Kill Bill opening sequence analysis

This is a preview of the opening sequence of kill bill vol 1. I have chose to look at this opening sequence because the genre of the film is revenge thriller which relates to the genre of film me and my group will be creating.
In the opening sequence of this film we do not fully understand what is happening as all we see is a woman covered in blood talking to someone who we cannot see. This follows the conventions of the genre as it is mysterious as we do not know what has happened nor who she is talking to. This creates enigmas straight away which make the viewer carry on watching to find out what has happened. We also hear the woman say "Bill its your baby" which creates more enigmas for the viewer and makes them wonder why he tried to shoot her.
The lighting in this scene is low key and it is also in black and white which indicates that something terrible has happened and that something more terrible will happen. It also gives the impression of a flash back as it is black and white which may suggest that the memory was some time ago. the mise en scene of the blood shows that the woman has been severley beaten and the man called Bill as we can tell by his handkerchief comes to help. We can also see that she is wearing a veil which shows that this could have been her wedding day.
I think this is a very good opening sequence as it grabs the attention of the audience straight away, also i believe that an audience would be able to tell whether or not they would enjoy the film just by watching this scene. It creates lots of enigmas which i think will help our group in our project because this is what we aim to achieve by setting up the enigmas that the audience will want answering and therefor carry on watching.
The music is dramatic and quite upbeat which suggests that what is happening is fast paced and quite dramatic in itself.

Polly Hindle

Feedback - 28/11/09

A good start group - good analysis and use of a video

- obviously you need more research - on your genre and opening sequences and how they work - make sure you get lots of examples of these on here - with good detailed analysis - this needs to be done as homework now.

In research you need a little more on audience - who is your target audience (Demographic - GRASS and psychographic profiling - Young and Rubicon) Also how will your product appeal to its audience - use MAslow too.

questionnaires are needed - to your target audience - and feedback on this - charts and graphs are always good!

Go onto the imbd.com website ( or the numbers website) to find out audience figures for your chosen genre too - is there a market out there for your product?

Now move onto planning this week - ( see the last two sheets on the 'before you blog' handout) Start your storyboards - we can also make an animatic, props list, shooting schedule etc....

Terminator 2 :opening sequence review

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RcisPdJVNl8&feature=fvst 


In this review I am going to examine the film Terminator 2 , and the opening sequence. I will be looking at the sound/music, mise enscene and lighting. I chose this particular genre to review because this genre’s conventions are very similar to what my group’s opening sequence will include.

The film starts off with a wind sound, this almost establishes the setting as from the sound, you would expect the setting to be desolate and empty. Low lighting is used to suggest death and darkness. This film includes aircraft that look like they are from the future and beams that are assumed to be shots at something. The next part of the opening sequence which includes a tank travelling along a ground filled with human skulls, this brings home the idea of death and then the enigmas start. A battlefield is established and the mise en scene is human skulls, machines and bullets. The credits used at the start of the film appear shortly after the action has faded. The actor’s names appear like they have been typed in my a computer. The music behind is quite subtle until the words “The Terminator” come on screen, this is when triumphant music kicks in.

This opening sequence will help our group see a successful simple opening sequence and get ideas from it. As our group initially wanted either and alien or machine/robot in our opening sequence, we can see how James Cameron has created the perfect opening sequence that introduces all the enigmas, allows the audience a taste of the rest of the film and with the opening sequence you know what genre it is, so an audience would know whether they will enjoy the upcoming film.

Katherine Whittaker

Genre and examples

For our film we have to create a film that is a thriller genre. Conventions of the thriller genre are that they are set in isolated locations such as the woods or quiet villages. To incorporate the sense of being alone and isolated through the setting we are filming it in a lake. Also films belonging to the thriller genre contain ominous music to build tension so we will make sure to include an appropriate and relevant soundtrack. They are also shot using low-key lighting to add a sense of danger and create a dark, sinister atmosphere. We have chosen to produce a hybrid genre including sci-fi/ horror/revenge thriller. We will make it a sci-fi through the choice of the protagonist who is an alien. We will also make sure we include some of the conventions of a horror genre such as the P.O.V tracking shot or the 'stalker shot' which we will be shot with a hand-held camera and canted angles to create a sense that something is not right. Particular 'mise en scene' in the horror genre are dark clothing and fake blood, we will make sure to include this in our opening sequence. The way our opening sequence will be 'the same but different' is changing the typical convention in the horror genre where the victim is female because in our film the villain is female.

Danielle, Steph, Katherine and Polly.

Introduction and Prelim Task

Members of our group are Steph Bolton, Danielle O'Hara, Polly Hindle and Katherine Whittaker. Our chosen project is an opening sequence to a new Thriller film. Our genre is a hybrid including Thiller/Horror/Sci-fi.

This is our prelim task. We thought the task was succcessful. It is a short film about a skeleton that cheats on a woman. When we filmed the opening door section, the match-on-action was continuous and smooth. This was the type of professional editing that we would want in our film. However, because this was one of our first continuity edits, we had a jump in the editing, were we stopped filming and started another shot and the actor had slightly moved position. This made the film less smooth and distracted the audience from the action taking place. In future to avoid this re-occuring, we would allocate exact positioning with tape so the actor would not shift from shot to shot; consequently making the film more professional.
Danielle, Steph, Katherine and Polly