With his penultimate film this month wowing Cannes, the kid, you'd imagine, is happy so far. Courtesy Miramax Films. It's the stuff of legend that Tarantino learnt his trade working in a Los Angeles video store, spending his downtime absorbing every tape on the shelf.
Non-linear narratives, blistering bursts of violence, kinetic tracking shots, pop-culture references, close-ups of feet, famous dance sequences, director cameos and fictional brands like Big Kahuna Burgers and Red Apple cigarettes: Tarantino movies are all individual tapestries, but they share many common threads.
As his long-time producer Lawrence Bender once described this one-man universe: "When you buy a ticket to one of Quentin's movies, you're basically buying a one-way ticket to Tarantino-land. In early , John Travolta's once-illustrious career had become limited to the Look Who's Talking series. Bruce Willis was hardly doing much better — he was reduced to voicing the actual baby in them, after the high-profile catastrophes of Bonfire of the Vanities and Hudson Hawk.
Then, Pulp Fiction happened. Travolta and Willis aren't the only ones who owe that nice new swimming pool to Tarantino, either. His canny casting of stars whose own careers had long since faded has also included Pam Grier and David Carradine. A few years ago, I was lucky enough to go to Tarantino's house to present him with an award. He has a massive room that he's converted into his own "record store", where he can thumb through rare albums to find the songs he wants for whatever movie he's working on.
Little wonder his incredible soundtracks have defined his career as much as his visuals have, from the opening bars of George Baker Selection's Little Green Bag that played over Reservoir Dogs 's credit sequence to the "whistling song" in Kill Bill which was taken from British horror film, Twisted Nerve.
Tarantino has always surrounded himself with an inner circle of quality character actors who he has repaid with gold-dust parts.
Uma Thurman in 'Kill Bill'. Four-time QT veteran, Michael Madsen, meanwhile, claims that " working with Quentin is my favourite thing". Although, given that he has routinely starred in films with names like Piranhaconda and CobraGator , you'd hope that was the case. Tarantino has won two Oscars for screenwriting Pulp Fiction , Django Unchained , but his work isn't limited to awards-friendly fare. When she's not writing, you can find her trying to learn a new language, watching hockey go Avs!
Breakfast food is life and coffee is what makes the world go round. It was great. By Adrienne Tyler Updated Jun 11, Share Share Tweet Email 0. Related Topics SR Originals death proof kill bill inglourious basterds django unchained pulp fiction jackie brown the hateful eight once upon a time in hollywood reservation dogs. Watch the preamble to the "big toe" scene here, and notice how the tension and style of the surrounding sequence leads up to the payoff of a close-up shot — an extreme close-up shot of a toe, to be specific.
When, after a plus minute animation scene, Tarantino returns to Uma Thurman's character in the truck, and she at long last musters the ability to wiggle her big toe, here's the shot Tarantino presents in all its extreme close-up, toe-loving glory:.
Saying that characters in Tarantino films are often in peril is an understatement, and his use of the crash zoom heightens those feelings of dread and disorientation. Watch this Quentin Tarantino crash zoom supercut video for a zippy tour through the director's use of the camera technique:.
Yes, it's a heavy-handed directing technique in that it visually shouts to a viewer, "Hey, pay attention to this particular moment and this particular character" — but an occasional heavy hand isn't necessarily a bad thing, especially for a director with a bold, energetic style like Tarantino. Often, Tarantino lets his directing style lead him to very interesting places. Like the trunk of a car, as we explore in the next section. This trademark Quentin Tarantino shot does an effective job putting the audience in the moment.
Yes, they're in almost all Tarantino films. Although it's worth mentioning that the director does provide a similar trunk-style looking-up POV shot of Django. Tarantino wants his audience to feel as if they are right there with the characters, and the closeness and confinement of this "trunk technique" ensures they will be. Again, even when a car trunk isn't readily available, Tarantino employs his trunk-like POV shot technique. Here's an example from Inglorious Basterds :.
These shots convey powerlessness in the viewer, and in the characters who are unfortunate enough to be motivating the particular POV shots in question, while emphasizing the literal upper-hand possessed by the characters looking down at us in the frame. Viewers, and the ground- or trunk-level characters, find themselves at the mercy of the director and his other more powerful players.
In interviews and quotes , QT explains how his movies are filled with the passion of a fan who wants to share something cool with us. The director is notoriously vocal about sharing lists and titles of his favorite films, and their influence can be found in his own work — such as the spaghetti westerns mentioned above, and Shaw Brothers Hong Kong action films giving visual inspiration to Kill Bill. Here's a video and interview with Quentin Tarantino discussing his five years working at now-closed Video Archives in Manhattan Beach.
He also praises film geeks, and talks about how he proudly considers himself one:. Ultimately, films by Quentin Tarantino bring the subconscious to the surface, and the use of these shot devices allows for the emotions of the characters to resonate more deeply with the audience. It is that care and attention to the viewer that has kept his films exciting and fresh for almost three decades.
I am the audience. Quentin Tarantino has noted his love for the film Seven , from director David Fincher. So what better to explore in our next post than the directing style of this fellow master filmmaker? From shot composition to color palettes, and from working with actors to maintaining an omniscient POV, get essential tips and techniques from another of the modern era's best filmmaking talents. Create robust and customizable shot lists. Upload images to make storyboards and slideshows.
Michael Madsen, James Parks, and Tim Roth, who respectively appear in five, four, and three films; and Zoe Bell, who has acted or performed stunts in seven Tarantino films. Samuel L. Jackson, Uma Thurman, and John Travolta were each nominated for. Give the video a watch when you have a moment.
Previous Post. Next Post. A visual medium requires visual methods. Master the art of visual storytelling with our FREE video series on directing and filmmaking techniques. More and more people are flocking to the small screen to find daily entertainment.
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