His films and himself have been nominated for (and have won) many different awards. He has directed 9 feature length films since 1996.
> Anderson is regarded by many as a modern-day example of the auteur. He has received consistent praise from critics for his work, and three of his films—The Royal Tenenbaums, Moonrise Kingdom, and The Grand Budapest Hotel—appeared in BBC's 2016 poll of the greatest films since 2000.
>
> — [Wikipedia - Wes Anderson](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wes_Anderson)
**Search Data:**
Interest in Wes Anderson is very spiky, but overall [interest in him has been lifted since about January 2012](https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=all&q=%2Fm%2F02ld6x). Most notable spikes include October 2007 (_The Darjeeling Limited_), June 2012 (_Moonrise Kingdom_), March 2014 (_The Grand Budapest Hotel_), February 2015 (BAFTA Award for Best Original Screenplay, _Grand Budapest Hotel_), and April 2018 (_Isle of Dogs_).
Top countries, by search volume: United States, Canada, New Zealand, Ireland, Australia, United Kingdom, Sweden, Italy, Norway, Singapore.
**Size of Fandom:**
Based on a few data points:
- There are over 12 000 subscribers on [r/wesanderson](https://www.reddit.com/r/wesanderson/)
- Bottle Rocket has [over 60 000 ratings on IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0115734/?ref_=nm_flmg_dr_16)
- There are over 220 000 subscribers on [r/AccidentalWesAnderson](https://www.reddit.com/r/AccidentalWesAnderson/)
- Moonrise Kingdom has [over 270 000 ratings on IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1748122/?ref_=nm_flmg_wr_7)
It's safe to put the number of fans somewhere in _the low hundreds of thousands_
**Fan Demographics:**
We did manage to get some demographic information... in a bit of a roundabout way. [YouGov has a page for Wes Anderson](https://yougov.co.uk/opi/browse/Wes_Anderson), and by reading some of the source code and information on the page, we can get a very rough idea compared to 'competitors':
- _Age:_ A lot younger than competitors
- _Gender:_ A lot more female than competitors
- _Politics:_ A lot more left leaning than competitors
If we look at a bit more general data like the ratings data from IMDb for Moonrise Kingdom, we can get a loose idea of age and gender (admittedly, skewed by general cinema-goers):
- _Gender:_ Predominantly male (63%)
- _Age:_ Largest group is aged 30-44 (37%) followed by 18-29 (35%)
### [Last Episode's](http://fanthropological.com/e/chiptune-sample-mario-brothersm4a/) Famous Last Words
Whoops! Due to a scheduling conflicts, last week's famous last words about Lego don't apply to this week's episode... on Wes Anderson.
### The Verdict
**G is in.** Is his favourite director.
**T is out.** Might watch some of the other movies.
**Z is in.** Not a big a fan as G... not quite.
### This week's spotlight
Not so much a spotlight as an interesting (if ill-thought out) homage to Wes Anderson films.
**[Sammy the Explorer](https://www.vox.com/xpress/2014/12/9/7356099/wes-anderson-charity-video)**
> Charities HurleyH20 and SurfAid Sumba decided to promote their clean-water charity project with a video shot in the style of filmmaker Wes Anderson. The video is narrated by a cheerful young Indonesian boy who discovers, on his home island's beach, some white male surfers, whom he watches in amazement until the surfers come to his village to install clean drinking water.
>
> — [Vox - A charity made a video about a brown child being entranced by magical white men. Um?](https://www.vox.com/xpress/2014/12/9/7356099/wes-anderson-charity-video)
[// Plugs go here ]: #
### Famous Last Words
This week's famous last words around *next week's* fandom, *Nier*!
**Z**
The popularity of Nier is as small as it is because it came out after Sony had disrupted the Nintendo-based gaming monoculture.
**T**
How did the series go from Dragons (Drakengard) to Robots (Nier)?
**G**
Why are there more albums than games?
## Where can you find us online?
We are everywhere! Most notably though, we like to hang out in a few places on social media:
- If you want to be part of our podcast (or just want to check us out), we record our podcast LIVE on [twitch.tv](http://twitch.tv/thenickscast) every Monday at 20:00 Eastern Time!
- For all the latest updates, check us out on [Facebook](https://facebook.com/thenickscast) or [Twitter](https://twitter.com/thenickscast)
- To see the latest hijinx from our conventions or even our daily lives and adventures, check us out on [Instagram](https://instagram.com/thenickscast)
- For our latest convention updates, *Let's Plays*, and other in-real-life video, [check out our YouTube channel](http://youtube.com/thenickscast)
- We're also on [iTunes](https://itunes.apple.com/podcast/fanthropological/id1163621210), and [Google Play](https://play.google.com/music/m/Icmngxz7yhaoivdvivvf6q6c2pu?t=Fanthropological), and would love it if you could leave a review and rating!
- if you want to reach us, and for some reason none of those work for you, try [
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- Everything is `thenickscast`, so if you can't find us, go on your social network and search for that!
## What is "Fanthropological"?
How did you read this far without asking this question?!
Fanthropological is an anthropological (ish) podcast where we bring the fan's-eye view to you! Each week, we take a look at a different fandom, dig up interesting background, trivia, and history, and try to get to why it is that people are a fan. We also try to highlight good causes related to that fandom, and find interesting things that fans have created to share those to the world. Each episode is about an hour. Ish.
## Who is "The Nickscast"?
*We* are the Nickscast! Three products of late-80s / early-90s pop culture who love exploring fandom and everything geek ... who also happen to have been best buddies since high school, and all happen to be named Nick. Yes, we are super creative (dare we say, the _most_ creative).
*Ahem*
We are Nick Green, Nick Terwoord, and Nick Zacharewicz: We started the Nickscast as a labour of love, and as a place to entertain and to discuss our love of fans and fandom, and all that is shiny and interesting in that realm. It's what lead us to start our first podcast, our satellite podcasts, Fanthropological, and so much more.
We want to help others learn more about different fandoms, and to create empathy with other fans: We dream of a world where other fans aren't "those Weird-o's", but just folks with different tastes. A world where fandom is full of discourse and analysis, and there are plenty of tools and resources to help. Fans building communities to do good in the world. *Because everyone's a fan.*
## Credits
### Sources
- [Wikipedia - Wes Anderson](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wes_Anderson)
- [Google Trends - Wes Anderson](https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=all&q=%2Fm%2F02ld6x)
- [IMDb - Moonrise Kingdom](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1748122/?ref_=nm_flmg_wr_7)
- [IMDb - Bottle Rocket](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0115734/?ref_=nm_flmg_dr_16)
- [YouGov - Wes Anderson](https://yougov.co.uk/opi/browse/Wes_Anderson)
- [Vox - A charity made a video about a brown child being entranced by magical white men. Um?](https://www.vox.com/xpress/2014/12/9/7356099/wes-anderson-charity-video)
- [r/unpopuaropinion - I think Wes Anderson's movies are extremely overrated](https://www.reddit.com/r/unpopularopinion/comments/5uofuj/i_think_wes_andersons_movies_are_extremely/)
- [Betty - What’s the Big Deal with Wes Anderson Movies Anyway? Here’s What You Need to Know…](https://www.betty.me/style/wes-anderson-movies/)
- [Catholic Answers Forums - Why Do People Like Wes Anderson and His Films?](https://forums.catholic.com/t/why-do-people-like-wes-anderson-and-his-films/326755/6)
- [Eater - Wes Anderson’s Greatest Meals](https://www.eater.com/2018/3/22/17142016/wes-anderson-best-food-scenes-grand-budapest-hotel-rushmore)
- [Fondazione Prada - Bar Luce](http://www.fondazioneprada.org/barluce-en/?lang=en)
- [Indie Wire - Wes Anderson’s Style: Watch 10 Iconic Movies That Influenced Him](http://www.indiewire.com/2017/04/wes-anderson-style-orson-welles-francois-truffaut-1201809039/)
- [Mic - The Science Behind Why We Love Wes Anderson Movies](https://mic.com/articles/85591/the-science-behind-why-we-love-wes-anderson-movies#.pTk0HQWxl)
- [Quora - Who Are Wes Anderson’s Biggest Influences?](https://www.quora.com/Who-are-Wes-Andersons-biggest-influences)
- [Quora - Why Are Wes Anderson Films Supposedly Brilliant](https://www.quora.com/Why-are-Wes-Anderson-films-supposedly-brilliant)
- [Quora - Why are Wes Anderson's Movies so Important and so Admired?](https://www.quora.com/Why-are-Wes-Andersons-movies-so-important-and-so-admired)
- [Quora - Why Does Wes Anderson Frequently Make Movies about Rich People and their Strange Peculiarities?](https://www.quora.com/Why-does-Wes-Anderson-frequently-make-movies-about-rich-people-and-their-strange-peculiarities)
- [r/movies - People Who Like Wes Anderson: Why Do You Like Wes Anderson?](https://www.reddit.com/r/movies/comments/15ucs2/people_who_like_wes_anderson_why_do_you_like_wes/)
- [The Cinephiliac - Why I Hate Wes Anderson](https://thecinephiliac.com/2011/05/10/why-i-hate-wes-anderson/)
- [YouTube - You Know It’s Wes Anderson If...](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nqfRmceGwUs)
### Music / Sound
- ["Black Widow"](http://teknoaxe.com/Link_Code_4.php?q=1232&Genre=Retro) by TeknoAXE used under [CC BY 4.0](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
- All other music and sound for this week's episode were provided by Nick Green!
### Artwork
- ["Glasses"](https://thenounproject.com/term/glasses/132894) by [Anton Anuchin](https://thenounproject.com/antonwebium) used under [CC BY 3.0](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/us/)
