Pulp Fiction (1994) — trunk shot
See our character’s iconic-scene parody →From inside the trunk of a car, you look up at two men who have opened the trunk, looking down and gathering their gear. Borrow it for a scene just before something is taken out, or for an ad opening that looks up at the hero from inside a delivery box, a fridge, or a bag, whenever you want to put the viewer in the position of the object.
The camera looks up at the two men from the place of the object lying on the bottom of the trunk (the whole clip).
To recreate it: Start with 'object POV from inside a car trunk looking up' so the AI understands the camera position.
A wide-angle lens placed inside the trunk shoots up from a low angle (In Depth Cine video, around 3:45).
To recreate it: Add 'wide-angle lens, extreme low angle' to exaggerate the faces as they come toward the lens.
Looking up from almost directly below, the two men block the sky and press down on the frame. In Depth Cine explains that a low angle makes the characters look powerful and dominant.
To recreate it: Add 'looking down into the lens', low enough that you can see the characters' chins.
The open trunk lid and rim cross the top of the frame and enclose the two men like a picture frame (observation).
To recreate it: Be sure to include 'the open trunk lid and dark rim framing the top of the shot', or it won't be distinguished from an ordinary low angle under the sky.
The dark, blurred inside of the trunk hangs at the edges of the frame, giving a peeping feel (Far Out calls it "voyeuristic").
To recreate it: Specify the foreground at the edges as blurred, with 'dark, out-of-focus trunk interior edges'.
Tarantino said he shot on 50 ASA film, which has almost no grain, to get a glossy picture "closest to a 1950s color film" (Wikipedia — Pulp Fiction).
To recreate it: Write 'clean, nearly grainless 35mm film, rich saturated color' to reduce grain and deepen color.
Cinematic multi-shot sequence, 13 seconds total. Shot 1 (2s): static insert of a hand turning a key in the trunk lock of a dusty old sedan; Shot 2 (5s): static object POV from inside the car trunk looking up, two men in black suits and thin black ties peer down and lift out two black cases while chatting, the open trunk lid framing a bright blue sky; Shot 3 (3s): slow push-in as one man leans closer and stares down into the lens; Shot 4 (3s): tracking shot following the two men walking toward an apartment building. Consistent two men in black suits, bright midday sun, clean saturated 35mm film look.
A trunk shot is a camera angle that looks up and out from inside a car trunk. Since it is hard to put a camera in a real trunk, the art department usually stands a trunk lid and part of the rim close to the camera to "fake" it (Wikipedia). Seen from below, the characters look big and imposing, and the audience gets the feeling of eavesdropping from hiding (Far Out). The two keep up trivial small talk even as they gather their guns, which shows that violence is routine for them (Far Out).
Insert close-up of a man's hand turning a key in the trunk lock of a dusty old sedan, black suit sleeve and white shirt cuff visible, bright midday sun glinting on the paint; static camera, clean saturated 35mm film look.
Object POV from inside a car trunk looking up through a wide-angle lens, two men in black suits, white shirts and thin black ties lean in, look down and lift out two black cases while chatting, the open trunk lid framing a bright blue sky; static camera, clean saturated 35mm film look.
Extreme low angle from the trunk floor, one of the suited men leans closer and stares down into the lens, the dark out-of-focus trunk rim edging the frame, a white apartment building behind him; slow push-in, bright midday sun, clean saturated 35mm film look.
Tracking shot following two men in black suits and thin black ties from behind as they walk side by side toward a pale apartment building, still talking, each carrying a black case; bright midday sun, hard shadows, clean saturated 35mm film look.
Start with the sound of keys in Shot 1, and hard-cut to Shot 2 the moment the trunk opens. Join Shots 2 and 3 without breaking the dialogue sound (continuity editing), and move to Shot 4 on the "slam" of the trunk closing.
AI often misses the "inside the trunk" viewpoint, so first make a start-frame image where the trunk lid and rim are visible, and generate the video from that image. Just as the original faked it by standing a rim in front of the camera instead of using a real trunk, it is enough if only the rim hangs in the frame. Weapons like guns tend to be blocked in generation or come out distorted, so swap them for a bag or a box.
Wikipedia — Trunk shot · Far Out — The cinematic trademarks of Quentin Tarantino: The trunk shot · Wikipedia — Pulp Fiction