Iconography

(Starting from top) Pulp Fiction (1994, Quentin Tarantino), Resevior Dogs (1992, Quentin Tarantino) and Infernal Affairs (2002, Wai-Keung Lau & Siu Fai Mak).

These are a collection of film stills which are among my favourite, and also, perhaps more importantly, are very iconic within the film industry. Why? I think gun standoffs always produce powerful imagery when pulled offf well. For example the Resevior Dogs still in particular is a very iconic image which evenbefore I had seen the fulm was an image I particularly liked. The whole look that comes with these stills is often part of the package like the black suit worn by gangsters or themes like betrayal, revenge or even work (It's just business, nothing personal?). The pointed guns power comes, I think, from the the idea of life and death, and the power of the gun toting character. Also I think an important factor of what turns a normal gun standoff still into an iconic one is the compistion, I think that an important aspect of the compostion is the rule of thirds. For example in the Pulp Fiction still the aiming arms are lined across the top third of the shot, in the Resevior Dogs shot the man standing lines the left third while the downed man is along the bottom third (however I do not think this is the most important aspect o this shot, instead the guns diagonally facing is more striking) and lastly the Infernal Affairs still, uses the rule of thirds for the two characters,the horizon, which also lines up the gun and heads. I think all of this plays a big part in why these shots work well and stand out.