Can Quentin
Tarantino’s use of non-linear narrative qualify the director as an auteur?
Annotated Catalogue
Films:
Item 1:
Pulp Fiction (1994 dir. Tarantino)
This item is very useful as it is
a clear example of one of Quentin Tarantino’s non-linear narratives. The scenes
throughout will be good examples in answering my question as they indicate his
style of narrative film structure. The structure of Pulp Fiction is richer than
films like Reservoir Dogs and Kill Bill and isn’t as complicated. This is
because it contains key ‘moments’, which reflect other scenes in the film. This
illustrates Tarantino’s style for complex narratives.
Item 2:
Kill Bill Vol.1 (2003 dir. Tarantino)
This item is another great
example of Tarantino’s non-linear narrative, which is used in a sequence of
flashbacks and flash-forwards to tell his story. The plot is non-linear
however; the narrative itself is easier to understand than previous films.
Screen captions and the Bride constantly referring to a list, helps slowly
explain the narrative clearly. This illustrates Tarantino’s style for complex
narratives. This item was helpful.
Item 3:
Reservoir Dogs (1992 dir. Tarantino)
This is another good example of
non-linear narrative, but this could’ve easily been one of several other films
in its place. Even though this film is still a non-linear narrative, there are
long stretches of time where the orders of the scenes are in what is considered
a normal chronological order (linear narrative). Again it illustrates
Tarantino’s style for complex narratives.
Books:
Item 4:
‘Tarantino’ by Jim Smith
This item is very useful as it
lists his films in the order in the contents page- easy to access chosen film
information. Each film’s key points are highlighted and analysed. All of my
chosen films are included with details, giving explanations and explaining the
anti-chronological order in which his films are organised.
Item 5: ‘Teach
Yourself Film Studies’ by Warren Buckland
This item is very useful as it
dedicated 2 chapters to the structures of narrative in films and exploring the
concept of the director as an auteur. It also includes extra information about
auteurs and also includes information on one of my chosen films (Pulp Fiction)
explaining and investigating its narrative structure.
Internet
Item 6: Trunk
shot
This is an article on the ‘trunk shot’ Tarantino uses in his
films, I will use the photographs from this site to show visual examples of
this particular shot which I will link with signature techniques of Tarantino
that qualify him as a director.
Item 7: “Auteur
or Bust” by Lila Stanley (Article link: http://gotchamovies.com/news/auteur-or-bust-178422 )
This is an article I have found
on a website called ‘Scoop.it’. This article is specifically talking about
auteurs and the theory. In the opening paragraph a brief introduction about
auteur theory. Then the article goes on to listing six of the “best auteurs
still working today.” Quentin Tarantino is mentioned in this article talking about
previous works and it also mentions his dialogue and how it never ceases to
amaze. This article is useful, however it isn’t as crucial as it gives little
detail and is very brief. But the points made can be incorporated in answering
my question.
Item 8:
“Quentin Tarantino: The Director” by WatchMojo.com
I found this visual article on a
site called ‘Scoop.it’ and there was a suggestion that I should look at this
visual article. The article isn’t that useful to me however does contain
information (even though the information is limited) on all of my 3 chosen
films. The reason why this article is in my catalogue is because there is a
quote at the beginning that interested me which talked about his non-linear
narrative and how it gained him recognition. I thought that the quote was
interesting and perhaps it could help explain and back up points. The rest of
the interview however isn’t that useful.
Item 9:
“The Times- Tarantino Interview- October 2003 [Kill Bill]”
I found this interview with
Tarantino from the site ‘Scoop.it,’ this interview with Tarantino was from 2003
and he talks about his original film ‘Kill Bill Vol.1.’ This interview is
useful as Tarantino describes his films within two different universes. He
talks about the two different universes and what films feature in them. This
interview will be very useful when talking about the non-linear narratives and
how that can qualify Tarantino as auteur, because I can link his films and the
universes that they appear in, to traits as well as his non-linear narrative,
which could qualify him as an auteur.
Item 10:
“Frame-by-Frame: The Auteur Theory in Film” by Wheeler Winston Dixon
This video talks about Auteur
Theory. He makes the point that films were not usually considered to be made by
the directors, producers or the studios, but were known by the actors or
actresses that starred in them or the genre. He then goes on to talk about how
the director is the primary source and force behind a movie giving examples.
This video is very brief- only two minutes long- and isn’t very detailed
however it explains the theory and this will be helpful when answering my
question.
Item 11: “What
makes an auteur? (Tarantino)” by Scott Keith
I have chosen this article from a
blog that I found on the site ‘scoop.it,’ because the article is about auteur
theory and the writer uses Tarantino and his films as an example. This article
will be useful for a guideline to help with answering my question. In the
article they talk about themes that feature in Tarantino’s films, in the
articles two of my chosen films are featured as examples. This article will be helpful
with writing my question.
Item 12: “A
quick look at Non-Linear Narrative”
This item will be very useful
when writing my presentation script as the article talks about Non-linear
Narrative. In the article there are also quotes from theorists and teachers, in
my response I can apply and use these quotes. The article also mentions Tarantino’s
films: Pulp Fiction and Kill Bill Vol.1.
Item 13:
“Auteurism and Quentin Tarantino” by Gabriela Balcerzak
This is another blog that I found
on ‘Scoop.it.’ This article talks about Auteur theory and applies that and
looks at three of Tarantino’s films. As well as talking and discussing the
auteur theory, they also talk about the non-linear narrative. This article will
be very useful when answering my question as I can apply theories and use
quotes from the article to back up my own points.
Item 14: “Auteur
Theory”
This item will be useful when
writing my presentation script because I can refer back and take quotes from
the article and apply them in a way that will help back up the points that I
make. Also it gives names of theorists and directors, which the auteur theory
applies to.
Documentary:
Item 15:
BBC Four Interview- Quentin Tarantino (Kill Bill)
This short documentary is about
Quentin Tarantino’s 2003 film Kill Bill. Although this includes little
information on non-linear narrative, it does include a point that I included in
another item (item 10) about his ‘Quentin Universe’s.’ I can use this within my
presentation script to back up points that I make concerning these universes.
Also, I will use a section of the clip from the beginning of the documentary
within my presentation script.
Internet:
Item 16:
Reservoir Dogs film poster
I will use this to add more of a
visual element within my presentation script.
Rejected items
Film:
Jackie brown (1997 dir.
Tarantino)
I have rejected this film because the
non-linear narrative doesn’t warrant heavily enough throughout the film to be
examined. I found that this film had extended sequences and scenes that lasted
too long to be able to be classed into and examined with non-linear narrative.
Book:
“Pulp Fiction Quentin Tarantino:
Best Original Screenplay, 1994” by FF (Faber and Faber)
I have rejected this book because
it only contains the screenplay of Pulp Fiction. I found this of no use, as it
didn’t give me any information only the examples of the scenes were available
to me.
Internet:
“Quentin Tarantino’s Top 10 Films
of 2013 (So Far) Includes ‘The Lone Ranger,’ ‘Kick-Ass 2,’ ‘Gravity’ &
More.” By Kevin Jagernauth
I have rejected this item because
it has nothing to do with the films he has made just his personal preference on
films he likes in 2013. The article gives no information to enable me to answer
this question because again it is about his personal likes and dislikes of 2013
Cinema. The article gives two brief paragraphs on the subject matter and then
goes on to list the top 10 films of 2013 in Tarantino’s opinion. This article
was of no use to me.
“Top 5 Scenes- Quentin Tarantino”
by Brian Lloyd
I have rejected this item
because, although it contained information and clips from two of my films, the
information that was used/ is provided talks about Tarantino’s top 5 scenes and
his choice of music within that scene. The music and information that is
provided is of no use to me so I have rejected it.
Documentary:
“Quentin Tarantino- A Life in Pictures” by
‘Baftaonline’
I am rejecting this item because
the only time when he mentions the non-linear narrative is when talking about
his film ‘Jackie Brown’ which is not one of my chosen films so it is of no use
to me.
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