avoiding tarantino's influnce

[nix]

is hard.

Does anyone else have this problem? It's kinda sad when you sit down to write and the first question you ask yourself is "okay, how can I keep this from being like a Tarantino moment".

[The Silver Bullet]

Watch/read/listen to something else.

Like, something completely unrelated to what you hope to write.

[thedog]

It's kind of ironic that Tarantino movies are influenced by hundreds of other movies and directors, yet showing any kind of Tarantino influence in your movie is a crime.

the fact is, if someone likes the same movies Tarantino likes, likes the same music tarantino likes, likes the same kind of characters and scenes Tarantino likes, etc. etc. then makes a movie that has a style strikingly similar to Tarantino's, then can you really blame me, er, them?

[nix]

Yes and no. But mostly yes.

Fuck. I thought this thread was dead.

[Ravi]

I don't remember where I heard it, but some writer said he kept a copy of the PF script by his computer so he would not be influenced by him.

[godardian]

A good reason for avoiding his influence is that so many Tarantino-influenced films were so incredibly shitty. Guy Ritchie, etc. Slathering on the hip while blatantly lacking the skill and passion might get you called "Tarantinoesque" in some quarters, but that doesn't make it true. In fact, I think a lot of ricochet from the endless imitations has put off people who normally would give Tarantino a chance.

[Ghostboy]

In fact, I think a lot of ricochet from the endless imitations has put off people who normally would give Tarantino a chance.

Exactly. So many ripped him off after Pulp Fiction that I think people sorta got sick of him.

I know that right after I saw it when I was thirteen, I was so excited that I went home and wrote an embarassingly awful script about hit men who read comic books (me and a friend also shot a short trailer for it, and every now and then, to my horror, I discover that it still exists on one of my family's home videos).

The coolest thing about Tarantino -- or one of them -- is that while he steals from other sources, he never actually rips himself off. His films are all completely different experiences.

[nix]

Ravi,

That was in an article that appeared in PREMIER back in early 2001. It was written by the dude who directed "The Knockaround Guys" (don't feel like looking up his name). Maybe he should stick to journalism because that movie was pretty weak.

[Keener]

I know I have the problem. I've been doing some prewriting on one about a guy who comes home and finds his wife screwing around on him, so he shoots her and the guy. Turns out the guy was a huge drug dealer with dangerous friends. Anyway, I'm having a lot of trouble cause everytime I start to write I keep telling myself "this is comming off as a really awful Tarantino wannabe". The last thing I wanna write is something even close to Love & a .45.

[TheVoiceOfNick]

tarantino is great, but try mixing it up a bit... watch other stuff... even stuff that influenced tarantino... just move away from his stuff, and you won't be as influenced anymore...

Nick

[Keener]

I'm too paranoid about it. Like I have some dialouge that goes:

- You're late.
- I'm two minutes early.
- From now on, you be seven minutes early.

When I wrote it, I kept saying "That's so Joe" or "That's so Wolf". I've kinda came to grips with the fact I'm gonna be too worried so I'm trying to let it slide. Little things like that get to me.

And for the record, I do watch more than Tarantino. Magnolia and The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974, of course) are two of my favorite films. Tarantino is just a seemingly dominating influence for some reason.