Quentin Tarantino

Quentin Tarantino has quickly established himself as one of the best writers in the business, and one aspect of his writing that really shows his skill is the way that he introduces characters. He knows that more often than not our first impression of a character will stick with us, so most of the time he introduces them in ways that will be memorable while still allowing us to see the changes in the character throughout the film. In "Reservoir Dogs," we are introduced to all of the important characters on the day they meet. We don't see the moment they meet, but we arrive while they're eating breakfast, chatting like regular people because they are regular people. And then Tarantino shows us how they act under stress. In "Pulp Fiction," we meet Jules and Vincent in a similar way; just talking, about relatively trivial things. That impression remains, however, when they turn into cold-faced hitmen. We meet Butch at a moment where he appears to be at the end of his rope, wanting to put up a fight but finding himself too weak, which is exactly what Tarantino wants us to see in him. And Mia is kept a very mysterious character until even after Vincent meets her. In "Jackie Brown," we meet all of the characters one by one, just going about their daily business. Nothing exciting seems to happen for the first twenty minutes, because nothing exciting does happen in their lives until then. In "Inglourious Basterds," the opening scene slowly unveils Col. Landa's menace, which allows his haunting demeanor to grow exponentially throughout the movie. In addition to character introductions, Tarantino thinks carefully about each piece of background information, and decides (almost always correctly) which method to use to reveal it: through conversation, or flashback. For example, in "Pulp Fiction," we learn all about Vincent's time in Europe through conversation, because QT knows that it is not only easier, but more fun. In "Kill Bill," the only character with any sort of in-depth life story is O-Ren (shown in an animated flashback), because not only is it necessary, but it would be awkward to describe just in a conversation. Similarly, the only "Inglourious Basterds" character with a story is Shoshana, for the same reasons. More than most writers, Tarantino puts a large, yet crucial amount of time and effort into character development, and it has helped skyrocket him to fame.