Pulp Fiction and Mise-en-scene
Questions in the exam could focus specifically on the ways in which mise-en-scene (setting, costume and make-up, props and, possibly, figure behaviour) creates meaning for audiences BUT a number of other types of questions may require you to make reference to aspects of mise-en-scene - even if the term is not in the title. Answers to questions on representation or aesthetics may be dominated by discussion of elements of mise-en-scene and you should mention mise-en-scene in essays about institutional context (how choices may be as a result of the fact Pulp Fiction is a low-budget, Independent movie made by Miramax) and the critical debates studied for experimental film - narrative and, particularly, auteur (choices regarding some elements of mise-en-scene are particularly useful when discussing Tarantino's auteur signature). It is possible that any question on mise-en-scene will ask you discuss the ways that the use of props, setting and even costume could be considered to be experimental, so you must be able to discuss what is different or unusual about Tarantino's use of mise-en-scene, discussing the ways that it challenges what we are used to seeing in mainstream cinema.
To refresh your memory about the key terms for mise-en-scene, click on the links below.
Remember, questions on mise-en-scene will require you to discuss, in detail, certain scenes from Pulp Fiction - so make sure you have at least two scenes that you can recall in detail. In reality (time permitting) it would be a good idea to also mention at least one other scene; remember, that you are writing a Film Studies essay and, therefore, examiners will expect you to support your points at all times with discussion of examples from the film.
Opening and closing scenes are always useful to know in detail - though remember that this is slightly complicated by the fact that much of Pulp Fiction is told out of chronological order (so, you may consider Captain Coons' Gold Watch monologue to be the opening moment of the story - looking at the film this way foregrounds the narrative significance of the gold watch - whilst the diner scene with Honey Bunny and Pumpkin is the opening scene as presented in the plot). Try, also, to memorise at least one other key scene - and make sure that you are able to make brief passing references to a number of other moments in Pulp Fiction.
The most important thing to remember is that you only have 30 minutes to write the essay on Pulp Fiction, which obviously limits how much you can discuss in relation to mise-en-scene. My advice would be to split your essay into three sections (alongside your introduction and conclusion); one section on setting, one section on props and one setting on costume/make-up. A couple of points in each section with well chosen examples from the film will be more than enough and will be manageable in the time you have. Remember, also, that some of the ways that mise-en-scene is used by Tarantino is conventional whilst others can reasonably be described as 'experimental'.
Many of the scenes in Pulp Fiction are shot on location and whilst it is never clear exactly where these scenes take place, dialogue indicates to the audience that the narrative takes place in Los Angeles (certain characters mention 'Inglewood' and 'Toluca Lake', both suburbs of LA). This would suggest that the precise setting of Pulp Fiction is unimportant to the narrative and implies that these events could arguably happen anywhere. What is interesting about the use of locations in Pulp Fiction is that, unlike many mainstream Hollywood movies, there are a noticeable lack of establishing shots which are commonly used to help orientate the audience. It is certainly possible to argue that this is 'experimental' and that Tarantino is rejecting conventions when it comes to clearly establishing location for the spectator. There are a number of possible reasons for this. Firstly, a lack of establishing shots gives the film a sense of claustrophobia, ramping up the tension and, in conjunction with the fractured narrative structure, confusing and unsettling the audience, forcing them into a more active form of spectatorship as they try and piece events together in terms of causality. Secondly, Tarantino foregrounds the dialogue, drawing attention to the pop culture references and the, arguably, more realistic dialogue of his characters. Therefore, closer, tighter shots on characters rather than wide, extreme long shots of locations, direct the audience to this dialogue. One of the hallmarks of Tarantino's auteur signature is his use of dialogue (remember, your arguments about his auteur status should focus on the level of control he has as both scriptwriter and director) and it seems reasonable to argue that in his second film (after Reservoir Dogs) where he is trying to develop a recognisable auteur style, that Tarantino would film in such a way that focuses the audience's attention on the dialogue.
Directors, then, often use setting to create a sense of realism and it is fair to argue that the use of location shooting often helps create this sense of verisimilitude. The absence of conventional establishing shots in Pulp Fiction certainly undermines this. Setting is also often used to reveal to the audience something about character, either explicitly or more subtly, in a symbolic way. One example of setting in the film that would enable you to discuss this is Marcellus' bar, Sally LeRoys, where he asks Butch to throw the fight before meeting Vincent and Jules. It is worth re-reading the extract below, from the section on lighting and cinematography related to this setting:
A contrast to this, and a good example of lighting being used stylistically and expressively, is in the scene shot in the bar and, particularly the conversation where Marcellus gives Butch his orders to throw the fight. We have already heard, through dialogue between Vincent and Jules, about how dangerous and violent Marcellus is but this is the first time the audience meet him, in his domain - the bar, Sally LeRoy's. Here, the lighting is used to reinforce elements of Marcellus's character to the audience. The lighting in the empty bar where Marcellus conducts his business is not naturalistic but instead a stylistic cocktail of subterranean colour mixed with shadows (which are cast by the use of low-key lighting), created using a red filter. During the first two minutes of Butch's audience with Marcellus (a character frequently linked to the Devil in the movie, for example the code on his briefcase is 666) Butch is awash with red, as if in hell. In some senses, the lighting is realistic (empty bars and nightclubs where gangsters do their work, are often lit this way) but the lighting is also used metaphorically or symbolically both to imply the 'heat' that Butch is under to do Marcellus's bidding and to indicate to the audience that Marcellus is dangerous and violent; the devil incarnate whose evil spills into every corner of the room. Here, Tarantino has taken lighting to the extreme to convey Marcellus's menace and evil.
Whilst the focus here is on lighting and camera shots, with a little restructuring this could easily be used in a point you want to make about setting and the ways it suggests something to the audience about the character of Marcellus Wallace.
Perhaps the most useful setting to discuss in relation to Pulp Fiction as an 'experimental' film is Jack Rabbit Slims, where Mia takes Vincent for their date. One of the ways that we have suggested that Pulp Fiction can be considered to be 'experimental' is by describing it as postmodern and this is perhaps the best example of a setting which emphasises the film's postmodern characteristics. Before they enter, Mia draws a rectangle on the screen as she tells Vincent not be such a square (breaking the fourth wall) and as soon as the characters enter the restaurant the audience is made aware of intertextuality and homage to other films (both key hallmarks of postmodernism); the walls are adorned with posters to obscure 1950s movies, the waiting staff are dressed like movie and music icons (Marilyn Monroe, James Dean, Buddy Holly), there are references to TV hosts and film directors in the names of items on the menu and the scene makes reference to multiple movies from Grease and Saturday Night Fever in the dance contest, The Seven Year Itch where Marilyn Monroe's dress blows up around her waist and the 1935 film Mad Love, when Mia gives the backstory to her character in the TV pilot for Fox Force Five. What is clear is that the setting has been constructed in such a way to enable these postmodern moments to happen.
There are, of course, other elements of setting that you may wish to discuss, such as the styling of young Butch's house to place it clearly in the 1970s and the use of rear projection for the setting in two driving scenes (when Vincent drives to pick up Mia after taking heroin and when Butch escapes in the taxi after throwing the fight) but you have more than enough to discuss with the examples above.
Directors frequently draw the audience's attention to the narrative significance of props through the use of close ups and dialogue; Tarantino both follows and breaks this convention in Pulp Fiction (when he breaks it you can describe it as 'experimental'). In the scene that begins the story the audience are introduced to a young Butch and Captain Coons, a war veteran who served with Butch's father in Vietnam. Coons' monologue focuses on the gold watch, a prop that ultimately has huge narrative significance; the fact that Fabienne leaves the watch at Butch's apartment acts as the catalyst for the events that end the story. The foregrounding of this prop by Tarantino (conventionally, through an extreme close up and dialogue) creates the expectation that it will play a vital role in the narrative; the gold watch leads Butch to return to his apartment which, in turn, leads to the death of Vincent, the confrontation with Marcellus and the scene in the basement where both Butch and Marcellus are beaten and Marcellus is raped. Ultimately, it is the gold watch (or, at least Butch's decision to retrieve it) that leads to his freedom, and closure in the story. Here, then, Tarantino uses a prop in a conventional manner (though its significance is initially obscured somewhat as a result of the order in which events are presented in the plot).
An more 'experimental' approach to using a prop can be found with the briefcase which Jules and Vincent retrieve from the apartment upon orders from Marcellus. As with the gold watch, the audience see close ups and extreme close ups of the briefcase and there are frequent conversations about the briefcase that appear to foreground its narrative significance. Spectators would expect, at the very least, that the briefcase will play a significant narrative role and that the contents of the briefcase will be revealed at the end of the narrative. The seeming importance of the briefcase is emphasised further as it appears towards the beginning of the plot (the film's second scene involves hitmen murdering a number of Marcellus' 'associates' in order to retrieve it) and in the plot's final scene in the diner, where Jules appears willing to lose his life rather than give up the briefcase to Ringo/Pumpkin. As events stand in the plot, the audience do not learn what is inside the briefcase (despite frequently seeing a golden glow, and shocked expressions, every time a character opens it). A lack of revelation may be as a result of Tarantino placing story events out of chronological order in the plot BUT even when the audience have re-ordered these events chronologically, the contents of the briefcase remain a mystery. Using a prop in such a way - to guide audience expectation and create suspense as they become desperate to know its significance - is known as a macguffin (a narrative device frequently used by Alfred Hitchcock in the thrillers he directed, to lead audiences down a particular path before cheating their expectations). Whilst Tarantino is not the first to use such a device, macguffins are certainly unusual and can be classed as 'experimental' in the sense that the props create meaning that is counter to a prop's conventional use. Sometimes, when a macguffin is used the audience may forget about its supposed significance as it may disappear out of the narrative relatively early on. Its inclusion in scenes at both the beginning and the end of the plot, however, arguably draw greater attention to it. The fact that the whole of the last scene in the film focuses on the briefcase reminds the audience that they remain unaware of its contents.
If you want to focus your essay specifically on props, there are plenty of other points you could make (and plenty of other props that you could discuss). Tarantino frequently uses extreme close ups on other props (such as the record player needle or Vincent's drugs paraphernalia) implying narrative significance when there is none. These shots are good examples of the stylistic, postmodern nature of the film and are useful to discuss in any essay about Tarantino's auteur signature. Some props are associated with genre (such as the guns that many characters use) whilst others are used for humorous effect or make intertextual references to other films (such as the chainsaw and samurai sword that Butch considers using when he decides to rescue Marcellus). Some props should even be discussed as examples of postmodernism, having being created by Tarantino but passed off as real, such as the Red Apple cigarettes (which Butch, Mia and Ringo/Pumpkin all smoke and which are found throughout films directed by Tarantino) and the packaging from Big Kahuna Burger.
One final area of mise-en-scene that you should discuss is costume. Conventionally, costume is used to indicate something about the status, profession or mood of a character or to reflect a film's genre to the audience. In many ways the costumes in Pulp Fiction do this, though there are times when Tarantino tends to subvert these conventions, again reinforcing the idea that he frequently uses aspects of film form in an unusual or 'experimental' way.
Vincent and Jules are hitmen, low-level gangsters prone to violence. In many scenes in the movie (in the first half of the story) they wear conventional dark suits and ties which are typical of the genre. The suits reflect their relative status; the cheap, basic suits indicate that they are simply guns for hire, violent thugs in the service of a much more powerful boss. Here, costume is used conventionally both in terms of revealing character status and reflecting genre.
The best example of the way that Tarantino uses costume unconventionally is through the shorts and t-shirts that Jules and Vincent wear in numerous scenes in the movie. The first time the audience witness the characters in these costumes is in the scene which starts the section of the narrative focusing on Vincent's 'date' with Mia. After the audience see Marcellus pay Butch to throw the fight, Jules and Vincent enter the bar wearing shorts and t-shirts (the barman and Marcellus both comment on the outfits). This scene comes relatively early in the plot (though actually takes place much later in the story) and comes just after the scene in the apartment where Jules and Vincent were wearing dark suits. Because of the way that Tarantino has manipulated the chronology of the film the audience have not seen the cause of this costume change and only become aware of the reason why it has happened much later in the film when we witness Mr Wolf's clean-up after Vincent accidentally shoots Marvin in the face. At this point in the plot, the costume creates humour alongside enigma. Once we witness the scene at Jimmie's where the pair are asked to strip and burn their suits, before being hosed down to clean off Marvin's blood and brains, we have a clearer understanding of the more macabre and disturbing reason for the 'dorky' outfits.
Typical questions related to mise-en-scene can be found below. It is important that you attempt them, combining the notes above with your own analysis of key scenes. When practicing essays it will help with your revision if you re-watch moments from the film and pick appropriate scenes to analyse.
1. Explore how far mise-en-scene contributes to the 'experimental' identity of your chosen film.
3. Explore how aspects of mise-en-scene are used experimentally to enrich meaning in your chosen film. Make detailed reference to particular sequences in your answer.
Opening and closing scenes are always useful to know in detail - though remember that this is slightly complicated by the fact that much of Pulp Fiction is told out of chronological order (so, you may consider Captain Coons' Gold Watch monologue to be the opening moment of the story - looking at the film this way foregrounds the narrative significance of the gold watch - whilst the diner scene with Honey Bunny and Pumpkin is the opening scene as presented in the plot). Try, also, to memorise at least one other key scene - and make sure that you are able to make brief passing references to a number of other moments in Pulp Fiction.
The most important thing to remember is that you only have 30 minutes to write the essay on Pulp Fiction, which obviously limits how much you can discuss in relation to mise-en-scene. My advice would be to split your essay into three sections (alongside your introduction and conclusion); one section on setting, one section on props and one setting on costume/make-up. A couple of points in each section with well chosen examples from the film will be more than enough and will be manageable in the time you have. Remember, also, that some of the ways that mise-en-scene is used by Tarantino is conventional whilst others can reasonably be described as 'experimental'.
Many of the scenes in Pulp Fiction are shot on location and whilst it is never clear exactly where these scenes take place, dialogue indicates to the audience that the narrative takes place in Los Angeles (certain characters mention 'Inglewood' and 'Toluca Lake', both suburbs of LA). This would suggest that the precise setting of Pulp Fiction is unimportant to the narrative and implies that these events could arguably happen anywhere. What is interesting about the use of locations in Pulp Fiction is that, unlike many mainstream Hollywood movies, there are a noticeable lack of establishing shots which are commonly used to help orientate the audience. It is certainly possible to argue that this is 'experimental' and that Tarantino is rejecting conventions when it comes to clearly establishing location for the spectator. There are a number of possible reasons for this. Firstly, a lack of establishing shots gives the film a sense of claustrophobia, ramping up the tension and, in conjunction with the fractured narrative structure, confusing and unsettling the audience, forcing them into a more active form of spectatorship as they try and piece events together in terms of causality. Secondly, Tarantino foregrounds the dialogue, drawing attention to the pop culture references and the, arguably, more realistic dialogue of his characters. Therefore, closer, tighter shots on characters rather than wide, extreme long shots of locations, direct the audience to this dialogue. One of the hallmarks of Tarantino's auteur signature is his use of dialogue (remember, your arguments about his auteur status should focus on the level of control he has as both scriptwriter and director) and it seems reasonable to argue that in his second film (after Reservoir Dogs) where he is trying to develop a recognisable auteur style, that Tarantino would film in such a way that focuses the audience's attention on the dialogue.
Directors, then, often use setting to create a sense of realism and it is fair to argue that the use of location shooting often helps create this sense of verisimilitude. The absence of conventional establishing shots in Pulp Fiction certainly undermines this. Setting is also often used to reveal to the audience something about character, either explicitly or more subtly, in a symbolic way. One example of setting in the film that would enable you to discuss this is Marcellus' bar, Sally LeRoys, where he asks Butch to throw the fight before meeting Vincent and Jules. It is worth re-reading the extract below, from the section on lighting and cinematography related to this setting:
A contrast to this, and a good example of lighting being used stylistically and expressively, is in the scene shot in the bar and, particularly the conversation where Marcellus gives Butch his orders to throw the fight. We have already heard, through dialogue between Vincent and Jules, about how dangerous and violent Marcellus is but this is the first time the audience meet him, in his domain - the bar, Sally LeRoy's. Here, the lighting is used to reinforce elements of Marcellus's character to the audience. The lighting in the empty bar where Marcellus conducts his business is not naturalistic but instead a stylistic cocktail of subterranean colour mixed with shadows (which are cast by the use of low-key lighting), created using a red filter. During the first two minutes of Butch's audience with Marcellus (a character frequently linked to the Devil in the movie, for example the code on his briefcase is 666) Butch is awash with red, as if in hell. In some senses, the lighting is realistic (empty bars and nightclubs where gangsters do their work, are often lit this way) but the lighting is also used metaphorically or symbolically both to imply the 'heat' that Butch is under to do Marcellus's bidding and to indicate to the audience that Marcellus is dangerous and violent; the devil incarnate whose evil spills into every corner of the room. Here, Tarantino has taken lighting to the extreme to convey Marcellus's menace and evil.
Whilst the focus here is on lighting and camera shots, with a little restructuring this could easily be used in a point you want to make about setting and the ways it suggests something to the audience about the character of Marcellus Wallace.
Perhaps the most useful setting to discuss in relation to Pulp Fiction as an 'experimental' film is Jack Rabbit Slims, where Mia takes Vincent for their date. One of the ways that we have suggested that Pulp Fiction can be considered to be 'experimental' is by describing it as postmodern and this is perhaps the best example of a setting which emphasises the film's postmodern characteristics. Before they enter, Mia draws a rectangle on the screen as she tells Vincent not be such a square (breaking the fourth wall) and as soon as the characters enter the restaurant the audience is made aware of intertextuality and homage to other films (both key hallmarks of postmodernism); the walls are adorned with posters to obscure 1950s movies, the waiting staff are dressed like movie and music icons (Marilyn Monroe, James Dean, Buddy Holly), there are references to TV hosts and film directors in the names of items on the menu and the scene makes reference to multiple movies from Grease and Saturday Night Fever in the dance contest, The Seven Year Itch where Marilyn Monroe's dress blows up around her waist and the 1935 film Mad Love, when Mia gives the backstory to her character in the TV pilot for Fox Force Five. What is clear is that the setting has been constructed in such a way to enable these postmodern moments to happen.
There are, of course, other elements of setting that you may wish to discuss, such as the styling of young Butch's house to place it clearly in the 1970s and the use of rear projection for the setting in two driving scenes (when Vincent drives to pick up Mia after taking heroin and when Butch escapes in the taxi after throwing the fight) but you have more than enough to discuss with the examples above.
Directors frequently draw the audience's attention to the narrative significance of props through the use of close ups and dialogue; Tarantino both follows and breaks this convention in Pulp Fiction (when he breaks it you can describe it as 'experimental'). In the scene that begins the story the audience are introduced to a young Butch and Captain Coons, a war veteran who served with Butch's father in Vietnam. Coons' monologue focuses on the gold watch, a prop that ultimately has huge narrative significance; the fact that Fabienne leaves the watch at Butch's apartment acts as the catalyst for the events that end the story. The foregrounding of this prop by Tarantino (conventionally, through an extreme close up and dialogue) creates the expectation that it will play a vital role in the narrative; the gold watch leads Butch to return to his apartment which, in turn, leads to the death of Vincent, the confrontation with Marcellus and the scene in the basement where both Butch and Marcellus are beaten and Marcellus is raped. Ultimately, it is the gold watch (or, at least Butch's decision to retrieve it) that leads to his freedom, and closure in the story. Here, then, Tarantino uses a prop in a conventional manner (though its significance is initially obscured somewhat as a result of the order in which events are presented in the plot).
An more 'experimental' approach to using a prop can be found with the briefcase which Jules and Vincent retrieve from the apartment upon orders from Marcellus. As with the gold watch, the audience see close ups and extreme close ups of the briefcase and there are frequent conversations about the briefcase that appear to foreground its narrative significance. Spectators would expect, at the very least, that the briefcase will play a significant narrative role and that the contents of the briefcase will be revealed at the end of the narrative. The seeming importance of the briefcase is emphasised further as it appears towards the beginning of the plot (the film's second scene involves hitmen murdering a number of Marcellus' 'associates' in order to retrieve it) and in the plot's final scene in the diner, where Jules appears willing to lose his life rather than give up the briefcase to Ringo/Pumpkin. As events stand in the plot, the audience do not learn what is inside the briefcase (despite frequently seeing a golden glow, and shocked expressions, every time a character opens it). A lack of revelation may be as a result of Tarantino placing story events out of chronological order in the plot BUT even when the audience have re-ordered these events chronologically, the contents of the briefcase remain a mystery. Using a prop in such a way - to guide audience expectation and create suspense as they become desperate to know its significance - is known as a macguffin (a narrative device frequently used by Alfred Hitchcock in the thrillers he directed, to lead audiences down a particular path before cheating their expectations). Whilst Tarantino is not the first to use such a device, macguffins are certainly unusual and can be classed as 'experimental' in the sense that the props create meaning that is counter to a prop's conventional use. Sometimes, when a macguffin is used the audience may forget about its supposed significance as it may disappear out of the narrative relatively early on. Its inclusion in scenes at both the beginning and the end of the plot, however, arguably draw greater attention to it. The fact that the whole of the last scene in the film focuses on the briefcase reminds the audience that they remain unaware of its contents.
If you want to focus your essay specifically on props, there are plenty of other points you could make (and plenty of other props that you could discuss). Tarantino frequently uses extreme close ups on other props (such as the record player needle or Vincent's drugs paraphernalia) implying narrative significance when there is none. These shots are good examples of the stylistic, postmodern nature of the film and are useful to discuss in any essay about Tarantino's auteur signature. Some props are associated with genre (such as the guns that many characters use) whilst others are used for humorous effect or make intertextual references to other films (such as the chainsaw and samurai sword that Butch considers using when he decides to rescue Marcellus). Some props should even be discussed as examples of postmodernism, having being created by Tarantino but passed off as real, such as the Red Apple cigarettes (which Butch, Mia and Ringo/Pumpkin all smoke and which are found throughout films directed by Tarantino) and the packaging from Big Kahuna Burger.
One final area of mise-en-scene that you should discuss is costume. Conventionally, costume is used to indicate something about the status, profession or mood of a character or to reflect a film's genre to the audience. In many ways the costumes in Pulp Fiction do this, though there are times when Tarantino tends to subvert these conventions, again reinforcing the idea that he frequently uses aspects of film form in an unusual or 'experimental' way.
Vincent and Jules are hitmen, low-level gangsters prone to violence. In many scenes in the movie (in the first half of the story) they wear conventional dark suits and ties which are typical of the genre. The suits reflect their relative status; the cheap, basic suits indicate that they are simply guns for hire, violent thugs in the service of a much more powerful boss. Here, costume is used conventionally both in terms of revealing character status and reflecting genre.
The best example of the way that Tarantino uses costume unconventionally is through the shorts and t-shirts that Jules and Vincent wear in numerous scenes in the movie. The first time the audience witness the characters in these costumes is in the scene which starts the section of the narrative focusing on Vincent's 'date' with Mia. After the audience see Marcellus pay Butch to throw the fight, Jules and Vincent enter the bar wearing shorts and t-shirts (the barman and Marcellus both comment on the outfits). This scene comes relatively early in the plot (though actually takes place much later in the story) and comes just after the scene in the apartment where Jules and Vincent were wearing dark suits. Because of the way that Tarantino has manipulated the chronology of the film the audience have not seen the cause of this costume change and only become aware of the reason why it has happened much later in the film when we witness Mr Wolf's clean-up after Vincent accidentally shoots Marvin in the face. At this point in the plot, the costume creates humour alongside enigma. Once we witness the scene at Jimmie's where the pair are asked to strip and burn their suits, before being hosed down to clean off Marvin's blood and brains, we have a clearer understanding of the more macabre and disturbing reason for the 'dorky' outfits.
Typical questions related to mise-en-scene can be found below. It is important that you attempt them, combining the notes above with your own analysis of key scenes. When practicing essays it will help with your revision if you re-watch moments from the film and pick appropriate scenes to analyse.
1. Explore how far mise-en-scene contributes to the 'experimental' identity of your chosen film.
OR
2. 'Experimental film is often the result of an auteur challenging established conventions with fresh ideas.' Discuss this statement in relation to mise-en-scene with reference to key sequences from your chosen film.
OR
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