SCF Inc.

WHOLE FILM ANALYSIS- KILL BILL VOLUME 2

Typical Thriller conventions

One of the main thriller film conventions that we see within the film is a plot twist, we are given this twist at the end of the film when Beatrix goes to kill Bill only to find out that he has actually been helping to raise his daughter who she presumed had died in the shooting from the first film. Plot twists are a common convention seen within thrillers as whilst they not only add complexity to the story they also keep the audience guessing as they can't predict whats going to happen in what is normally an engrossing and unpredictable plot due to the ongoing twists and turns within the film.
We also see a typical thriller setting in the film which is set largely in the middle of nowhere (bucks house) in a run down caravan situated in endless desert terrain, its common for thrillers to be set in these types of settings as they often have connotations of crime and decivilisation, and also the large spacious deserted area is very suitable for combat as their is nobody around to get involved and disrupt it.
One other typical convention that we see is the use of lighting, during the buried alive scene, the lighting within the coffin is extremely dark, apart from the one circle of light coming from Beartrixes torch which is extremely bright and creates a definite contrast of lighting within the coffin, the mass of darkness represents the evil and mystery and adds suspense and anticipation to the scene as we begin to feel claustrophobic just by seeing all the darkness she is surrounded by, which also adds to the anticipation and suspense and creates entrapment for the protagonist, therefore the scene in itself is typical of the thriller genre as the protagonist has the odds stacked against her in terms of survival.

Opening Credits 

Unlike most thrillers, the opening credits within this film manage to counter act the norm due to the fact Kill Bill is split into two separate films, the credits of volume two start of with a black and white flashback scene in which we see Beatrix informing the audience whats happened within the first and second films so far, and she then informs the audience of her main reason for her mission; to kill Bill, then a plain white lettering of Kill Bill appears on a black background and the film begins to role. This counter acts the typical thriller opening scene as its rather basic colouring, the music is old fashioned, but one element which is typical of a thriller is the flashback scene in the opening (which incidentally we have decided to use within our film) thrillers often start the film with these sorts of scenes to sometimes give the audience a plot hint, to confuse them even further, or to set the tone for the film, in this case the credits have been merged with the flashback scene hence the colour use of black and white in both shots and the audience have been given a plot hint that she manages to kill everybody who she needs to before getting to Bill.

Editing

Throughout the film, particularly in fight scenes, we see frequent use of jump cuts. A good example of this is shown during the scene in which we see Beatrix lurking outside Bucks caravan waiting to kill him, the shot suddenly cuts to Beatrix bursting through the door, we then see a quick jump cut parallel switch to Buck with his gun and, unexpectedly, he manages to shoot Beatrix in the chest. These quick jump cuts are a very clever use of editing as the fact that Beatrix has just been shot in the chest is another huge plot twist as she is potentially on the verge of death and when this is combined with the jump cuts it really does surprise the audience and throws another curveball in to prevent the audience switching off and the film becoming predictable.

Camerawork

Camerawork is used throughout the film effectively within different situations. During the scene at the end of the film where Beatrix and Bill are sat opposite each other at a table exchanging dialogue and they end up fighting and Beatrix causes Bill to effectively have an extremely slow heart attack. The extreme close up shot of Beatrix during this scene shows the sadness and emotion on her face over her regret at killing Bill, and shocks the audience as its a complete contrast to the pleasure she had been getting out of killing all the other members of the assassination squad.

Sound

One of the prominent sound effects that is used within the film are sonically exaggerated sounds. We see these used to emphasise the gun shot that is fired from Buck into Beatrix and we also see it during the scene which Beatrix fights Elle and pulls out her eye. The sonically enhanced sounds are effective as they make the combat feel more dramatic and intense but also allow it to feel more realistic for the audience as they feel like they are involved.