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Director Case Study: Quentin Tarantino

Quentin Tarantino

"To me, movies and music go hand in hand. When I'm writing a script, one of the first things I do is find the music I'm going to play for the opening sequence."

Quentin Tarantino is an American filmmaker, screenwriter, and actor. His films are characterized by nonlinear storylines, satirical subject matter, an aestheticization of violence and gore, extended scenes of dialogue, utilization of ensemble casts consisting of established and lesser-known performers, references to popular culture, soundtracks primarily containing songs and score pieces from the 1960s to the 1980s, and features of neo-noir film.



In the early 1990s, he began his career as an independent filmmaker with the release of 'Reservoir Dogs' in 1992; regarded as a classic and cult hit, it was called the "Greatest Independent Film of All Time" by Empire. Its popularity was boosted by his second film, 'Pulp Fiction' (1994), a black comedy crime film that was a major success both among critics and audiences. Judged the greatest film from 1983–2008 by Entertainment Weekly, many critics and scholars have named it one of the most significant works of modern cinema. For his next film, Tarantino paid homage to the blaxploitation films of the 1970s with 'Jackie Brown' (1997), an adaptation of the novel Rum Punch.

'Kill Bill', a highly stylized "revenge flick"  followed six years later, and was released as two films: Volume 1 in 2003 and Volume 2 in 2004. His long-postponed 'Inglourious Basterds', which tells the fictional alternate history story of two plots to assassinate Nazi Germany's political leadership, was released in 2009 to positive reviews. In 2012, he released the critically acclaimed 'Django Unchained', a Western film set in the Deep South. It became the highest-grossing film of his career so far, making over $425 million at the box office. His eighth film, the mystery Western 'The Hateful Eight', was released in its roadshow version December 25, 2015, in 70 mm film format, complete with opening "overture" and halfway-point intermission, after the fashion of big-budget films of the 1960s and early 1970s.

Tarantino often uses graphic violence that has proven seductive to audiences, and he has been harshly criticized for his use of gore and blood in an entrancing yet simultaneously repulsive way. His films have been staunchly criticized and scorned for their use of violence, blood, and action as a "color" within cinema, and rebuked for allegedly using human suffering as a punchline.


Tarantino has built up an informal "repertory company" of actors who have appeared in multiple roles in films that he has directed. Most notable of these is Samuel L. Jackson, who has appeared in six films directed by Tarantino, and a seventh that was written by him, True Romance. Other frequent collaborators include Uma Thurman, whom Tarantino has described as his "muse", and Tim Roth and Zoë Bell.

Old Hollywood vs New Hollywood

Halloween (1987) vs Halloween (2007)

The original Halloween, which was made in 1987, was an independent slasher film which was scored and directed by John Carpenter, co-written and produced by Debra Hill and started Donald Pleasance and Jamie Lee Curtis, who was making her acting debut, the film then turned into a 7 film franchise. 

The film, set in a fictional town called Haddonfield in Illinois, is about a six-year-old boy named Michael Myers who murders his sister on Halloween night. He is placed in a mental health institute, and then the film jumps 15 years forward, where he escapes and kills again. The film had a budget of on $300,000 and managed to gross $47 million at the box office in the US and $23 million internationally, which equates to $267 million in 2016, which would ma it one of the highest-grossing independent films ever. 

However, Halloween has been largely criticized for encouraging sadistic behavior and misogyny amongst its audiences, especially as some identified with the villain. It can also be considered as increasing the Male Gaze amongst its audience, as many of Michael's victims are shown as being sexually promiscuous and substance abusers, whereas the lone heroine who survives who is shown as innocent and pure.

The 2007 reboot of Halloween was written, directed and produced by Rob Zombie. It was the first in the rebooted Halloween film series and the ninth film in the Halloween franchise. The film stars Tyler Mane as an adult Michael Myers and Daeg Faerch as a ten-year-old Myers.

The plot follows the same idea as John Carpenter's original, with Michael Myers stalking Laurie Strode and her friends on Halloween night. However, unlike Carpenter's film, it goes much deeper into the psychological side of Myers, and questions why he tried to kill, whereas in the original, Carpenter doesn't give a reason as to why Myers killed. 

Despite negative reactions to the remake, which cost Zombie $15 million to make, the film went on to gross $80,208,039 worldwide, with made it the highest grossing Halloween film. In 2009, Zombie made a sequel called Halloween II. 

Uses and Gratifications Theory

Uses and Gratifications Theory

People watch thriller films for a range of reasons. Some of these include entertainment, information, social interaction, escape from daily life and personal values. All of these combined contributes to the popularity of the Thriller genre. People watch thriller films in order to escape from reality and become engrossed in the life of those who live much more entertaining and interesting lives. On top of this, thrillers tend to provide a mental challenge for the audience, meaning the film is not empty entertainment, which causes the audience to be much more active when compared to other genres like dramas and comedies. Thrillers also help to increase social interaction as they can force the audience to theorise the ending of the film and discuss with their friends. An example of this would be Shutter Island, as it leaves us guessing what’s happening for the whole film. The psychological aspect of a thriller also impacts this, as people like to show off that they managed to work out the ending of the film before their friends or the characters. Some thriller films help to inform its audience, as it shows us the impact that our actions can have on the world around us, like ‘A Day After Tomorrow’, which shows the consequences of global warming. 

Uses and Gratifications theory does help us to analyse why Thriller films are so popular, but it doesn’t give us an explanation to all aspects of the film. It helps us to know why we watch and engage with Thriller films, particularly when these films can be considered grotesque, like ‘The Silence of the Lambs’. However, it doesn’t tell us anything about the filming of these films, or why directors feel compelled to make them, especially extremely mentally challenging films like ‘Inception’. 

Cinematography in the opening of Casino Royale

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Todorov Analysis of The Woman in Black

Intertextuality in Horror Films

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Annotating a film review of Black Swan

Theories of Media

Developing an awareness of audience

All media texts are made with an audience in mind, ie a group of people who will receive it and react to it. And generally, but not always, the producers make some money out of that audience. Therefore it is important to know how to get an audience to engage with the text and to know what your audience likes and dislikes. When creating a media product, one of the main factors is whether or not the text will have an audience, as if it doesn't, the producers won't make any money and they won't get their message out to anyone. Media companies use things like questionnaires, focus groups, and comparisons to existing media texts to see if there would be anyone interested in their idea. Producers want to know:

• income bracket or status
• age
• race
• gender
• location

There is a letter code used to show the income brackets of the demographics: 

They also analyse the reaction of their audience very carefully, and the things that factor into this reaction are shown below: 

Once a media text has been created, the producers have to be sure that it has reached the right demographic, which includes the forms of marketing and distribution used, for example:

• posters
• print, radio, TV and internet advertisements
• trailers
• promotional interviews
• tie-in campaigns
• merchandising

David Gauntlett and Identity

David Gauntlett

David Gauntlett is a British sociologist and media theorist. He is dedicated to studying contemporary audiences of media, the making and sharing of digital media and the role media takes on identity and self-expression.

He graduated from the Universty of York with a degree in Sociology in 1992 and in 2006 joined the School of Media, Arts, and Design as Professor of Media and Communication. He has taken a focus on the way digital media is changing the experience of media for audiences. In 2007, Gauntlett published 'Media 2.0' online. This argues that the classic media studies don't fully define when the categories of 'audience' and 'producers' merge and that teaching method need to change. He blames the wide use of web 2.0 for blurring the lines between the audience and the producers, as due to websites like YouTube, the audience can now become the producers, creating and distributing content themselves. As a result of this, we can create our own identity and influence the identity of others.

Due to this change and web 2.0, things like gender identity have become much less restricted, unlike previous representations. The use of web 2.0 allows us to create our own idea of identity that doesn't have to conform to the traditional concepts of gender. This freedom created by the internet means that it is now far more acceptable to be different and accepted for our individuality.

In 2008, Gauntlett put forward a proposal to rework audience studies. He argued that audiences have changed to become more active towards media rather than passive like they were before. Nowadays, it is virtually impossible to tell how an audience is going to react to a piece of media, so this could influence the way a media product is done, as a company or distributor might want to mimic what has been done by a previously successful product. This can also be used to explain why so much money is spent on audience research by advertising companies, as they need to be sure that the product that they are advertising attracts an audience that would be interested in what they are selling.

Film Institutional Research: Blumhouse Productions

Blumhouse Productions

Blumhouse Productions is an American film and television production company, founded by Jason Blum. Blumhouse produces micro and low-budget horror movies, such as the Paranormal Activity, Insidious, The Purge, Sinister and Ouija franchises. In 2014, Blumhouse produced the Academy Award–nominated drama film Whiplash, for which Blum was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture. The company currently has a 10-year first-look deal with the studio Universal Pictures.

Jason Blum has a particular method he uses to make films that he believes will be successful. He finds an interesting take on an idea, puts together a solid cast, never exceeds a budget of $10 million and somehow manages to make hundreds of millions of dollars. However, the success of some of his films was unprecedented, like Paranormal Activity, as no one could've predicted how successful it was and that it would produce 4 sequels and 2 spin-offs. 

On the television side, Blumhouse has a first look deal with Lionsgate, and the company produced the short-lived series Stranded for Syfy and executive produced The River for ABC. For Halloween 2012, Blumhouse opened the Blumhouse of Horrors, an interactive haunted house experience in LA. 

On November 11, 2014, Blumhouse launched Blumhouse Books, dedicated to having filmmakers and authors create original horror and thriller novels. The first couple releases are The Blumhouse Book of Nightmares: The Haunted City (2015), The Apartment (2016) and Feral (2017).

On May 23, 2016, it was announced that Blumhouse, Miramax, and Trancas would be developing a new Halloween film which they will co-finance. John Carpenter is set to produce the project and act as creative consultant. John Carpenter stated, "Thirty-eight years after the original Halloween, I'm going to help to try to make the 10th sequel the scariest of them all."

Conglomerates of the Film Industry

Mind Map created by Anna Day with GoConqr

Defining the Film Industry

Pre-Production

When it comes to making films, pre-production formally begins once a project has been given the green light. This is when the finalising preparations for the product come into effect, including financing, cast members, director and cinematographer. By the time the pre-production is completed, the screenplay itself tends to be completed and to the standards of the financiers and stakeholders.
Pre-production is also when the script is broken down into different scenes, locations, props, cast members, special effects, costumes and visual effects are chosen. After this has been done, as schedule is created and arrangements are made for these things to be available to the crew at the times they are needed. On top of this, the sets are built, the crew is hired and a start date for the beginning of principal photography is decided upon. Also, there tends to be a table read of the whole script with all the members of the cast who have speaking roles. By the end of pre-production, the screenplay tends to be page-locked and scene-numbered to avoid any confusion, but additions and deletions can still be made.

Production
Production is when the film is created and shot. More crew will be hired at this point for a wide range of tasks including:

• Property Master

• Script Supervisor

• Assistant Directors

• Stills Photographer

• Picture Editor

• Sound Editors

A typical day's shooting begins with the crew arriving on the set/location by their call time. Actors usually have their own separate call times. Since set construction, dressing and lighting can take many hours or even days, they are often set up in advance. The grip, electric and production design crews are typically a step ahead of the camera and sound departments, so while a scene is being filmed, they are already preparing the next one.

While the crew prepare their equipment, the actors are wardrobed in their costumes and attend the hair and make-up departments. The actors rehearse the script and blocking with the director, and the camera and sound crews rehearse with them and make final tweaks. Finally, the action is shot in as many takes as the director wishes. 

At the end of the day, the director approves the next day's shooting schedule and a daily progress report is sent to the production office. This includes the report sheets from continuity, sound, and camera teams. Call sheets are distributed to the cast and crew to tell them when and where to turn up the next shooting day.

Post-production

Post-production is when the film is put together by the film editor. The shot film material is edited, along with the production sound (dialogue), music tracks are recorded and sound effects are created and recorded. Any CGI visual effects are digitally added, then all sound elements are mixed and connected to the picture.

Distribution

This is the final stage, where the film is released to cinemas or, occasionally, directly to consumer media (DVD, VCD, VHS, Blu-ray) or direct download from a digital media provider. The film is duplicated as required and distributed to cinemas for screening. Press kits, posters, and other advertising materials are published, and the film is advertised and promoted.

Film distributors usually release a film with a launch party, a red-carpet premiere, press releases, interviews with the press, press preview screenings, and film festival screenings. Most films are also promoted with their own website separate from those of the production company or distributor.

A film may first be released to a few select cinemas, or if it tests well enough, may go directly into wide release. Next, it is released, normally at different times several weeks (or months) apart, into different market segments like rental, retail, pay-per-view, in-flight entertainment, satellite, or free-to-air broadcast television. The distribution rights for the film are also usually sold for worldwide distribution. The distributor and the production company share profits.

Independent filmmaking

Filmmaking also takes place outside of the mainstream. Filmmakers can conceivably shoot and edit a film, create and edit the sound and music, and mix the final cut on a home computer. However, while the means of production may be democratized, financing, traditional distribution, and marketing remain difficult to accomplish outside the traditional system. In the past, most independent filmmakers have relied on film festivals (such as Sundance, Venice, Cannes and Toronto film festivals) to get their films noticed and sold for distribution and production.

Researching the BBFC

Conventions of a Thiller

Mind Map created by Anna Day with GoConqr