Scene Description Spotlight: “Inglourious Basterds”

Today let’s consider the narrative voice of a drama: Inglourious Basterds, written and directed by Quentin Tarantino.

This excerpt comes at the end of the opening sequence where German Colonel Landa has calmly and coolly scared the crap out of French farmer Perrier, who as the pair have been having their ‘cordial’ conversation knows he’s standing directly above the Dreyfus family, Jews hidden beneath the farm house floor. Note: All misspellings are present in the actual script.

The Farmer, pipe in mouth, stares across the table at his German opponent.COL LANDA
You are sheltering enemies of the state,
are you not?PERRIER
Yes.COL LANDA
Your sheltering them underneath your
floorboards aren't you?PERRIER
Yes.COL LANDA
Point out to me the area's where their
hiding.The Farmer points out the area's on the floor with the Dreyfusis are
underneath.COL LANDA
Since I haven't heard any disturbance,
I assume that while their listening,
they don't speak english?PERRIER
Yes.COL LANDA
I'm going to switch back to french now,
and I want you to follow my masquerade
- is that clear?PERRIER
Yes.Colonel Landa stands up from the table, and switching to FRENCH says
SUBTITLED IN ENGLISH:COL LANDA
Monsiuer LaPadite, I thank you for your milk,
and your hospitality. I do believe our
business here is done.The Nazi Officer opens the front door, and silently motions for his
men to approach the house.COL LANDA
Mademoiselle LaPadite, I thank you for
your time, we shant be bothering your
family any longer.Yet the LaPadite women watch the Nazi soldiers, machine guns at ready,
approach the house.The Soldiers enter the doorway, Col Landa, silently points out area of
the floor the jews are hiding under.COL LANDA
So, Monsieur and Madam LaPadite
I bid you adieu.He motions to the Soldiers with his index finger.They TEAR UP the wood floor with MACHINE GUN FIRE.The little farm house is filled with SMOKE, DUST, SPLINTERS, SCREAMS,
BULLET CASINGS, and even alittle BLOOD.With a hand motion from the Colonel, the Soldiers cut off their
gunfire. The Colonel keeps his finger in the air to indicate silence.UNDERNEATH THE FLOORBOARDS
The entire Dreyfus family lay dead. Except for sixteen year old
SHOSANNA, who miraculously escaped being struck by the nazi's bullets.
With her dead family surrounding her, the young girl goes for freedom
(represented by wire mesh vent).COL LANDA
hears movement underneath the floor, looks down and see's a SHAPE
moving forward between the planks in the floor.COL LANDA
It's the girl. Nobody move!VENT
is KICKED OPEN, the girl SPRINGS out.COL LANDA
as he crosses the floor, he see's the young girl RUNNING towards the
cover of the woods. He unlatches the window, and opens it. Shoshanna
is perfectly FRAMED in the window sill.SHOSANNA
RUNNING towards woods. Farm house and Col in the window in B.G.FILTHY BAREFEET
SLAPPING against wet grass.CU SHOSANNA'S FACE
same as a animal being chased by a predator FLIGHT - PANIC - FEARSHOSANNA'S POV
the safety of tree's, getting closer.COL LANDA
Framed by the window, takes his LUGAR, and straight arm aims at the
fleeing Jew, cocking back the hammer with his thumb.COL LANDA POV
of the fleeing Shosanna.CU COL LANDA
SLOW ZOOM into his eyes as he aims.PROFILE CU SHOSANNA
mad dash for life.COL LANDA
changes his mind. He yells to the rat fleeing the trap, heading for the
safety of the wood pile, in FRENCH SUBTITLED IN ENGLISH:COL LANDA
Au revoir, Shosanna! Till we meet again!SHOSANNA
makes it to the woods, and is gone.The S.S. Colonel closes the window.In the preceding pages, Tarantino has slowly built the tension as Col Landa winds his way through seemingly casual conversation to zeroing in on the truth - that the Farmer is hiding a Jewish family. In other words, the tone of the scene (and therefore the approach to scene description) is dictated by Col Landa's character: He goes about his business with an air of dignity and cool, which underscores the cruelty of the moment, rather like a simple business transaction than a decision about the fate of human lives. All of that is reflected in the restrained, almost documentary-style approach to the scene's initial description:

The Farmer, pipe in mouth, stares across the table at his German opponent.

The Farmer points out the area’s on the floor with the Dreyfusis are
underneath.

Colonel Landa stands up from the table, and switching to FRENCH says
SUBTITLED IN ENGLISH:

The Nazi Officer opens the front door, and silently motions for his
men to approach the house.

Four simple lines of scene description which lead the reader to an awful conclusion: The Dreyfus family is as good as dead. And for that moment, Tarantino ramps up the imagery:

He motions to the Soldiers with his index finger.

They TEAR UP the wood floor with MACHINE GUN FIRE.

The little farm house is filled with SMOKE, DUST, SPLINTERS, SCREAMS,
BULLET CASINGS, and even alittle BLOOD.

And then the scene tops itself: Shosanna miraculously survives the fusillade and she tries to escape. Again Tarantino ratchets up the visuals, using a series of secondary slugs to pivot the action from one point of focus to another:

SHOSANNA

FILTHY BAREFEET

CU SHOSANNA’S FACE

SHOSANNA’S POV

COL LANDA

COL LANDA’S POV

CU COL LANDA

PROFILE CU SHOSANNA

COL LANDA

SHOSANNA

And catch the imagery and building drama of the moment in the scene description:

…is KICKED OPEN, the girl SPRINGS out.

…as he crosses the floor, he see’s the young girl RUNNING towards the
cover of the woods. He unlatches the window, and opens it. Shoshanna
is perfectly FRAMED in the window sill.

…RUNNING towards woods. Farm house and Col in the window in B.G.

…SLAPPING against wet grass.

…same as a animal being chased by a predator FLIGHT — PANIC — FEAR

…the safety of tree’s, getting closer.

…Framed by the window, takes his LUGAR, and straight arm aims at the
fleeing Jew, cocking back the hammer with his thumb.

…of the fleeing Shosanna.

…SLOW ZOOM into his eyes as he aims.

…mad dash for life.

… changes his mind. He yells to the rat fleeing the trap, heading for the
safety of the wood pile…

As I say, pure drama.Now a few points about style. Observant eyes will notice the use of camera shots (i.e., CU, POV, PROFILE, SLOW ZOOM). And yet haven't I stated on this very site that there has been a definite shift away from using directing lingo in contemporary screenplays?Two things. First, remember the distinction between a selling script and a shooting script. This is a shooting script, so it is written with production specifically in mind. A selling script, which is what almost all of us here are concerned with writing is not focused on production, but rather 'selling' the story to a reader in the hopes that a script reader will give it good coverage, a producer will think they could set up the script, a studio exec will feel like the script could turn into a hit movie, an actor will fall in love with their character, a director will connect with the material so much they're willing to commit 12 months of their life to making the film. For a selling script, we're trying to pull readers into our story and keep them there, not remind them with every CU, SMASH CUT TO, POV, and ANGLE ON that we're talking about a movie.Second, this is Quentin Tarantino we're talking about. He is a writer-director. Therefore he can put down whatever he wants in the script -- including specific camera shots -- because he's going to direct it.So again, do not use camera shots / directing lingo in your scene description.The final thing is all the misspellings - and there are a ton in this script. I've read Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction. I don't remember those scripts being strewn with misspellings. So I'm wondering if that is something that Tarantino did intentionally in this script. Hell, he misspells both words in the movie's title: Inglourious Basterds.I don't have time to go back through his other scripts, but if anybody does or has recently, what are your thoughts about the misspellings? Is that a reflection of Tarantino's spelling acumen (or lack thereof) or is he playing around with that conceit in the script? And if so, why?[Originally posted December 9, 2009]

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