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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.
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Let's dive into
"Inglourious Basterds."
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First, a bit of backstory.
The film begins with a
farmer and his family
in Nazi-occupied France.
They're working outside
a little farmhouse
when a small motorcade pulls up.
And SS Colonel Hans
Landa introduces himself.
"- It is a pleasure to meet
you, Monsieur LaPadite...
...I am Colonel Hans
Landa of the SS."
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 180°.
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.
"- Colonel Hans Landa of the
SS, Mademoiselle..."
He is in full control
of this encounter.
"- Please...
...have a seat."
Here again,
the camera moves to follow Landa.
It's a subtle pan to the right.
But it reminds us,
Landa controls this scene.
"- This being a dairy farm, one would
be safe in assuming you have milk?
- Oui.
- Then milk is what I prefer.
- Very well.
- Julie, would you mind
closing the window?"
The next change we'll
see is a subtle one.
We start with the old angle.
A 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 Landa,
it's actually different.
"- Merci."
It's a low-angle
shot framing Landa
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.
"- Please join me
at your table."
And we soon come to our
next change of angles.
The farmer comes
to sit at the table
and the camera pans right
and re-frames for a two-shot.
"- Monsieur LaPadite...
...what we have to discuss would
be better discussed in private."
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,
would you take the girls outside?
The Colonel and I need
to have a few words."
With the farmer's
daughters leaving
the purpose of the
conversation becomes clear.
And the tone of
the scene shifts.
Of course,
the camera angles shift too.
Here we are.
Medium wide, about to settle into a
classic Tarantino-esc conversation
where Landa verbally
outmaneuvers the poor farmer.
It's quite a long take
and it serves as a master shot.
"- To continue to speak it so inadequately
would only serve to embarrass me.
However, I've been led to believe
you speak English quite well."
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 Landa.
It's a textbook
conversation scene
with the camera
roughly at eye level
and the characters
simply chatting.
"-...I ask your permission
to switch to English...
...for the remainder
of the conversation.
- By all means.
- While I'm very familiar
with you and your family.
I have no way of knowing if you
are familiar with who I am."
When Landa begins to press
the farmer with his questions.
The angle on the
farmers shifts slightly.
We're a little
closer and notably,
Landa is not in the frame.
By framing Landa out,
Tarantino gives us
a more intimate view
of the farmer's 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 the Führer has put you in charge
of rounding up the Jews left in France."
And soon we cut to Landa
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 two-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 have been accounted for
except the Dreyfuses."
The camera doesn't re-frame.
"- According to these papers..."
Once again Tarantino insists
that Landa and only
Landa control the scene.
No one else could 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 farmer's actions.
The farmer's 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 officer's hat
in the foreground.
Landa is still in charge.
At this point, the scene has
run for six and a half minutes.
Tarantino 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.
"- How old is Bob.
- Thirty, thirty-one."
The move is entirely
unmotivated within the frame.
By incorporating an
unmotivated camera move,
Tarantino reminds us that we
are in a storyteller's 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 Lando's notes
then this shot.
"- Shosanna 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 farmer's tension.
One of Tarantino's
unique strengths
is understanding when and
how to make the camera.
And through it the
storyteller conspicuous.
"-Nooo!"
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 Landa is on the left
much like in most of the scene
but then we cut into
this low-angle two-shot.
It crosses the 180° line.
It's a disorienting new angle
and it's not accidental.
We're meant to feel
a bit on edge here.
"- Are you aware of the nickname
the people of France have given me?
- I have no interest
in such things.
- But you're aware
of what they call me.
- I'm aware.
- What are you aware of?
- That they call you
"The Jew Hunter."
- 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 floorboard.
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 greet it with a
saucer of your delicious milk?
- Probably not.
- 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 Landa pulls out
his ridiculous pipe
the angle crosses the 180° line.
This new two-shot
refreshes our weary eyes
while the pipe releases
some of our pent-up tension.
"- My job dictates
that I must have my
men enter your home
and conduct a thorough search
before I can officially cross
your family's name off my list."
But this tonal
shift to absurdity
is not going to last.
This two-shot leads into
these two close-ups.
First, on Landa the
camera dollies in slowly,
dialing up the tension.
"- You're sheltering enemies of the
state, are you 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 the staredown.
"- Point out 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° 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 farmer's 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.
Linda whose hat remains
in the foreground has won.
"- Monsieur LaPadite...
...I thank you for the milk...
...and your hospitality.
I do believe our
business here is done."
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 floorboard serving
as a visual proxy
for the victims below.
"...adieu."
Landa interestingly is just
as menacing in high-angle
as he is in a low-angle.
Perhaps because again
those floorboards
and what they represent.
With the Shosanna's Escape,
we finally leave the house
and the rest of the
movie kicks into gear.
♪ ♪
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 your storyboarding
or 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 shot list,
don't forget to make StudioBinder
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.
"- Au revoir, Shosanna."
"- No, no, no, no, no, no, no!
"- Three glasses."
"- I think this might
be my masterpiece."
♪ ♪
