Reservoir Dogs

In chapter 5 of our book, it discusses aspects of cinematography, which included character blocking and film space. Film space calls attention to aspects of the film that the filmmaker wants the viewer to pay attention to. The way the shot is framed, is done to move the attention of the audience to a specific person or object within the shot. Blocking has to do with the location of the character within the frame. The placement of the characters can give them more importance, and can let the audience know a lot, about who is superior. Film space and blocking are both aspects of cinematography. The framing structure/distance, film space, shot duration, and lighting are all part of the overall cinematography. All of these things can determine the feel of a film. Reservoir Dogs is a film that is heavily based on the dialogue. Tarantino definitely has his own scriptwriting style. Most of the film takes place in a warehouse building, with the men going in and out. Besides the flashbacks that occur due to the non-linear structure of the film, the majority of the film takes place in a single room. Aside from the strong dialogue, what makes the film so unique and helps support its dramatic narrative, and advance its themes are the cinematography and blocking that was used in the film. Blocking is the location of the character within the frame. In Reservoir Dogs Tarantino uses blocking to make the audience feel as if they are part of the action. In the opening scene, when all of the men are sitting around the table in the diner, we see them all at eye level making everyone feel like equals. I think this ties in with the fact that they were all given fake names. By giving them all colors as names it takes away the opportunity for one of them to have more authority than the other, because they don't know anything about each other, only the fake names that they were assigned. Also in the beginning shot, the camera focuses on each character individually as they talk,