Quentin Tarantino

Quentin Jerome Tarantino is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, and actor. He was born in March 1963.
His films have been characterized by nonlinear storylines, satirical subject matter, and an aestheticization of violence that often results in the exhibition of neo-noir characteristics.

Tarantino grew up as an avid film fan. While he training to act he worked in a video rental store. His career then began in the late 1980s when, he wrote and directed My Best Friend.

In the early 1990s he began his career as an independent filmmaker with the release of Reservoir Dogs. Directly this film succeeded. The Empire magazine called it the “Greatest Independent Film of All Time”.  

Tarantino’s is a very successful director and writer. He has received many industry awards, including two Academy Awards, two Golden Globe Award, two BAFTA Awards and the Palme d’Or. 

One of his best thriller films are Kill Bill: Vol. 1 and Vol. 2.

Tarantino is using very specific camera shots and themes in his films. In using these techniques, these films have become a part of their own genre, as Charles McGrath says in the New York Times - “His movies are famous for their violence and bloodshed; their blaring soundtracks; their offbeat, Pinteresque dialogue; their startling performances from actors you had almost forgotten about; and their encyclopaedic range of references to other movies, especially schlocky ones” (McGrath, 2012).”


Camera Shots

Crash Zoom
It is a quick zoom-in to a character or a situation of some description. It is often use to integrate a new character in a film. This camera shoot in Tarantino’s films are often used to call the audience attention on a specific part of the screen. You can see these shots in his latest film Django Unchained or in his Thriller Kill Bill: Vol 2.

Trunk Shot
The trunk shot gives the audience the illusion that they are sit in the trunk of a car, looking up at the action or dialogue between characters. First time Tarantino used this shot was in one of his first films Reservoir Dogs. The audience feels threated by the looming characters looking down at them. It let look the characters very strong, and very good in what they do. They can feel a little bit like the character sitting in the trunk of the car.

Corpse Shot
This shot is quite similar to the ‘trunk shot’. The difference is that the ‘trunk shot’ is kept to the trunk of a car and the ‘corpse shot’ is a point-of-view shot from the perspective of a body, everywhere else but not in a trunk. It depends on with which character you share the view; it can cause different feelings for the audience. We can find the shot in Kill Bill: Vol 2. 

Reserve Trunk
Shot It is a quite similar shot to the ‘trunk shot’, but this shot is filmed from the other view. So the audience is looking down on the person in the trunk or any other boxes, e.g. a coffin. In Kill Bill: Vol 2 is this shot shown.

Long Shot 
The ‘long shot’ is a shot where the audience is staying with the same character or characters for several minutes. The audience follow how the character/s perform actions and interact with each other. The most famous of these shots can be seen in Pulp Fiction or in the opening of Jackie Brown, where the camera follows the titular character of Jackie as she makes her way towards to her work place.



Theming

Gore
Tarantino is very famous for gore. A Tarantino film without gore has not happened yet. It is an aspect of his film that people flock to see, but the gore is not there for sake of it, it often has meaning and significance. 

Actors
The other major thing which is running through all Tarantino movies is the consistent usage of same actors. Tarantino says said he choose these actors e.g. Samuel L. Jackson, again and again. It is easier to work and making the film because he feels comfortable with them and these people understand his world, they understand his words and understands his working methods. Also the fans like this, they like the familiar faces. They can connect specific actors with directors.