In the title sequence, the importance of the main character 'Jackie Brown' has been established with the use of an opening tracking shot, with a very long/heavy focus on the character. This helps to portray to the audience the significance of the main character. Her costume is reflective of her job, due to the distinct, generic airline uniform. The fact that the character is first introduced to the audience at her place of work portrays that - from the very beginning- the character is strong and independent, as the fact that she has a job shows that she is very self-sufficient. Her appearance and body language also helps to reinforce the idea of a very stylish, strong, confident female character.
Together, these help to portray the image of a strong, capable, self-reliant main character; which is one of the generic character types found in thriller texts. The use of bright colour and ambient lighting in this scene could be used to reflect the fact that this is the characters natural state, rather then them forging autonomy and competence; as the bright colours makes the character almost exposed in a way, giving her the inability to 'hide' anything, and the use of natural light could be metaphorical of her natural disposition.
In this scene, the chiaroscuro lighting in the unglamorous, tacky balcony setting at the beginning of the scene creates a subtle reference to film noir; along with the dimly lit urban setting being a generic feature of thriller films. The fact that Beaumont is topless, with his back against the wall for the first half of this scene shows that he is vulnerable, unprotected and exposed; possibly foreshadowing the later event of his demise.
Later in this scene, we see a slightly tilted low angle of Beaumont and Ordell from the boot of a car; which appears in many of Tarantino's other works, such as 'Pulp Fiction', 'Kill Bill' and 'Reservoir Dogs'. An example of this repeated shot can be seen in the video below.
This shot is used when Ordell is trying to persuade Beaumont to get into the boot of the car, to which he shows very strong rejection to. This helps to evoke fear and tension within the audience due to the claustrophobic setting of the car boot; as many people have a fear of small spaces and the idea of having a lack of oxygen - therefore possibly suffocating to death. The use of claustrophobic settings is a generic feature of thriller films, used effectively in this text as the idea of claustrophobia in this character is used almost as a red herring as it leads the audience - along with the character himself- to believe that the small space is the only problem facing him, rather than his impending, inevitable death. This is similar to where Jason locks the 'snitch/grass' in the back of his van, where he then takes him to an isolated location to beat him up and leave him there.
The shot of Ordell in the front of the car -the interior of a car being a generic location of thriller texts- shows him with an army uniform-like costume which could be used to try and establish his dominance over Beaumont; along with showing his 'jewellery/bling' which portrays him as a very flashy and conceited character. This shot also shows the audience Ordell in the front of the car putting a pair of dark gloves on, which could be foreshadowing the fact that something bad is about to happen; possibly suggesting a crime or other wrong doings on his part.
The camera then follows the car down a wet, urban street with the reflections of the street lights on the pavement - which is a generic thriller location. As the car goes around a fence the camera pans up, following the car; as to keep the 180° rule. It is here that we then witness Ordell shooting Beaumont in the boot of the car, which portrays to the audience that Ordell is a negative character who is not to be trusted; as the audience has just seen him kill someone. The fact that he was able to kill Beaumont shows that Ordell is very detached from his emotions as he appears to show very little empathy for his prior actions.
Together, these help to portray the image of a strong, capable, self-reliant main character; which is one of the generic character types found in thriller texts. The use of bright colour and ambient lighting in this scene could be used to reflect the fact that this is the characters natural state, rather then them forging autonomy and competence; as the bright colours makes the character almost exposed in a way, giving her the inability to 'hide' anything, and the use of natural light could be metaphorical of her natural disposition.
In this scene, the chiaroscuro lighting in the unglamorous, tacky balcony setting at the beginning of the scene creates a subtle reference to film noir; along with the dimly lit urban setting being a generic feature of thriller films. The fact that Beaumont is topless, with his back against the wall for the first half of this scene shows that he is vulnerable, unprotected and exposed; possibly foreshadowing the later event of his demise.
Later in this scene, we see a slightly tilted low angle of Beaumont and Ordell from the boot of a car; which appears in many of Tarantino's other works, such as 'Pulp Fiction', 'Kill Bill' and 'Reservoir Dogs'. An example of this repeated shot can be seen in the video below.
The shot of Ordell in the front of the car -the interior of a car being a generic location of thriller texts- shows him with an army uniform-like costume which could be used to try and establish his dominance over Beaumont; along with showing his 'jewellery/bling' which portrays him as a very flashy and conceited character. This shot also shows the audience Ordell in the front of the car putting a pair of dark gloves on, which could be foreshadowing the fact that something bad is about to happen; possibly suggesting a crime or other wrong doings on his part.
The camera then follows the car down a wet, urban street with the reflections of the street lights on the pavement - which is a generic thriller location. As the car goes around a fence the camera pans up, following the car; as to keep the 180° rule. It is here that we then witness Ordell shooting Beaumont in the boot of the car, which portrays to the audience that Ordell is a negative character who is not to be trusted; as the audience has just seen him kill someone. The fact that he was able to kill Beaumont shows that Ordell is very detached from his emotions as he appears to show very little empathy for his prior actions.
Melanie's death scene takes place in a car park, which is a generic location found in thriller texts. The fact that Louis shoots Melanie in a public place - such as the car park- in broad daylight portrays him as a fairly psychotic character as he has not been secretive about the murder; and seems to show very little recognition for his actions, along with the fact that he still talks to her as if she's beside him; when she's laying dead on the floor after being shot twice. The idea of a psychotic individual is a generic character type found in thriller texts; as well as being a distinguishing feature of a number of Tarantino's other works. Alternatively, the fact that Louis appeared to have no second thoughts or empathy for killing Melanie could be seen as a type of social commentary about the fact that people are being 'desensitised' to certain issues - such as death/murder- due to what people are now being exposed to through many different types of media; such as the news and magazines/newspapers.
