Kill Bill - opening analysis, Rosie

Close up opening shot of the woman who appears to have been beaten

Kill Bill begins with an aerial shot of the victims face. Due to the close up shot of her face, we can tell that this woman is lying on the floor, connoting her vulnerability. Already the audience feel unsettled due to her costume:

• The blood that is everywhere on her indicates that this woman has been beaten or abused by the antagonist in the film. 
•  Her hair appears to look wet or damp to further showing the state that she is in due to being hostage (one of the key themes to thriller).

      The opening of Kill Bill is in black and white which is effective to the genre of Thriller as nothing can be denoted or concluded from the colour which creates enigma for the viewers. No warmth can come about from black and white which creates a more suspenseful opening.

• The diegetic sound of the woman’s heavy breathing shows how she is in in fear of the unknown character coming towards her, and is very panicked.
• Her facial expressions also help to imply her worry.
• Her body movement suggests that she is exhausted and that she may have recently been tortured or abused which conveys that there is somebody with her and makes the audience feel on edge as we don’t know who he is. 

The diegetic sound of footsteps is the next sound to be heard; the lack of music emphasises this persons movements suggesting his significance or power and also isolates the steps which builds up a lot of suspense. Additionally, the pace of the footsteps shows that he is in no hurry to get to the victim which portrays his type of character, the antagonist.

A low level tracking shot is then used to show the slow pace of only the person’s feet making his way towards her. This shot creates a lot of mystery to the opening as we are unaware of who this man is, and why he is doing this. He walks very slowly indicating his carefree persona over the situation. His boots appear to be presented as if they have been polished as they have shine to them, alluding to the audience that he is higher in hierarchy than the victim and is probably wealthy due to the condition of the shoes.

The cut returning to the victims face frames only the tip of the man’s shoe as to not give away anything more to the viewers which keeps us intrigued and the enigma continues to build. The composition of the shot also determines that she is the primary focus. 

The hollow sound of his footsteps and when he puts his foot down perhaps suggests that they are the only people present in the room. 

When the antagonists hand enters the close up shot, it takes up half of the frame, looking as big as her entire face; this conveys the status and power that he occupies and how vulnerable she is. The fact that her character does not move shows her emotion of fear and demonstrates his superiority-->

Bill's personalised handkerchief connotes that he is a wealthy man, and when he delicately wipes the blood from the woman's face, she often flinches and makes whimpering sounds suggesting her pain and fright. 

Another aspect that creates a chilling atmosphere is the use of low key lighting - 

• the shadowy effect that is made from the lighting (key light, with no fill light) creates a more eerie atmosphere 
•  restricts how much the audience is able to view creating more suspense
• the lighting also creates sharp edges to match the theme of her agony instead of using soft light. 

Bill's speech has a very low tone to it which suggests that he is an intimidating figure and we worry for the female. He pauses between words which creates suspense as we are unaware of what he might do next. His affection towards her(wiping her blood way and stroking her face) almost leads us to believe that he is trying to help and the scene becomes very tense. The following diegetic sound of him loading a gun automatically allows us to associate him as the antagonist and we fear for her as we believe we know what will happen due to the panicked expression upon her face and her trembling. 

Because he fires the gun mid way through the woman's sentence it serves a purpose to shock the audience even though it was expected. 

The quick cut to the titles is an effective transition as it leaves enigma. The viewers are left wondering whether she is ok as we cannot tell if the blood that spurted out was actually hers....

the suspense created through this creates a good thriller.