Quentin, one of the most prestigious directors of our time, has a distinct style with other directors. Coming from a non-scientific background, he was brilliant and familiar with various camera languages and film genres, but he was never bound by any theoretical framework.
In his films, he always has his own unique visual style of imagery, which makes him particularly distinguished among the many famous directors in Hollywood.
Especially in his 2015 film "Eight Wicked Men", Quentin used his entire understanding of the camera in the film, bringing continuous on-screen surprises to the audience.
He breaks down and restructures the whole story before and after and the causal relationship, and integrates different clues into the film. Therefore, when you first watch the movie, you will feel that there are a large number of shots in the movie that have nothing to do with the current events, so that the audience has a feeling of peeping in the tube and not knowing what to do. But as the film's plot progresses, the story unfolds, and the threads intersect, those meaningless shots will amaze and make people feel enlightened.
So today, we will start from the visual style of the image of "Eight Wicked Men", from the use of skills in the film shot, the black quality under the film shot, and the multiple themes in the movie shot, to analyze why even after the script leak, Quentin still insisted on making it into an excellent movie.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > screen technique in a movie shot</h1>
Quentin showed quite good camera skills in the movie "Eight Wicked Men". It is mainly manifested in the use of unconventional ultra-wide formats, the use of complex and changeable lens language, and collaged narrative style.
First, the unconventional ultra-wide format
First of all, the most obvious photographic style of "Eight Wicked Men" is the use of a camera born more than 50 years ago (Panavison super 70 mm) camera, the Navesh ultra 70 mm camera uses a 1.25 times anamorphic lens, the frame ratio reached a staggering 2.76:1, and this is the first film since "The Master" in 2012 to shoot in this wide frame.
What are the characteristics of this wide-format lens? The following picture can give you the most intuitive feeling:
The above is taken from the picture in "Eight Wicked Men", from the inside to the outside of the frame, indicating the scale of the frame is the regular ratio of 4:3, the common mobile phone format 16:9, the common movie format 2.35:1, and the relatively rare 2.76:1 used in "Eight Wicked Men".
It can be clearly seen that the visual effect brought by this unconventional ultra-wide format is very impactful. For shooting such a magnificent natural scene, the ultra-wide frame ratio of 2.76:1 can give the audience a broader field of vision, and it is easier to bring the audience a more extreme visual enjoyment, forming an epic blockbuster.
But for Quentin, it is certainly not necessary to go to great lengths to adopt this rare unconventional shooting method for the few snow scenes in the film, let alone to persuade the cinema to adopt this ultra-wide format projection method.
So what is the main reason for this ultra-wide format ratio?
Quentin once said in an interview:
"When it comes to Minnie Mouse's store, there's always going to be two places where something is going on at the same time. Joe Gage at the table, or John Ruth and Daisy Domergue at the bar, the audience switches back and forth between the foreground and background of the shot.
To put you in this room, you don't just feel like you're looking at them, but you're involved. At the same time, I wanted to create a claustrophobic space to create suspense.
You know where everybody is, and I feel like in this case, I can put you at Joe Gage's table, and then you look around and you know where they are. "
In short, Quentin used this lens in order to be able to accommodate more information in the same shot. For the story of "Eight Wicked Men", which takes place in a single, narrow, enclosed space, more information can make the audience watching the movie feel immersed. Moreover, through a large number of details and foreshadowing in the lens, it can effectively create suspense and produce greater dramatic tension.
For example, when John Ruth pulls Domergue to stand in the middle of the inn in the movie to declare his position, you can not only see the movements of John Ruth and Domergue in the picture, but you can also observe the reactions of Mobray and Colonel Warren next to you.
The advantage of this kind of picture is that you can get more picture information at the same time, and the result of this information increment is that you seem to be in the inn, and you can see the situation of other people in the inn at any time.
For example, in the movie, where Domergue sits at the table and plays the guitar, our eyes are not only on domuergue, but also on what John Ruth and Joe Gage are doing behind Domegue.
Director Quentin did something that seemed unquestionable at first glance, which was to keep the big panoramic shot going on for a long time, while Domergue played the guitar and looked back at John Ruth from time to time to see what John Ruth was doing.
Quentin used this ultra-wide lens at this time to make a foreshadowing. In the absence of a clear background of the plot, Domergue's frequent return at this time can leave a deep impression on the audience's mind, after the plot of the domugue gang poisoning appears later, and then look back at this shot, you will suddenly realize that Domuergue has been watching John Ruth and O.B.
Second, use complex and changeable lens language
In "Eight Wicked Men", Quentin has both long shots and panoramic shots that construct the spatial environment, as well as close-up shots depicting character images and flashback shots that explain the development of the plot. These lens languages are perfectly integrated under Quentin's pushing, pulling, remote, and leaning shooting techniques, and constantly design the most suitable lens language according to the needs of the film's plot.
At the beginning of the film "Eight Wicked Men", there is a large panoramic environmental description, thick snow, large clouds, and a slowly stretched close-up of Jesus, quickly creating a depressing and quiet atmosphere of the film, which is very strange.
These scenes of depiction in the opening set the narrative tone of the film not cheerful, but tense. Like chasing John Ruth in a snowstorm, it was as if there was a huge mystery that weighed heavily on the audience's heart.
In addition, when the film shows the character image and psychology, especially the part where Colonel Warren provokes the veteran general Smithers, Quentin uses a large number of flashback shots, which are both the memories of Colonel Warren and the scenes imagined in General Smithers's mind, and this flashback shot also illustrates the image and vividness of Colonel Warren telling this story from the side.
The flashback shots simultaneously establish the characters of Colonel Warren and General Smithers, enrich the emotions in their hearts, and amplify the contradictions between the two to the extreme, pushing the plot of Colonel Warren killing General Smithers out of nature.
Third, collage narrative style
This is mainly reflected in Quentin's non-linear narrative style, the story of "Eight Wicked Men" is cut into six chapters as a whole, of which the first four chapters mainly tell the story of John Ruth and a group of people who hitchhiked together to Minnie's grocery store by chance, the fifth chapter is a flashback plot, explaining the details of the domergue's accomplice ambushing the inn, and the last chapter is a continuation of the story line in the fourth chapter, telling the scene of the two sides fighting in the inn.
Quentin's non-linear narrative in "Eight Wicked Men" this time is neither a flashback nor a circular closed narrative, but a fragmented narrative technique. The insertion of the fifth chapter is as if Quentin is telling a story at the table, suddenly remembering the forgotten story before, and then incidentally and randomly inserting it into the original sequence of story telling.
This fragmented narrative style, which breaks the boundaries between time and space, the disorderly narrative order, together with the large number of details buried in the film, constructs a huge labyrinth in the film.
The final effect is that in this labyrinth, not only the authorities are confused, but also the bystanders are confused.
<h1 class= "pgc-h-arrow-right" > noir in a cinematic lens</h1>
This style of black imagery is mainly expressed in Quentin's signature violent aesthetic and verbal nagging. In the film "Eight Wicked Men", quentin's sudden death and violent factors full of aesthetic temperament are everywhere, and it is the "meaningless dialogue" of the eight evil people," which are combined with the complex and unconventional lens language used by Quentin in "Eight Wicked Men", presenting a black image style that only Quentin's films have.
First, the aesthetics of violence
From his debut novel "Falling Dogs" to the pinnacle of "Pulp Fiction", which has not yet surpassed, to the recent "Django Rescued" and Quentin's "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood", the term "aesthetics of violence" has always been an important symbol in Quentin's films.
Quentin's films can have no beautiful feet, no chapters, or no non-linear narratives, but no matter what, there will be violence, there will be sudden death. Even in Quentin's most mild "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood", Quentin could not refuse the "aesthetics of violence" he created.
In "Eight Wicked Men", the color of this violent aesthetic is particularly obvious, especially the scene of John Ruth and O.B. Spitting tomato juice after drinking poisoned coffee, I don't know how many people in front of the screen.
The coachman vomited step by step, just like the smiling half-step in "Tang Bohu Dian Qiu Xiang" and the death of a day. John Ruth spit out a mouthful of vicious tomato juice on the face of the female gangster Domergue, and the atmosphere of the picture was once very strange and crazy. The absurd clip of the two vomiting blood and the soundtrack fueling the waves, there is no trace of sad atmosphere in the picture.
In addition, there are two violent deaths in the movie "Eight Wicked Men" that have a special sense of ceremony.
One is that before the veteran general Smithers was suddenly killed by Colonel Warren, Quentin also carefully arranged a speech performance by Colonel Warren, which was vivid and vivid, rich in detail, as Colonel Warren said, very graphic;
One is that Domergue's brother, Jody, has been ambushed underground for more than an hour, and he has come out of the underground and is preparing to stage a warm romantic scene of family reunion, and the atmosphere has been set off, just waiting for their performance. Quentin, who does not play cards according to the routine, arranges for Colonel Warren to be inappropriate and reasonable, and gives Jody a shot from behind, allowing Jody to perform a live performance of what is called "handsome but not three seconds".
In such a play that takes place in a single scene, Quentin greatly magnifies the violent elements in it, and through a very clever lens arrangement, the violent performance is vivid, full of artistic enjoyment, and very visual impact;
At the same time, in the movie, Quentin also greatly shows the essence of his words.
Second, talk
Many people have a great misunderstanding of Quentin's words, thinking that Quentin's words are to repeat a large amount of dialogue repeatedly, imitating Quentin's words into large sections of "meaningless dialogue".
In fact, this is the biggest misunderstanding of Quentin. Quentin is only using the words of the characters in the movie to establish the image of the characters, and most of the characters create a strong black temperament in the movie through ridiculous chat.
And, you have to admit that every character Quentin creates, every word he says, every action he says is unpredictable to you, even if you're mentally prepared for his unpredictability. But when he does any of this, you still feel the surprise of the characters and plot reversals, and at the same time you find that the character really should be like this, and he must and can only say these words and do these acts.
For example, Colonel Warren, who is the most cinematic, his image and personality are gradually exposed in the film. At the beginning of his appearance in the movie, it was just an action and a look, you don't know what kind of person he is, and Quentin did not show what kind of person he was through the plot development.
Instead, Quentin constantly uses Colonel Warren's in-depth chats with others to express his character, establish his character image, and further advance the plot through the story between the characters.
That's why Quentin's films, though always have an absurd black style, are still addictive to them. Quentin's approach achieves logical self-consistency in the film.
So, you'll listen to them in the carriage: knowing that Colonel Warren had correspondence with Lincoln, knowing that he had burned 37 people to escape, knowing that he was different from John Ruth, who was also a bounty hunter.
Therefore, you will quietly listen to him tell the story of him and the old general's son in detail to the old general, and the story content will constantly refresh his image in the audience's mind.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > multiple themes in a movie shot</h1>
"The enemies of evil make righteous people feel embattled with their tyranny and tyranny. But those warriors who, in the name of fraternity and goodness, lead the weak through the dark valleys will surely receive God's protection, for He is the true guardian of His fellow citizens and the savior of the lost child. I will, with hatred and immense anger, destroy any enemy who attempts to poison and slaughter my countrymen. The moment I shoot the fire of vengeance at you, you will know that my name is Jehovah. "
Equality of race and identity is the main theme that Quentin wants to express in the movie "Eight Wicked Men".
There are more than one place in the film where blacks and whites are shown against each other. The first is the background of the story, set in the years after the Civil War, in which the confrontation between the issue of racial discrimination inevitably appears in the film.
In the eyes of whites, led by sheriff Chris Mannix, war was nothing more than the safety of whites, and it was just, "because only when blacks are afraid, whites are safe."
In the eyes of the Blacks, this was their resistance to their rights, from the battle to a Lincoln letter, which they believed was seeking the same status and identity as the whites, and that "the blacks would be safe only when the whites were wary of the blacks."
There are also many hints in the film's footage, detailing John Ruth's carriage, which is moved by 5 black horses and a white horse.
The content of the Jesus cross that appears at the beginning of the film echoes the scene where Domergue is hanged at the end of the film, and also implies that in Quentin's view, he identifies with this identity equality. Moreover, when Domergue is hanged, in the wide-format shot, the two people whose identities are most obviously opposed at the beginning—the white Chris Mannix and the black Warren—coexist in one shot, one reading a letter, and the other listening, and the picture is very harmonious.
But at the same time, as defined by the title of the movie "Eight Wicked Men", this is also a group of people who hate each other, and this group of people who hate each other is carrying out their own justice.
Bounty hunter Hanger John Ruth behaves rudely and overbearingly, insisting on using hanging to punish those who sin, without exception.
Colonel Warren cares most about his own safety and interests, once setting fire to dozens of lives in order to escape from the prisoner-of-war camp; in order to avenge the old general's "evil deeds" against blacks, he did not hesitate to abuse the old general's son, and eventually forced the old general to shoot, Colonel Warren killed him in self-defense.
Domergue is a famous murderous villain, in the face of the innocent Minnie Mouse grocery store, they are not soft, they are killed...
But Quentin didn't put these people on trial, nor did he clarify their nature in the film. Whether the "eight wicked" are good people or bad people, Quentin did not investigate the root cause.
Quentin is only witty in the special context of the times, incorporating a little of his own views, and playfully expressing the unique identity gap and racial consciousness of that era, and finally presents a scene of "turning dry into jade" in the bloody rain.
In Quentin's film, he uses clever lens language to create a group of characters who do not distinguish between good and evil, and creates a black and violent art scene. In a diverse visual style, Quentin tells the story of eight evil people about truth and lies, the fight between the evil people, portraying complex human nature, and reflecting on the times and human nature.