SHOOT TO KILL

DEATH PROOF marks Tarantino’s auspicious debut as a Director of Photography. It’s an unusual first venture as a DP, because so much of the look of the film is involved in the process of aging the film. But he designed the look of the film with authenticity in mind:

“I actually have a very tiny reel in my movie because in black and white. I’m printing it on black and white stock. My print is made as a Frankenstein monster, which a lot of my prints are. They’re made up from different sources. So this reel is crappy, washed out, dirtied up, and then this reel is Technicolor – ‘Oh my god, it’s gorgeous.’ I’m going for that. We actually do black and white film on black and white stock and it’s got to be its own reel.”

Skin is alternately bathed in smoke and neon, then moonlight, fluorescent light and ultimately the bright Tennessee sunshine. In keeping with 70s cinematic trends, flares are common in the chase scene.

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