Editing Trunk shot

{{More citations needed|date=June 2019}}
{{Original research|date=November 2022}}
<!--  Commented out because image was deleted: [[Image:Trunk.killbill.jpg|thumb|right|300px|A trunk shot in ''[[Kill Bill]]''.]] -->
[[Image:Blonde white pink trunk-shot.jpg|right|300px|thumb|A trunk shot in ''[[Reservoir Dogs]]'']]
The '''trunk shot''' is a cinematic camera angle which captures film from inside the [[Trunk (automobile)|trunk]] of a car. Though the trunk shot can be produced by placing the [[camera]] inside the trunk, the considerable bulk of a conventional [[movie camera]] and [[camera operator]] makes this difficult. Therefore, the shot is usually "cheated" by having the [[art department]] place a trunk door and some of the trunk frame close enough to the camera to make it appear to be shot from within a car. The trunk shot is a specialized type of [[low-angle shot]].

==In film==
This camera angle is often noted to be the trademark of filmmaker [[Quentin Tarantino]].<ref>{{Cite web|author=Reitman, Matthew|url=https://www.insidehook.com/article/movies/tarantinos-signature-trunk-shots|title=Tarantino's Signature 'Trunk Shots'|website=InsideHook|language=en-US|date=May 17, 2016}}</ref>  Although he did not invent it, Tarantino popularized the trunk shot, which is featured in ''[[Reservoir Dogs]]'', ''[[Pulp Fiction]]'', ''[[Jackie Brown (film)|Jackie Brown]]'', ''[[From Dusk Till Dawn (film)|From Dusk Till Dawn]]'', ''[[Kill Bill: Volume 1]]'' and ''[[Inglourious Basterds]]''. In ''[[Death Proof]]'', Tarantino's traditional shot looking up at the actors from the trunk of a car is replaced by one looking up from under the hood.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/gallery/quentin-tarantino-8-famous-trunk-784995/5-death-proof|title=8 of Quentin Tarantino's Famous Trunk Shots (Photos)|website=The Hollywood Reporter|date=27 March 2015 |language=en|access-date=2019-06-06}}</ref>

The earliest trunk shot can be noted in the 1948 movie by [[Anthony Mann]] (though credited to [[Alfred L. Werker]]), ''[[He Walked by Night]]'', when the police are inspecting the contents of a murder suspect's trunk.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://lwlies.com/articles/eight-great-uses-of-pov-perspective-in-movies/|title=Eight great uses of POV perspective in movies|website=Little White Lies|access-date=2019-06-06}}</ref> Another use of the shot is in 1967 film ''[[In Cold Blood (film)|In Cold Blood]]'' (directed by [[Richard Brooks]]) after the two outlaws cross the borders to Mexico in a stolen car. In the [[Thriller film|thriller]] ''[[Spasmo]]'', directed by [[Umberto Lenzi]] in 1974, this shot can be seen when the main character opens the trunk and a dead man appears. A trunk shot appears also in [[George Miller (director)|George Miller]]'s 1985 movie ''[[Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome]]'' when Max, Master and the savage children are following Jedediah's son while escaping from their chasers guided by Entity. It is also used in the [[John Hughes (filmmaker)|John Hughes]] film ''[[Uncle Buck]]'' (1989), wherein Buck ([[John Candy]]) opens his trunk to reveal a tied up teenager who cheated on Buck's niece. ''[[Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead]]'' has a trunk shot where the kids are discussing whether the babysitter's body will fit. The 1992 film ''[[Sneakers (1992 film)|Sneakers]]'' contains a trunk shot when Robert Redford's character is kidnapped. There is also a trunk shot used in ''[[A Good Day to Die Hard]]'', when John McClane and his son Jack find a trunk full of guns and ammo in a car they are about to steal. [[Paul Thomas Anderson]] used the shot in his short film ''[[Cigarettes & Coffee]]'' (1993) and [[Jonathan Mostow]] in ''[[Breakdown (1997 film)|Breakdown]]'' (1997). In ''[[Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest]]'' (2006), there is a scene with a similar perspective, where Jack Sparrow, Elizabeth and Norrington find a buried chest and the camera looks up to them from inside the hole in the ground that the chest is in.
This shot was also featured in a south Indian film named Aavesham (2024) in a song sequence which features the lead character’s birthday celebration.

==In television==
In episode 11 of the first season of ''[[Parker Lewis Can't Lose]]'', a series of trunk shots are used during the episode's intro. In the CW's ''[[Supernatural (U.S. TV series)|Supernatural]]'' TV series, trunk shots can be seen looking up at the protagonists, [[Dean Winchester]] and [[Sam Winchester]], in both the pilot episode and the second season's finale. In the Amazon Prime Video series ''[[The Boys (TV series)|The Boys]]'', a trunk shot is used many times throughout the show. Both ''[[Supernatural (U.S. TV series)|Supernatural]]'' and ''[[The Boys (TV series)|The Boys]]'' were developed by [[Eric Kripke]]. The trunk shot is also used several times in AMC's ''[[Breaking Bad]]''. A trunk shot can be seen in the episode ''18 Miles Out'' (episode 10) from the second season of ''[[The Walking Dead (TV series)|The Walking Dead]]''. On ''[[The Andy Griffith Show]]'' season 8 episode 18, "Emmett's Brother-In-Law", Andy, Howard, and Goober are seen looking under the hood of Emmett's brother-in-law's car. In the [[Netflix]] series ''[[The Umbrella Academy (TV series)|The Umbrella Academy]]'', season 1 episode 3, a trunk shot is seen when the two hitmen open the car to reveal Klaus in the trunk.

==In music videos==
* In Colombian pop-singer [[Shakira]]'s music video "[[Objection (Tango)]]", Shakira is shown from a trunk shot, smiling sadistically at her ex-boyfriend and his mistress, who are bound and gagged in the trunk of her car, which she then slams shut.
* In [[Axelle Red]]'s 1998 music video "Rester Femme", Axelle is shown from a trunk shot looking at her husband, who is bound and gagged in the trunk of her car, which she then slams shut and blasts off.<ref>{{Citation|last=Axelle Red|title=Axelle Red - Rester femme (Clip Officiel)|date=2011-03-22|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FhbL9rs6dYI |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211222/FhbL9rs6dYI |archive-date=2021-12-22 |url-status=live|access-date=2019-06-06}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

==Other uses==
The trunk shot was used in the 2002 video game ''[[Grand Theft Auto: Vice City]]'', in a scene resembling the trunk shot scene of Tarantino's ''Pulp Fiction''. In it, [[Tommy Vercetti]] and [[Lance Vance]] pull weaponry from a car's trunk before storming in on [[Ricardo Diaz (Grand Theft Auto: Vice City)|Ricardo Diaz]]'s mansion.

==References==
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{{Cinematic techniques}}

[[Category:Cinematography]]
[[Category:Cinematic techniques]]
[[Category:Films about automobiles]]