PULP FICTION is a contemporary classic. It’s well-regarded by critics, and it’s popular, too. I suspect most everyone has seen it–unless you don’t like violence, which I quite understand.

I would personally rate it as one of Tarantino’s better films. It has the trademark violence, but it’s not all cartoonish: it has emotional impact, too. And the complex storytelling is handled simply but cleverly. And the mise-en-scen helps tell the story–as when two hit men wait for help holding cups of coffee, their clothes spattered with blood. (Ooops.)

University students Dan Reed and Chiraag Patel have made a lovely video analyzing the mise-en-scene in one segment of PULP FICTION. Mise-en-scene could be described as everything in front of the camera, minus how the camera affects it by framing. Mise-en-scene describes what we see as if it were on a stage in a theater: sets or locations, costumes, props, performances as they occupy and use the space.

Reed and Patel describe the segment blow-by-blow, but then they also insert still frames and freeze now and again to make some contrasts clear and to focus the viewer’s attention on specific details. Their voiceover is low-key, and this lets the viewer focus on the visuals before us.

While Tarantino’s storytelling and editing and violence draw attention, his mise-en-scene is largely realistic. It’s thus a clever choice, and Reed and Patel’s expert analysis help us to appreciate just how good a director Tarantino is–as opposed to his writing.

–Edward O’Neill