Analysis of Pulp Fiction Opening

The opening to Pulp Fiction begins with an establishing mid-two-shot of two characters. A man and a woman. They're in what seems to be a typical American diner drinking coffee and eating. The man's costume consists of a Hawaiian type shirt, light-wash blue denim jeans and trainers. He's also smoking inside which sets the scene of America in the early 90's. 

The topic of conversation is not interpreted as the scene begins midway through their talk. As their conversation develops the audience becomes aware of the topic and realises what their occupation is. 
The shot of the two is broken by a waitress. The waitress asks them if they want more coffee in which the woman replies very politely. This largely contradicts the events which are to follow.

The scene begins to develop and the camera slowly zooms into the male character as they discuss their mutual want to not kill anybody, by doing this, the seriousness of their conversation is noticed and the audience is immediately engaged. 

Their conversation develops until they settle on the idea of robbing the coffee shop that they are currently in. Sound bridges are used between shot-reverse-shots as to keep the focus on one of the characters dialogue rather than cutting between them unnecessarily. 
The dialogue "I'm ready, let's do it. Right now, right here" is used by the woman to initiate the action of the robbery. The man then places a gun on the table and a fast cut is made to signify the importance of the gun in the situation, but it also focuses on the danger at hand. 

After this, the couple share a kiss. This long-lasting kiss seems significant to the audience as they're about to rob a coffee shop with weapons. The significance is also reinforced through a close up as they kiss. The kiss seems to symbolise their affection for one another but it also acts as a farewell/see you on the other side kind of kiss.

The couple sit back down and exchange their affections. 
The woman first says "I love you, Pumpkin" and the man replied with "I love you Honey Bunny". Their use of pet names supports the idea that they've been partners in crime and in life for a long time. 
The sweetness of these previous actions is immediately contradicted as they stand up with their guns and shout at the customers and staff in the shop. 
The man jumps from his seat in the booth, the camera tilts up with him, and he seems to take a 'good cop' approach as his dialogue is "Everybody be cool, this is a robbery". 

 Next, the woman stands up and takes a much more aggressive approach, brandishing her gun and pointing it at everyone. Her line of dialogue is "Any of you fucking pricks move and I'll execute every mother fucking last one of you". Despite their conversation about not wanting to kill anybody, her attitude portrays something different and the audience is then shocked by her immediate change to a criminal. The woman's character strays far away from female stereotypes by being loud, angry, aggressive and using taboo language. 

There is then a freeze frame of the two pointing their guns to the right of the frame, in which the first title appears. As the the freeze frame begins, non-diegetic, fast paced music begins to play. This keeps the modern atmosphere but also creates carries on the fast paced nature of the scene previous. The titles are all in a contrasting yellow, sans-serif font which keeps the modern feel to the film. By placing the title at the bottom of the frame, the characters can still be seen and their actions are still memorable to the audience.

 The freeze frame then fades to black and the titles continue to run. 
A BAND APART being the title of one of the production companies is presented in the centre of the frame and is accompanied by the companies logo which helps the audience to remember them.

 The words AND and PRODUCTION are in a much smaller font than Jersey Films which helps to accentuate the importance of the production company.
The two production companies are also shown before the director and title of the film which bares some importance also. 



Quentin Tarantino's title seems to stand out more than the previous titles. This seems so because his name is long and fills more of the frame but also because his title is accompanied by "A film by". This suggests that he is a well-known writer/director and draws in the fans of his. 

 Finally, the title of the film is brought into the frame through a credits transition and it moves upwards from the bottom. It stops moving in the centre of the frame so that the audience can read the title of the movie. The large, block letters stand out against the black background and are 3D, this differs to the previous titles but the colour scheme of yellow/orange remains. The large letters are also in a serifed font and are also in capitals. This signifies the great importance of the title of the film.
The titles of the actors and actresses after this are white, which creates a contrast to the yellow colour scheme but also makes them stand out as they're in a different font too.