Orson Welles changed the way the general public thought about film and cinematography. He had a unique way of filming that made him stand out on his own. Like Welles, Quentin Tarantino has made a name for himself among the film community.
Welles had several signature ideas that made a movie feel as if it were his. He like extreme long takes, would often frame a character in a window or door, and he is often thought of as inventing the ceiling in motion picture. Tarantino has taken some of these elements and infused them within his own style. Often times Tarantino will follow one character in his movies with a long take. Typically this character is of importance or has an important story line. Like Welles, he can also make the viewer feel uncomfortable at times due to the space he chooses to do a scene or the camera angles he uses.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fd4VSkj0Wks
This scene from Pulp Fiction shows some of the style Tarantino likes to use. The beginning is done with an upshot following Ringo across the table. Welles was often knows for his use of upshots which show the ceiling of the space he’s working in. Almost all of the shots of Yolanda are upshots and show the ceiling as well. It makes for a cramped space which Welles was a fan of. In the clip at around 3:34, Tarantino shows Jules, Ringo, and Yolanda all in the same frame. One is in the foreground, middle, and background. Often in Welles’s movies he lined his characters up where there was one in every area of the frame, like as he did in Macbeth when MacDuff finds out his family has been murdered.
Welles also used a variety of sets, either on location or on a sound stage.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-czwy-aVbbU&feature=related
The trailer of Kill Bill shows the various sets Tarantino used. This movie transports the viewer to a world that almost doesn’t seem real. Kill Bill 2 features almost dream-like sequences that are shot in black and white. Like Welles’s version of The Trial, the viewer is taken on a rollercoaster that keeps them guessing as what will come next. Some scenes of Kill Bill make the viewer think Tarantino doesn’t mind if they know it wasn’t shot on location, also like Welles’s, Macbeth, which clearly demonstrates it was shot on a sound stage.
Both Welles and Tarantino have a very unique style that has transformed the world of film. A movie can now feel “Wellesian” or when speaking about a film people might say a director “Tarantino’d it.” Both directors were and are talented in their field. I believe Welles inspired Tarantino, much in the way Tarantino will then inspire a new director.
This blog was so cool to me. Tarantino has to be one of my favorite film makers of all time. I’ve never watched his movies and instantly thought of Welles. But his use of camera work and angles do use Wellesian techniques. I’ve never noticed how angled his camera work is or how often he has used long takes to accentuate a shot up until now. I also think it’s is interesting that you incorporated the dream like setting of Kill Bill Vol. 2 to compare to The Trial. If I were to compare it to the Trial, I think the almost prologue scenes in the beginning would be my first and only comparison. The way Welles introduces the movie with the parable and the way Uma Thurman introduces the movie with a slight back story sets up what the viewer is watching and it excites them for whatever is going to happen next. But your observations but these movies into a whole new light for.
ReplyDeleteYes I agree with the post above. I find myself watching movies differently since studying Welles. His techniques are evident in many modern day movies even if they have evolved in one way or another. Tarantino loves long takes as much as Welles. I think everything he's done since his first movie Reservoir Dogs has long takes.
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