The Distinctive Violence of Quentin Tarantino

Quentin Tarantino produces some of the most highly anticipated films to reach the box office. The appeal of his films is the raw violence and overall chaos that his films have. Tarantino is most known for his films Pulp Fiction (1994), Once Upon A Time in Hollywood (2019), Django Unchained (2012), and Inglorious Bastards (2009).

 Quentin Tarantino’s writing style is a huge part of what’s made him so successful, but more than that, it is his shot choices that bring the audience deeper into the narrative. Tarantino, like all directors working at the top of their game, uses the camera as his most powerful storytelling implement. 

One of his most popular camera angles would be the wide shot. When a director wants to show a character in relation to his or her surroundings or, when a director wants the audience to appreciate the full scope of a subject’s predicament within those surroundings, nothing fits the agenda more efficiently as a well-crafted wide shot. Tarantino himself once said, “I want to top expectations. I want to blow you away.” His wide shots do just that, they enrapture the audience’s attention with a single angle shot. His wide shots let you take in every detail of the world he’s built for you.

His next tactic would be the use of crash zooms. A “crash zoom,” also known as a snap zoom, is a sudden, rapid zoom in on a subject, and you start to see it in Quentin Tarantino’s work from Kill Bill onward. It’s an intense effect, and heightens the drama around any moment.It’s like an extreme close-up but elevated to a higher degree.

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.  In the film Kill Bill, Stephen rushing to Calvin Candie’s aid or the Bride waking up from her coma are moments of maximum drama, and Tarantino appropriately employs the technique to keep the audience on the edge of their seats.

Another most distinctive practice of Tarantino’s would be the trunk shot. In almost, if nit, all of his films, he portrays the characters on screen opening a trunk while looking down into it. This forces depth into the shot in a very natural manner. The characters on screen gain a complexity to their actions and intent in each of these scenes as it portrays a new dynamic to the audience. Those watching will garner a better sense of adrenaline from the scene and will then be able to connect to the character further.

Quentin Tarantino is a genre of himself. He has nurtured a career with films of intoxicating and seductive violence surrounding the lives of criminals. His success in the film industry has been rampant and I honestly would not expect anything less

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