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. 

Thriller Opening - Seven - Harry's post

-The first few shots are of the Character played by Morgan Freeman (Somerset) getting ready for work; the low key lighting creates an eerie sense of unease & unknowing. With the lack of non-diagetic sound it allows you as the viewer to feel as if you are there yourself experiencing everything he is; the mundane routine, the early morning etc..

-The props used help create a picture of who Somerset is as a person. His badge, knife, pen and two other items are laid out perfectly (probably the night before) for him to pick up before he goes to work, we can connote from the badge that he is possibly a police officer. As well as this his costume allows us to identify he is very professional and neat; the way he puts on his tie making sure it is perfectly straight and the all round tidiness of his attire. 

-The next scene cuts to a very different scene, although Somerset is a police officer its very unexpected to be thrown straight into what looks like a very brutal murder scene. This could set the tone for the rest of the film as very edgy which is stereotypical to thriller films. The use of a slightly high angle shot here makes you look down on the victim creating a sense that he is below us or was not a nice person.

                                                      

 

Inception Opening Analysis (2mins) Rosie

The opening of inception begins with an extreme close up of the characters face that appears to look exhausted. This shot creates several questions to the audience as to who he is and why he is there. It also begins with non-diegetic sound which is very heavily bass, which creates tension as it is very much one long note and also includes piano which suggests a sadness to the scene. Cut transitions are used throughout the sequence to show the continuity of the location and time.

A focus pull is then used to show two small children playing on the shore. The effect of the focus pull could imply that the protagonist is hallucinating. Also the two concepts don’t really fit well together which creates confusion for the viewer which is a good aspect for the thriller genre. 

The protagonist is shown wearing rather dull/old clothes suggesting he may have been lost for a long period of time. He then blacks out on the beach and a cut is used to then see an unknown character dressed in military uniform standing above him. His costume portrays a high status e.g. buttons done all the way up, smart hat - and the use of a low angle/ant angle implies that he has a lot of control over the man lying on the beach.
The medium close up shot allows us to gain a sense of location, but still does not give much away and perhaps are in the middle of nowhere, creating more suspicion. 

The prop of the gun further creates suspense because we fear what it may be used for and why he has it. The military man appears to be quite hostile to the other man (shown by the prodding to him with the gun instead of touching him). The shot distance of the gun (belonging to the washed up man) suggests to us the importance of it and can lead to a denotation of mystery.

The next extreme long shot of the building conveys that the location is very marooned which creates more suspense as it appears to be very deserted and anxiety could be crossed to the viewer.

A crescendo followed by a beat introduces the next shot which connotes a build-up of some sort. At this point the audience are still unaware of the protagonists purpose which creates stress, questions could also be asked as the location remains a mystery still.

The long shot of the interior of the building signifies that the people are wealthy as the ceiling is decorated with many lights and the room is very orderly. The low key lighting of the room also contributes to the theme of thriller as it appears quire daunting, almost like a lair.

The following medium close up of the man from behind, gives an understanding of mystery, and creates enigma;

• who is he? 
• why is he there? 

The glass of wine and the pristine clean table expresses a formality about the character and that he is in charge based on his position in the composition of the shot: central to the shot and also sitting at the head of the table. The body guard places the objects down very carefully suggesting the old man is his master and must obey him. The focus pull on the small item connotes that it probably has a lot of significance in the film.

The character is hunched over the bowl when he is eating which leads to more enigma as we presume that he has not eaten food for a while and we want to know why.

A medium shot is then used to show the older man picking up the small object which further confirms its significance in the film because it important to more than just one character; continuing to entice and make the audience wonder.

One of the final shots to the opening is of the old man continuing to watch the trinket spin; we are not told why it is important but we know it is due to the shot distances on both the man’s face and the trinket being close ups. 

The music still remains to use very low tones to create suspense and terror.

Cuts are again used to show the flow of conversation -  in this case not conversation but allowing the audience to see who the man is addressing in his speech. 

The final shot tilts up to the protagonists face, however still allowing us to see him stop and put down his spoon, implying he has heard unwanted information. The shot distance (close up) additionally lets the viewer interpret the characters expression which looks scared and slightly angry. 

How to do slow motion on Final Cut Pro 
Rosie's Post

• Once you've opened final cut, drag your converted clip onto the left hand side. 

Once you have selected your clip, drag it into the timeline/sequence area ----->

                                                                                                                                             Select the clip you want to be put in slow motion by clicking and holding down the mouse, and then simply pull and drag the box over the clip. It should turn a brown colour! 

Then right click the clip until the drop down menu comes up and select 'change speed'. 

A box should then come up that looks like this: 

To slow down the clip, enter a small number in the 'rate' box.

FINAL PIECE

Shot explanations (Rosie and James Post)

 Eye level angle of car (central to the shot to indicate its importance) moving towards the camera with the headlights on. Dark lighting, to create eerie atmosphere. Low key lighting doesn't allow viewer to know much information, creates more anticipation and suspense to the scene to suit thriller theme.

The second shot is a side view of the car passing, shot at a slightly low angle to suggest that the car is an important factor and also creates intimidation. Low key lighting further generates a shadowy shot which accentuates the car more to connote its importance. 

This long shot is of the car swinging up to the building and coming to a quick stop to indicate the characters panic/rush. 

This is a close up of the characters feet stepping out of the car; creating more suspense to the sequence as the viewers don't yet know who the person driving the vehicle is. 

The two shots of the character jumping over the barrier, suggests the character is in a rush and needs to be somewhere urgently as he doesn't simply walk.

We have used a high angle, extreme long shot to imitate a cctv camera, suggesting that the charcacter perhaps shouldn't be there.

The extreme long shots of the character running down the corridor has been filmed using overlapping editing to create a stuttering effect and to make it appear more tense. 

The shot of the male character outside the door (filmed from inside the room) allows the audience to know where he is in the context and where he needs to be. 

We have used a low angle, point of view shot of the character when he enters the room to convey that the character is scared and vulnerable as she appears to be sat on the floor in the corner, and also that the male characters purpose is to help her. 

For the second male character walking, we used a mid close up of his feet because we don't want the viewers to feel unnerved by his presence and creates suspense. 

We have emphasised the shot of the light switch being turned off by using a close up to show the significance of the action. 

We used cut transitions to make the sequence appear quicker and jumpy to create a tense atmosphere. We also used a fade to show the change of character and situation. 

Planning locations, props & costume

Location

Outside college grounds

Reception area

Media corridor and classroom

Costume

James - Jeans and a coat

Rosie - black jeans, coat (casual)

Props 

Car