What's Tarantino's Beef With Video Village?

There's no one out there like Quentin Tarantino. I appreciate all of his films, but I think the best part of him is his unabashed penchant fr telling the truth. Whether you agree with him or not, he does not filter himself. He says what he believes.

So when he gets asked a question about "How" he does something, you're going to get an answer.

For example, he just went off on "Video Village."

In a talk with AFI Fellows, the legendary director shared his visceral disdain for the monitor-heavy workflow of modern filmmaking. For Tarantino, directing isn't about "watching TV" while your movie is being made; it's about being part of the "electric current" on set.

Let's dive in.

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1. Directing From the Inside Out

I can't imagine the electricity on the set of Reservoir Dogs. You had so many great actors all on screen at once. There had to be a palpable energy in the room. And that opening scene of Reservoir Dogs gives you everything you want in a movie.

Tarantino reflected on his experience and talked about sitting at the table with the ensemble. You forget he was acting in that scene and directing.

He had a front row seat to his own movie, and it changed his perspective.

• The Advantage: Being in the circle allowed him to sense the dynamic shift in real-time. He could see who was losing steam and who was peaking, allowing him to make immediate tactical decisions about which close-ups to prioritize.
• The Workflow: Tarantino mentions that if an actor was "done" for the day mentally, he’d shift to someone like Steve Buscemi, who could be pushed harder to finish the day. This was him getting invaluable experience in real time.

2. Don’t "Watch TV" While Making a Movie

As I said up top, Tarantino does not mince words. And one of the most striking points was his refusal to use a monitor. He views the habit of sitting at Video Village as a "terrible habit" that creates a distance between the creator and the creation.

You need to be in the mix. You spent your whole life trying to break in, now you have to break out of the confines of the set and go where the action happens.

"I'm not sitting there... in another room watching TV while my movie’s being made," Tarantino says. "I’m wherever the camera is."

Whether he’s in the scene or behind the lens, he stays within arm's reach of the actors.

3. The Actor-Director Connection

According to Tarantino, your physical presence matters because, ultimately, the actors are performing for you.

This is your move; you make the tweaks based on what you want.

Whether it's a seasoned pro like Christoph Waltz or a non-actor you hired because they had the right look, every actor looks to the director the second "cut" is called.

You want to be there to tell them what you need from each scene.

• Be the Audience: When you watch a scene through a monitor, you become a member of the audience. When you stand next to the camera and look the actors in the eye, you become a "creature" of the creative process.
• Trust the Frame: Tarantino thinks that you should already know what the frame looks like, because you've talked to the cinematographer and probably seen the shot list you collaborated on. Once the shot is set, your job is to look outside the frame to feel the drama and the environment.

The Takeaway for Filmmakers

It’s easy to get sucked into the technical safety of a monitor. You get to watch your movie, and there is joy in that. Also, that works for some people because they can fine-tune things.

You get on set, you find out what works for you.

But for Tarantino, he thinks maybe try getting away from that monitor and getting in the front row.

As Tarantino puts it, you worked too hard to get here to spend the most exciting moments of your life watching them on a small screen in the other room.

Let me know what you think in the comments.