Movies - TV
The 12 Things You Need To Know About Quentin Tarantino's Filmmaking
By MARTA DJORDJEVIC
Cinematic Love Letters
Tarantino is known for borrowing from his favorite movies, and his movies are filled with countless homages to classic films, both visually and sonically. You might recognize the "Pulp Fiction" choreography from Fellini’s “8 ½” or the score of “Jackie Brown” from the film “Coffy” — all elements that demonstrate Tarantino's love of cinema.
Shooting Style
You’ve probably noticed that Tarantino favors three specific shots — the wide shot, the extreme close-up, and the long tracking shot. These shots are classic Tarantino, and he uses them to convey different emotions, like using the wide shot to bring you inside a specific place, the close-up to draw attention to detail, and the tracking shot to convey tension.
Trunk Shot
Another, less-obvious shot that Tarantino loves to rely on is the trunk shot, and once you notice it, you’ll spot it in almost all of his films. Since the trunk shot was first used in a 1948 noir film, including it is part of Tarantino’s love of cinema, but the low angle also creates an imbalance, giving the audience a sense of hopelessness and imbuing the characters with power.
Music
Tarantino is known for the song selection in his films, and his soundtracks often help set the tone and give us a deeper look inside the mind of a specific character. In fact, Tarantino admitted, "One of the things I do when I am starting a movie ... I go through my record collection and just start playing songs, trying to find the personality of the movie.”
Spaghetti Westerns
It may seem like Tarantino came into this world with an unbridled talent for filmmaking, but the director’s feverish drive for the art started with spaghetti westerns, particularly the work of Sergio Leone. Leone’s films are known for being hyper-stylized, and Leone's influence can be seen in Tarantino’s films, from “Kill Bill” to “Inglourious Basterds."