Inglourious Basterds — How Tarantino Keeps You Hooked

[Music] for me one of the most memorable scenes in recent years comes from the opening act of Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds a German soldier conducts a search of a house suspected of hiding Jews where does the hawk look in today's deep dive we're going to unpack the creative choices that Tarantino makes to keep the scene interesting don't forget to subscribe to the studio behind your channel we've got more deep dives into your favorite movies as well as dozens of great videos on filmmaking and production let's dive into inglourious basterds first a bit of backstory the film begins with a farmer and his family in nazi-occupied France they're working outside a little farm house when a small motorcade pulls up and SS Colonel Hans Landa introduces himself lazer Devon country monsieur lapadite chrisphillip L&L SS Hans Landa then our scene begins the scene begins with rigid symmetry immediately we align with the farmer and his family the first viewpoint here is between two of the daughters as if we're standing with them when we get a reverse shot it seems like the view has rotated a full hundred eighty degrees this square on framing feels very limiting it traps us the visual scheme aligns us with them emotionally here the camera crabs left to reframe on Landa as he crosses the room put an SS console under he is in full control of this encounter something I see you here again the camera moves to follow Londa it's a subtle pan to the right but it reminds us Landa controls this scene fishing some silly next rotation let's just suppose only system at home people was already late we along happy Tribbiani favorite let's eat okay the next change will see is a subtle one we start with the old angle the close-up glance Clues us to an unspoken understanding between the farmers about what's really going on so when we cut back to a medium shot of Londa it's actually different Mitsy it's a low angle shot framing Londa as a more powerful perhaps more intimidating figure the key to these angle changes is that they parallel changes in the tone of the scene and we soon come to our next change of angles the farmer comes to sit at the table and the camera pans right and reframes for a two-shot you'll notice a bunch of long static takes in this scene they're also part of Tarantino strategy to draw out the tension Charlotte sure y'all need to say no okay many monitored homeboys do with the farmers daughters leaving the purpose of the conversation becomes clear and the tone of the scene shifts of course the camera angles shift - here we are medium wide about to settle into a classic Tarantino s conversation where Londa verbally out maneuvers the poor farmer it's quite a long take and it serves as a master shot continue me elisa korenne of the monastic machine me suborn immersive what Koothrappali on OK to defecate anticipate in addition to the master we have our over-the-shoulder medium shot of the farmer and the corresponding reverse shot over the shoulder and medium of London it's a textbook conversation scene with the camera roughly at on level and the characters simply chatting among the pebbly shown the Perseid only pool no history of SS you certain well I'm very familiar with you and your family I have no way of knowing if you are familiar with Who I am when Londa begins to press the farmer with his questions the angle on the farmer shifts slightly we're a little closer and notably Londe is not in the frame by Framing Londe out Tarantino gives us a more intimate view of the farmers sense of isolation and vulnerability he's alone here which means he's in danger please tell me what you've heard I've heard that to show us picture in charge of running up did she was left in France and soon we cut to londa in a single as well we're committed to the conversation the geography of the space has been established so we get these more intimate direct angles the master to shot the two over the shoulder shots and the two singles are simply classical Hollywood coverage just about any conversation scene in a mainstream film is shot in this way the reason is simple it provides editorial protection for the performances before the occupation there were four Jewish families in this area all dairy farmers like yourself before we get to the next significant angle change I want to point out this moment according to these papers all the Jewish families in this area of unaccounted for except the conference's the camera doesn't refrain according to these papers once again Tarantino insists that Landa and only Landa control the scene no one else can motivate the camera to move at least not yet this classical coverage continues for more than three and a half minutes and then Tarantino finally gives us an actual close-up and look the camera moves to follow the farmers actions the farmers trying to give confident believable answers he's trying to take control of the scene and for a moment Tarantino lets us believe that he's done just that but the camera movement ends with the SS officers hat in the foreground Landa is still in charge at this point the scene has run for six and a half minutes time Tina knows it's time for a change we're back in a two-shot but the angle is different than the two shot that began the conversation the camera tracks left in a circle around our characters Oh the move is entirely unmotivated within the frame by incorporating an unmotivated camera move Tarantino reminds us that we're in a storytellers hands in this case he needs us to remember that because there's an important piece of the story that he's about to share we get a cutaway of Landa's notes then this shot Shoshana was 18 or 19 the farmer in profile somewhat from behind the camera sinks again an unmotivated camera move and drops through the floorboards with this revelation we suddenly understand the farmers tension one of town Tino's unique strengths is understanding when and how to make the camera and through it the storyteller conspicuous our entire perspective on this scene has just changed so when we return to the main set Tarantino provides us with a new angle on the action another lengthy establishing shot note that the farmer is on the right and Lunda is on the left much like in most of the scene but then we cut into this low angle two-shot it crosses the hundred eighty degree line it's a descripting new angle and it's not accidental we're meant to feel a bit on edge here you wear the nickname the people of France have given me but you're aware of what they call me what I give away out there they call you to join them precisely once again we have classical coverage but the singles here are profile shots the feature that makes me such an effective hunter of the Jews is as opposed to most German soldiers I can think like a Jew now that we know about the people under the floor we're outsiders in the conversation looking in on it from the side we even get another cut away below the floorboards a reminder that we're outside of the scene looking in the shock of the revelation of who's under the floor combined with these new angles is enough to sustain our attention through another four minutes of dialogue if a rat were to walk in here right now as I'm talking would you treat it with a sauce of delicious milk probably no I didn't think so but Tarantino understands that four minutes is a lot of screen time so he throws in yet another visual modulation when London pulls out his ridiculous pipe the angled crosses the hundred eighty degree line this new 2-shot refreshes our weary eyes while the pipe releases some of our pent-up tension my job dictates that it must have my men into your home conduct a thorough search before I can officially cross your family's name off my list but this tunnel shift to absurdity is not going to last this two-shot leads into these two close ups first on londa the camera dollies in slowly dialing up the tension you're sheltering enemies of the state I am NOT and the reverse shot on the farmer does the same thing yes notice that we're looking them both in the face here Tarantino wants us thrust back into their emotional moment not observers on the outside but right there in the space between them in the middle of this stare down my talk to me the areas where they're hiding the dolly moves progress until both close-ups are about as tight as they can get then we get another 180-degree reversal this new angle sets up the final traditional coverage setup of the scene it's a wide two-shot and when Landa walks towards the window it also serves as a sort of over the shoulder notably we've returned to a hard right angle here the camera is perpendicular to the far wall we're trapped just like the farmers trapped just like in the beginning of the scene the reverse shot shows the farmer isolated weak and hemmed in by the slope of the stairs behind him Landa whose hat remains in the foreground has one miss youla petite [Music] super Maxie in Seoul and Ivanova deputy with the conversation over Tarantino breaks away from classical dialogue coverage and we get a flurry of dramatic angles the camera starts low to the ground featuring the floorboards that no longer protect those hiding below and when the shooting starts we see it from above the floorboards serving as a visual proxy for the victims below [Music] Londe interestingly is just as menacing in high-angle as he is in low-angle perhaps because again those floorboards and what they represent with shoshanna's escape we finally leave the house and the rest of the movie kicks into gear [Music] [Applause] [Music] it's extremely difficult to shoot a long conversation scene and make it effective we've seen Tarantino achieve it here with relatively few tricks there's very little camera movement very little flashy editing next time you're storyboarding our shot listing a long scene look at how that scene progresses and find ways to change your camera angles at the scenes inflection points and when you're ready to shout lists don't forget to make studio binder your go-to shot listing and production planning tool that's it for today's deep dive if there are other great scenes you'd like us to explore together let me know in the comments until next time keep seeing great films and break a lens guy glazier I think this just might be my masterpiece [Music]

Channel: StudioBinder

Views: 653,421

Keywords: Quentin Tarantino, Inglourious Basterds, Quentin tarantino movies, Inglourious Basterds script, Inglourious Basterds opening scene, Inglourious Basterds movie, Scene structure, Inglourious Basterds characters, Hans Landa, Quentin tarantino directing, Quentin tarantino analysis, Quentin Tarantino filmmaking, Blocking Movies, Filmmaking Theory, Filmmaking, Filmmaking Directing, Directing Movies, Shot Types, Video Essay, Film Analysis, Shot Types in Film, Types of Camera Shots

Id: DB5DN-nV1PM

Length: 13min 49sec (829 seconds)

Published: Mon Oct 21 2019

Reddit Comments

[u/pluckems]

How many times is this gonna get posted

[u/KrazedTiger]

Great in-depth breakdown of the opening scene in Inglourious Basterds that details the framing choices and scene structure.