Quentin Tarantino's Film 'Pulp Fiction'

At a young age of eight, David Fincher’s passion for cinema grew when he saw the movie Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969). Born in 1962 Denver, Colorado, David Fincher moved to Ashland, Oregon in his teens, where he graduated from Ashland High School. Much of his time here, he directed plays, designed sets, and managed lighting after school. Until one summer, he and a friend attended the Berkley Film Institute’s summer program, where he hoped to learn film as a true art form but instead learned only the technical production. Either way he was happy to engage is this and as his early film industry career started, he was a production assistant at his local television news station. Years went by as he directed propaganda films then moving on to becoming a well-known music director before his first movie feature debut Aliens 3 in 1992. However, the American director David Fincher didn’t become a modern 21st century visionary until his creation of the film Se7en (1995). The huge success after this film started Fincher’s popularity in the film industry. From there he continued to make ironic movies we know today, such as: Fight Club (1999), Zodiac (2007), The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008), The Social Network (2010), Gone Girl, and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.

Steven Spielberg is notorious for his jaw dropping brilliant movies that mesmerize a large audience.

Pulp Fiction is a black comedy, and crime movie that was written and directed by Quentin Tarantino. The movie features graphic violence, drugs, and a mysterious briefcase. Pulp Fiction tells several stories in a nonlinear way, meaning that the narratives are not told in a chronological order and do not follow the rules of space and time. The usage of a nonlinear format in Pulp Fiction was quite compelling as it did not follow the typical cause-effect sequence in any scene, instead Tarantino chose to open the movie with a non-typical effect rather than a cause.

Steven Spielberg is known by mostly everyone for directing Jaws, E.T., Saving Private Ryan, Jurassic Park, etc. Some of the biggest hit movies in the U.S. Jurassic Park is one of Spielberg's best creations, bringing dinosaurs back to life, this movie led to multiple grammys under Spielberg's belt. Another great film, Jaws, was a box office hit and one of the highest grossing movies released. Jaws launched Spielberg's career into a very good path, it launched a new era in Hollywood. Steven won two academy awards for best director for “Schindler's List” and “Saving Private Ryan”, two of Spielberg's major war movies he directed, which were both hits as well. Spielberg's style is unlike no other. Mainly all of his movies are categorized as adventurous, deal with science fiction, and have historical drama (McBride). Most of his movies are adventurous. Jurassic Park and Jaws are dealing with more science fiction than any other style. Schindler's List has to deal with more historical drama. E.T. is more adventurous than the other styles as well. Lots of Spielberg's best movies have sequels, but most of them are not as good as the original film. Jaws has three or four movies in its series. Jurassic Park also has multiple movies, but they are all not commercially successful as the original Jurassic Park. However, Spielberg’s Indiana Jones series was a box office hit for every movie. Raiders of the Lost Ark was one of the most

As those of us who know Tarantino, we can expect, the seemingly disconnected dialogue; the abrasive, over the top outbursts of violence; the temporal shifts coalescing into a final endgame solution, or dissolution. And through these experiences, have we come to understand and developed our own unique Tarantino expectations. Through a cinematic lens of non-understanding, Tarantino stands alone in his film style. From the visual to the audio, quite nearly every aspect of his films diverge from traditional values. Although this divergence may seem unique, it has in fact, come from a dense, through-the-ages, and accumulated knowledge of films. In an attempt to subvert our understanding, preconceived notions, and theatrical assumptions, Tarantino utilizes overt cinematic language within the film of Kill Bill Volume One, in particular the opening scene of Uma Thurman and Vivica Fox’s first encounter. This attempt is at once subtle and also daringly groundbreaking, all serving to ultimately accomplish the subversion of the audiences perceptions. With the use of unique cinematic lighting and a close attention to visual detail as well as his exemplary form of dialogue, Tarantino instantly establishes, not only this particular scene, but the entire film, to be the epitome of what Tarantino represents. By playing on the audiences assumption’s Tarantino is able to cast off traditional cinematic tactics to achieve what his style has become known for. “The

A long time ago in a galaxy far far away The Movie Brats were at the top of the film industry, producing new blockbusters every year. The Movie Brats were a group of directors who were changing the film industry with their blockbuster movies American New Wave movement in the American film industry. The directors who made the most impact during this time period were no other than Francis Ford Coppola, George Lucas, John Milius, Brian De Palma, Steven Spielberg, Paul Schrader. Now will we only look into these three directors Francis Ford Coppola, George Lucas and also the great Steven Spielberg. All of these directors have created some of the greatest films in the film industry from “American Graffiti, Mean Streets, The Conversation, Jaws, Taxi

The auteur theory first began in the 1950s by a group of young French scholars who wrote for the journal Cahiers du Cinema. Most significant of these scholars was Francois Truffaut who wrote an article that served as the touchstone for auteurism. The auteur principle is used as a descriptive method that focuses not on whether a director is a great director but rather on the fundamental composition of a director’s work. This principle therefore focuses on a director’s thematic and stylistic uniformity, established filming method, personal artistic vision, recurring themes and most significantly his control over a film’s production. Auteur films are distinctive due to the unique artistic vision of its director and the fact that it imbues his personality. The auteur term is consequently used to distinguish directors whose works are distinguishable from others. It is important to note that not all directors can be auteurs. Only certain directors were able to express their personality through their works with the use of themes and style and would therefore to continuously produce the same types of stories. Looking at all of a director’s work was the only way to identify their individuality and to be able to place their mark on a film suggested the strength of the director as an artist.

Steven Spielberg used classic linear storytelling in his movies, the narrative in most of his movies were Plot driven and very effective. He is a storyteller always mindful of holding his audience. Steven Spielberg is one of the greatest directors of today. He is master in taking stories and incidents from the past and and rejuvinating them with his own potential.

Director Quentin Tarantino is an infamous director known for such beloved films like Pulp Fiction, Kill Bill, Reservoir Dogs and many more. What sets Tarantino apart from other directors is his unique style. He frequently includes meaningless and innocent dialogue in his films, at least one dance scene, there is loads of blood and gore, and finally, the POV trunk/hood shot from a car. His unique style has allowed many people to fall in love with his films and patiently await the next one.

Pastiche used in film is generally incorporated to create a nostalgic tone. However this is not the case with ‘Pulp Fiction’ as the strategy is used to pay homage and show appreciation towards 1950’s pulp fiction texts and influential films. Tarantino alludes to various aspects, techniques and scenes from other Hollywood movies into his own. Tarantino stated, “I always hope that if one million people see my movie, they see one million different movies” . Elements from Hollywood movies such as weapons, costumes, camera angles, themes and famous scenes are injected into ‘Pulp Fiction’. His film blurs the line between cinematic styles and genres. Intertextuality is a significant factor within Tarantino’s work, as by reinventing the old he is able to preserve originality and create a sense of dimension within his work. Tarantino refers to ‘Pulp Fiction’ not as a movie but as multiple movies. An example of pastiche within the film is present in the scene in which Marcellus Wallace coincidentally recognises Butch in his car while walking across the street. This action mimics the scene from Alfred Hitchcock’s “Psycho” where Marion’s boss recognises her as he crosses at traffic lights. Through this pastiche Tarantino is able to show his appreciation and influence of Hitchcock’s infamous films while also applying the scene in a postmodern context. Another occurrence of pastiche appears in Butches weapon of choice; a baseball bat and chainsaw. These weapons of choice pay homage to the films ‘Walking Tall’ and ‘Texas Chainsaw Massacre’

Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill movies are prime examples of the relationship between moments and their respective films. Roger Ebert, in his review of Kill Bill Volume 2, describes Tarantino’s method as creating “lovingly structured episodes that play on their own while contributing to the legend.”1 Indeed, all of the individual moments in Kill Bill Volume 2 have their own significance, while at the same time adding to the wider film. This is especially true of the moment I will discuss, in which Tarantino makes heavy use of visual and auditory “opposites”. By juxtaposing these various opposites, Tarantino creates contrast, bringing out the fine details in both of the subjects.

A realist style is a style that presents reality through artificial means. Something unrealistic may appear as a reality to those viewing the movie. This style was used in the Hollywood Classical in the late and is often used in movies today. James McTeigue, the director of “V for Vendetta” possesses both the experience and the history of being involved with film that appear to be realistic even though it consists of artificial elements. Many examples include “Star Wars Episode II” and “The Matrix Trilogy”.

While avant-garde most easily comes to mind as following a cinema of attraction model, with its much smaller focus on narrative, even Hollywood films apply this same sense of attraction with their use of special effects, CGI, and other tools with what Gunning called a “cinema of effects,” (234). Demolition of a Wall in many ways is one of the first elements of special effects, or an illusion of some sort, in cinema. More importantly than the first special effects, this is arguably the first film to use in camera editing. It stresses what is possible within the realm of cinema, the manipulation of time. Since this film’s release, both special effects and time manipulation in film has advanced considerably. In David Lynch’s tribute to the Lumiere brothers, there is another form of time manipulation at work in the form of cuts to different scenes. Instead of reversing time, Lynch is jumping to different points in time, and location, showcasing the true power of editing. While it is easy to point to figures like Eisenstein, and D.W. Griffith for their impact on montage, and continuity editing, it would be foolish to leave out the Lumiere’s despite relying mostly on single shots. This ability to put fundamental rules of nature, like time and space, in the hands

Blood, gore, and a lot of language; you will find this is most Quentin Tarantino movies. Although, this is what makes him such a writer and director. Quentin Tarantino is not only a fantastic screenplay writer, but he also pushes the limit of intense plots of drama, and mostly violence. As a great director, who changes the world of filmmaking, Quentin Tarantino is one of the most unique directors/writers, today.

The first film technique spielberg successfully uses is cinematography. Specifically, he uses close up shots on Frank and Carl’s face during their conversation about whether Carl is telling the truth and then swears on his daughter's life. During these close ups, there is a good use of camera movement by zooming even further into their faces. The use of this technique gives a strong effect on the audience by showing the seriousness and emotion in the characters faces. It also shows the tension and suspense in the room. This shows