1) How do the action lines set the tone?

The scene depicts a small farm in the French countryside, referred to as “Cow Country” by locals. This establishes that the location is rural, and that all events that transpire in this area will remain in this area. No-one will know about what happens aside from those present in the scene, raising immediate red flags for the audience. The fact that the scene is rural gives the audience the impression that there is no technology, including communication lines and power cables. The next thought that would come naturally is vulnerability. A “modest dairy farm” all the way out in “cow country” would stand no chance against an organized military force, or even a group of brigands.  What happens in the farm will be inconsequential to those outside of its community, and the audience recognizes this fact.

2) How does the beginning of the screenplay frame what the scene is about?

It goes without saying that these subtitles indicate that the scene has to do with Nazis and the aforementioned farm mentioned in 1). This subtitle alone, however, emphasizes that the scene that is about to be depicted is a time wherein the Germans had full control over the country and its inhabitants, and that the locals have no alternative to following their commands. 

It is imperative to mention the year and the duration of how long the Germans have been occupying the country, so that viewers can, at the very least, have some context as to why SS officers arrive and remain in the scene after the subtitle fades. The point mentioned earlier – about the Germans being in control – is only emphasized further by Colonel Landa’s sickeningly amicable dialogue, combined with the forcefulness of each of his individual gestures. See below:

3)    How does the last line(s) of dialogue or action communicate what the scene is about?

Before discussing the words at the end of the screenplay, it would be appropriate to discuss what has led to the somewhat sick emotional catharsis from seeing the Dreyfuses get slaughtered.

Quentin Taratino went through the effort of writing the following bits of text into his screenplay:  

The above text indicates that the farmer should be composed – which he was – until the Colonel spoke the following:

The inevitable result (that we viewers dreaded to see, but couldn’t look away from) was the death of four Jews, with young Shosanna escaping. 

With some amount of dark humor, Taratino even wrote in his screenplay that the Jews were “human beings”, naturally leading the actors to depict them with emotions of fear, anguish, and peril. 

All of this was done to have us viewers emotionally invested in the situation, and so that we viewers would be cheering all the more for Shoshanna as she fled to the nearby woods, even as the Colonel aimed his Walther P99 at her.

Though we did not see it in class, the end of the scene contains a short spiel from Colonel Landa about how Shosanna may die a number of ways, if not by being shot by him personally. See below:

While some would interpret the last line as Taratino adding an afterthought of what his character makes of the scenario, it is essentially a summary of the scene, and what the scene establishes regarding Colonel Landa. The Colonel himself is apathetic towards the Jews, can kill without conscience, and is able to have these sentiments because he is in a position to do so. He is in a position of undisputed power.