15 SLIDES

Asl Kokuluda
L3C 604

PULP
FICTION

PULP FICTION
1994
QUENTIN TARANTINO

 1) The Dominant: The dominant is Jules Winnfield (Samuel L. Jackson) so our eyes
are attracted to him first in this scene. He is standing in the center of the room
therefore in the center of the shot. The backlight in this scene is soft so the front
of his body is a little bit shadowed and he seems dangerous to Brett, the
character which holds up his hands defensively towards Jules.

 2) Negative Space: Even though the background of the room is messy, there are
a lot of space for Jules to move around, so we can say that there is negative
space in this scene. The way the characters are placed in the frame, makes
them seem like they are isolated from each other, protecting their personal
space.

 3) Subsidiary Contrasts: After examining Jules, the dominant, our eyes drawn
to the right, Brett. His defensive movement makes him stand out, creating the
thought of something bad is going to happen. After him, we notice Marvin in the
background. The way he stands and he is tense approves our previous idea. Yet
his distance from other characters makes it seem like he is insignificant in this
scene.

 4) Framing: The framing in this shot is loose. Jules has lots of space to move
because he is in the centre of the shot. Bretts path is blocked by Jules and
other characters are placed at the edges of the frame therefore it seems like
they dont have any space to move.

 5) Camera Angles: The camera angle is eye-level and horizontal. Quentin

Tarantino deliberately chose this angle because in this way it is obvious to the
audience that Jules is the dominant in this scene. The angle is eye-level
because we have a clear shot of the dominant, Jules. He is in the center, he is
in focus and we seem him fully because of this angle type.

 6) Colour Values: This scene has a lot of different colours. Jules is wearing a
black suit so he attracts our attention because the colour black doesnt fit in
with other colours in the scene. We cant really say that he was dressed in a
black suit purposely to get the attention of the audience, he is dressed that way
because that is how generally mob hit men dress. In the rest of the scene, we
observe yellow, green, blue, beige and brown as the general colours. These
colours exist harmoniously so they seem to fit in together.

 7) Density: The scene has many information packed in. Because of the deep
space composition, we can every part of the scene clearly, therefore pick up
the details. Hence the texture of this scene is highly detailed. Jules is in the
foreground and radiates importance with his placement in the frame.

 8) Composition: In this frame, all the characters are in diagonal composition. The
characters are placed purposely to create tension and anxiety between them. The
character on the left seems unimportant for the scene but next to him Jules is
standing up and he looks bigger and closer to the camera. He seems like he has power
over the other characters. Next to Jules, Brett is sitting down, again this creates a
tension in the scene because while Jules is standing up, Brett looks smaller therefore
fragile and weak. Marvin in the right background is standing up, this again creates
anxiety and disorder in the scene.

 9) Form: Due to the lack of details in this scene, especially in the background,
it has an open form. Negative space creates the open form.

 10) Depth of Field: Jules is in the foreground, Brett and the character on the
left side of the frame (we dont know his name) are in the middle ground and
Marvin is in the background. All the planes of depth are in focus. This suggest
there is deep space composition in this frame.

 11) Lighting Key: In this scene, there is low key lighting. The only light resource
that we can see is the window. The light hits to Marvin directly so we can see
his face clearly. We can only see the profile of Brett due to his position. Yet for
Jules, the light comes from his back, thus besides his shoulders most of him is in
light shadows. Tarantino obviously chose low key lighting to make Jules look
more threatening.

 12) Shot and Camera Proxemics: Quentin Tarantino chose full shot because we
can fully see the characters bodies: Jules (without his shoes but that is because
he was walking around in this scene) and Marvin. Brett is sitting down hence we
can only see him from knees-up. This full shot also provides us a large view of
the background of the frame.

 13) Character Placement: Jules is in the centre and he covers the frame from
top to bottom. This indicates that he is important and it also shows that he
holds the power. Brett can be considered on the bottom of the frame. This
shows that he is powerless and vulnerable. The character on the left and Marvin
in the background are placed on the edges of the frame because it symbolizes
that theyre insignificant for this scene, considering Jules is only interacting
with Brett at that moment.

 14) Staging Positions: In this scene, the character Jules and Marvin are filmed
with a quarter turn which allows us to see their jests and mimics. Brett is
filmed with his profile. For this reason our view of him is restricted. The
character on the left of the frame is filmed with three quarter turn. His back is
partially turned to us so this way he rejects our interest and the audience does
not give him any attention.

 15) Genre: Pulp Fiction is considered a black comedy crime movie. In this film,
humour and violence are mixed together. This scene is an useful addition to the
movie. Jules is a gunman for a mobster and is in that apartment with
Vincent(his partner who is not visible in this shot) to kill Brett. In spite of this,
he is talking humorously with Brett and acts like they are friends.

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FICTION