Pulp Fiction - Textual Analysis

Pulp Fiction is a 1994 American crime and gangster film directed by Quentin Tarantino.
In the drug scene the plot is about drugs and piercings in which Jody, Fabienne and Vincent are having a strange, alternative and rebellious dialogue about piercings related with sex and provocation (sexual pleasure) while Lance is preparing the different drugs for selling it to Vincent.
Vega is a drug dependent and in this scene he has lots of close-ups and the camera follows him.
It can be said that the three caracters that were in the house (except for Vincent) don't fit in the society as Jody has 18 piercings and Lance is a drug dealer, what is not common.
In this scene there are some still shots in which there are many close-ups in faces (when talking about piercings and when Vincent is in the car injecting himself drugs) and in the drugs on the bed. There are also extreme-close ups in the syringe and the preparation of drugs; low shot showing the reflection in the mirror of  Vincent and Lance (bedroom of drug dealer);medium-close up in Vincent when he is counting his money sitting in a chair with "hippie" stuff arround him.
The scene creates a feeling of being "flying away" because of the effects of the drugs by the provocative background music (dream-like guitars); there is lack of lighting, with shadows (Vincent in his car - "dark world" because of drugs), highliting with close-ups and light in the drugs and it's preparation, and there are dark colours, white and red; slow motions when Vincent is riding the car, "drugs effect" creating a feeling of "drug tentation" , there is also slow movement when he is inyecting himself; close-ups in faces and drugs (preparations, inyections, etc.); dutch angle shots and alternative when the boys are talking about the different characteristics of the drugs and the camera is in a low angle showing the bed, Vincent, half part of Lance and the other half reflected in the mirror.
In my opinion, Tarantino tries to persuade the audience to consume drugs and that they are good because it shows in the whole movie the relaxing and pleasure effects that the drugs create

Pulp Fiction - Textual Analysis (NOTES)

• narrative: plot about drugs and piercings (talking about sex and provocation)
• genre: crime and gangster
• presentation of characters: Jody and the other woman talking about piercings, Vincent and drug dealer (Lance) talking about the different types of drug. Outcast characters (dont fit in society): 18 piercings, drug delears, etc.
• camera angles, shots and movement: still shots: close-ups in faces (when talking about piercings and when Vincent is in the car), the drugs on the bed; extreme-close up in the syringe and the preparation of the drugs; low shot showing the reflection in the mirror of Vincent and Lance(bedroom of drug dealer); medium-close up in Vincent when he is counting his money sitting in a chair with "hippie" stuff arround him.
• editing and sequencing: slow motion when Vincent is riding the car "drugs effect" creating a feeling of "drug tentation"
• lighting, shade and colour: shadows (Vincent in car - "dark world" because of drugs) lack of  lighting.
• sound: provocative background music
• location and set design: Lance's house (hippie decoration), Vicent's car.
• genre conventions:
• target audience of the film :

"... who operate outside the law, stealing and violently murdering their way through life."
"Crime stories in this genre often highlight the life of a crime figure or a crime's victim(s)."
"Gangster/crime films are usually set in large, crowded cities, to provide a view of the secret world of the criminal: dark nightclubs or streets with lurid neon signs, fast cars, piles of cash, sleazy bars, contraband, seedy living quarters or rooming houses."

Production Journal 4

Two weeks before the classes re-started, our teacher gave us a day (tuesday) in which we could miss school for finish filming.
At 10 am we met on Viveka's house and took all our memory cards that we had. There we put all our camera batteries and celphones to charge (so there is no problem), we searched the adresses of different tattoo shops for going and we had breakfast.
Then we took all our cameras, celphones, memory cards, tripod, money, etc. and walked again to the Bond Street.
There we interview 2 different tattooers and also one man that was tattooing her girlfriend's name in his arm.
Then we went to Mc Donald's to have lunch and then we continued filming another tattooer.
We recovered a lot of footish, including photographs.

PRODUCTION JOURNALS - becoming more analytical

Watch the student film, "Treehouse". Initial comments as to its strengths/weaknesses?
Plot not interesting, good use of music, bad lighting, good actors, good shots and sound.

Read the commentary extract from the director's production journal. To what extent does it meet the guidelines above?
Good shot positions (close-ups, medium close-ups, etc.), good colour in the images but bad lighting when interviewing the others in close places, good use of storyboard, good editing in jump cuts and putting three shots of interviews together in one shot, good and clear sound, music well used, good costumers, backgrounds related with the characters.

Production Journal 2

For searching about the tattoos we went one saturday to the "Bond Street" in Capital and went to different tattoo shops. There, we talked to the people encharged of the shops and ask them for permition for filming them and do our documental about them and they were fine. They gave us their cards with all their information so we tried to contacted them by phone in the Film class but they didn't answer so we tried by mail and told them about what day we were going to go. When they answered our mail, we agreed to go the next thursday after school (before the winter holidays start) to a tattoo shop called Tattoo Ink because we considered the most serious place and people for work with them. Also it's a very good setting for filming as it has a lot of space for us to be confortable with all the materials without disturbing and it has a great background with a rocker style.

Production Journal 3

Sabrina went to Viveka's house in Capital and I went to mines in Capital too. At 5.30 pm we met in the Bond Street for starting to film. There I filmed the walls of the corridors of the Bond Street that has lots of graffities for make it the opening of the documentary, so then Sabrina edits those images in fast shots and adds rock music.
When we arrived to the shop, Viveka talked with the owners of the tattoo shop for being sure that everything is alright and answer any question or doubt they would have; Sabrina told them what they have to talk about and the theme of our documentary; and I, as the camera-woman, decided what is the best angle for filming, where the light reflects better, where the sound it's going to be clearer, etc.
Luckily, there was a customer that was doing a tattoo, so we took advantage of the situation and Viveka asked him and the tattooer if I could film them a little bit, and they agreed.
After filming 20 min, more or less, I realized the camera run out of memory, so we had to stop filming and go to our houses, downlaod the footish we had to our laptops for having much space for continuing filming an other day.

Quentin Tarantino

1. Violence and humor scenes, clever dialogues.
2. He was a video clerk. He learned everything by this and not by a normal method of film-school. When he studied film in Video Archives, Manhattan Beach, at the same time he was an actor and he used to write his own screenplays.
3. Reservoir Dogs was very criticized because it was said that the move was very similar to City on Fire. Also because it had very unnecessary violent scenes.
4. Horror gerne.
5. Trunk shot:

                                      

this is a low angle shot and creates the feeling that the audience is in the trunk of the car and those characters of the shot are looking to it. It makes the audience wonder what's inside the trunk.

(In Reservoir Dogs: Mr Brown, Mr pink and Mr White looking at Marvin Nash)

Corpse POV:

as the trunk shot, is a low angle shot in which creates the feeling of loss of power.

(In Jackie Brown: Jackie and Ray looking at Ordell dead)

"God eye" POV:

it's an extreme high angle shot which shows more than what the character can see, it creates the sense of control as the audience can see everything clearer.

(In Jackie Brown: Jackie Brown hides money in her bag at the airport's toilets)

6.  Mirror shot:

(In Kill Bill: the Bride in the bathroom looking at her stomach)

It's a shot in which the character has intimacy and privacy in which it thinks and talks to himself.

7. a) Mexican standoff is a shot in which two or more characters are staring at each other with guns.

    b) The term comes from "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly", a Sergio Leone's film from 1966.

    c) The Good, the Bad and the Ugly:

Three Kings:

     d) Reservoir Dogs:

Pulp Fiction:

8. a) MacGuffin is a plot element that catches audience atention. The main characters want to do or obtaing something and can sacrifice everything to get it, like money for example. This pushes foward the plot. It's a common element in the thriller films.

     b) The MacGuffin in Pulp Fiction is the suitcase.

     c) Mission Impossible 3:

Star Wars: