The Pulp Fiction Dance Scene — A Masterclass in Tarantino Directing Subtext and Tension

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A shot-by-shot directing breakdown of the Pulp Fiction dance scene and Jackrabbit Slim's sequence.

What makes the Pulp Fiction dance scene so great? ►►

SPECIAL THANKS TO:
Retro TV Central ►►
The Ed Sullivan Show ►►
BBC America ►►
History of Cinema ►►

CHAPTERS:
00:00 Intro
00:28 - Setting Up The World Of Pulp Fiction
02:31 - The Dance Scene Begins
03:56 - Traditional Framing Vs Tarantino Framing
05:06 - Profile Shots
06:05 - Tracking “POV”
07:10 - The Wide Shot
07:34 - Dance Moves & Music
08:35 - Handheld Medium & Two Shots
09:57 - Wrap Up

The Pulp Fiction dance scene shouldn’t really work, right? A twist contest in the middle of a black comedy gangster movie? And, yet, it does. In perhaps any other director’s hands, this could have been a Razzie-winning laughing stock. In this Pulp Fiction analysis essay, we put on Quentin Tarantino’s dancing shoes to see how this unlikely sequence came together.

In reality, the Pulp Fiction dance scene is a tipping point of sorts for Vincent (John Travolta). He’s fully aware that any slip-up with the boss’s wife will end very badly for him. Vincent begins the “date” calm, reserved and a tad nervous. But by the time Ed Sullivan announces the Jackrabbit Slim’s Twist Contest, Vincent lets his guard down completely.

So, we have to talk about the underlying tension and subtext roiling beneath the surface. But we also have to consider the location for this battle of wills. Jackrabbit Slim’s is an explosion of naive and innocent nostalgia — it is a hive of teenyboppers, cool cats, vintage cars, and $5 shakes. In other words, a mobster’s wife and a heroin-tripping henchman have absolute zero business being in a place like Jackrabbit Slim’s. And this is the point.

Vincent has been dropped into a place that begs him to have fun, let loose, and forget the fact that his life may be on the line. Vincent and Mia’s conversation starts a bit stilted and awkward. To augment this, Tarantino frames them in off-center medium singles which keep them separate and unbalanced. But then, as they begin to loosen up and bond, we start seeing center-framed close-ups followed by over-the-shoulder two-shots. In other words, Quentin Tarantino and his editor Sally Menke are smartly using “invisible” techniques like camera framing and editing to guide the mood of the scene from awkward to comfortable and from polite to flirtatious.

Once they start boogieing to Chuck Berry’s “You Never Can Tell,” Tarantino and Menke only use 4 shots for the entire Pulp Fiction dance scene. A wide shot that allows all eyes to see them (ours and the other patrons in Jackrabbit Slim’s) to raise expectations and a slow push-in to build anticipation. This is followed by two handheld shots that track the “give and take” between Vincent and Mia. Finally, a profile two-shot that locks onto them just as their eyes are locked onto each other. Their “boring, get-to-know-you chit chat” in the booth was just the beginning — their real conversation is happening here on the dance floor. And Vincent is more doomed than ever.

There is a common assumption about the Quentin Tarantino directing style, especially in his earlier films, that it is all style and no substance. The excess of pop culture references in Jackrabbit Slim’s and the Pulp Fiction dance scene are superficially just “fun.” But when you consider the challenge Vincent faces, all the “fun” stuff has a real and dramatic purpose.

#FilmTheory #VideoEssay #Filmmaking

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VIDEO EDITOR: BRANDON SCULLION
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♬ SONGS USED:

“Miserlou” - Dick Dale
“Son of a Preacher Man” - Dusty Springfield
“Bustin’ Surfboards” - The Tornadoes
“Waitin’ In School” - Ricky Nelson
“Poppin’ Popeye” - Link Wray
“He Needs Me” - Shelley Duvall (From “Popeye”)
“Rumble” - Link Wray & His Men
“Surf Rider” - The Lively Ones
“The Twist” - Chubby Checker
“You Never Can Tell” - Chuck Berry
“Let’s Stay Together” - Al Green

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