KILL BILL VOL. 1 Case Study 2

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

The 4th film by Award Winning director Quentin Tarantino. Starring: Uma Thurman, Luc Liu, Vivica A. Fox, Daryl

Hannah and David Carradine. Nominated for 1 Golden Globe First released on the 10th October 2003.

LIGHTING/ COLOUR

In the opening to this film, we can see Chiaroscuro lighting on the Brides face. (A)

Chiaroscuro lighting means light on dark and the use of this lighting here suggests that “Kiddo” has two sides to her. An innocent side seen during the opening and a bad, more violent, side seen during the rest of the film.

Chiaroscuro is a very common convention of the Thriller genre there are hundreds of examples of Chiaroscuro lighting in other Thrillers, most famously “The Third Man” (1949)

The use of Black and White, another common feature of the Thriller genre in this scene signifies how the Bride is feeling. She is close to death, colourless, feels betrayed and is in danger.

Tarantino is referencing Noir Thrillers here with the use of common features of this genre, i.e. Chiaroscuro/ black and white lighting.

COSTUME

As we can obviously tell, the woman on the floor is a bride, she is wearing a veil, suggesting innocence

The only other character we meet is “Bill” We can tell that Bill has the power between the two. One reason we know

this is because he has a handkerchief with his name, “Bill” embroidered on it (B). For one this is a rather obnoxious act and suggests Bill is wealthy and influential. What's more it also informs the audience who this character is. As the film is called “kill Bill” we have evidence to suggest from the start that this character is wanted dead.

Another reason why we learn Bill is powerful is because he’s always above the bride on the floor and she looks extremely concerned when he approaches her.

The character of Bill, on top of the personalised handkerchief is wearing rings and bracelets, again implying wealth. (C) Furthermore, he is wearing cowboy boots (D). This is a cultural signifier of Bill and was used by Tarantino to show status and significance. The boots are the only sound in the scene apart from the brides heavy breathing (diegetic sound) which creates tension and anticipation of what this character will do to the Bride.

(A)

(B)

(C)

(D)

CAMERA ANGLES

This entire opening sequence contains only two shots. This is to increase realism and concentration. Lengthy and infrequent shots can be argued as a common convention of the Thriller genre as we can see the same technique in Jackie Brown during the ‘get in the trunk scene’.

One of the shots is a close-up of the beaten up bride’s face (E), she is bruised and bloody. These shots are intense and create a sense of panic.

The one other shot that is seen in the opening scene is a short tracking shot of Bill walking towards the bride (F). He is walking very slow which again intensifies the scene.

(E)

(F)

SOUND

All the sound in the opening of Kill Bill Vol 1 is diegetic apart from when the song “Bang Bang” by Nancy Sinatra kicks in. Nancy Sinatra’s father, Frank Sinatra, is accused of having links with the Mafia. This is a subtle hint at corruption and violence which after watching the film we can see these aspects. On top of this, from the lyrics “my baby shot me down” we can infer that the bride thats being “shot down” may have some kind of connection to Bill, maybe her lover. This is consolidated when the bride says “Bill, its your baby”. Could this be the reason as to why Bill is assassinating her? This creates a powerful cliff hanger.

We can hear a sound bridge at the start of the clip of the bride breathing heavily. This is a distressing sound as we infer that someone is hurt/ in danger.

Like previously mentioned, the only other sound we can hear is the sound of Bills footsteps that grow ever closer/ louder. This dramatically increases tension and suspense. The Diegetic sound in this scene creates an enigma and a cliff hanger as to what has lead to this situation, who Bill is and why he has killed the bride. Furthermore, diegetic sound adds to the sense of isolation. Diegetic sound is very commonly used within the Thriller genre, for example in the opening to “Once Upon a Time in America” diegetic sound is used similarly, to create tension.

INTER TEXTUAL REFERENCES

When the Bride approaches Vernita Greens house we can see an establishing shot of a stereotypical American home. (G) This shot can also be seen in other areas of the media such as Blue Velvet (H), The Truman Show (I), Family Guy (J)and L.A Noire (K).

These examples of over saturation and colour suggest normality in this idyllic neighbourhood, what is revealed in all these situations is that things may not be as they seem, the American dream is ironically false.

(G)

(I)

(H)

(J)

(K)