Location; This is set in a car park at night, suggested by the lighting, which plays into the thriller convention of being filmed in dark open spaces. This contradicts the other aspect of the still - the woman being dominant within the scene, rather than the male character.
Characters; The female is the dominant character in the still - which defies the thriller convention as well as reversing the norm of that time in America. There is also a crazed look on the woman's face to suggest that the man has done/said something to make her really angry. This suggests that before the situation shown that the man was the dominant, also the face of the man suggests that he is in a unfamiliar situation.
Lighting; Non-ambient lighting is the primary light-source in this shot, to create some atmosphere around these two characters. It also helps the audience focus on the foreground - where all the action is happening- rather than the background.
Camera Angle; The Camera angle is a medium-close shot which is cropped quite close around the action, again to get the audience focused on the action and to cut down in as much distractions as possible.
Props; There is only really one prop within this scene, the gun in the hands of the woman, again differing from the thriller conventions of the man being the dominant one within the scene.
Kill Bill Vol. 1 - 2003, Directed By Quentin Tarantino
Staring Uma Thurman, David Carradine and Daryl Hannah
The Bride wakes up after a long coma. The baby that she carried before entering the coma is gone. The only thing on her mind is to have revenge on the assassination team that betrayed her - a team she was once part of. - IMDb.com
The black & white opening scene of Kill Bill Vol. 1 starts with a close up shot of the heavily beaten bride covered in alot of blood, possibly laying on a bed - i say possibly because the shot is cropped so tight around her face you cant see much else, and also the tight cropping is to draw the audience in to concentrating on her and her body language ,and not on her surroundings - and with the sound of her heavily breathing and foot steps of 'Bill'. After a few seconds we skip to a tracking close-shot of the feet of 'Bill', with the light of the scene reflected of his highly Polished shoes (this Gives the audience the impression of a man that cares about his image, this may also indicate that he is also quite wealthy) and then after another few second we switch back to the face of the bride, with her still heavily breathing but the footsteps stop and we hear the line:
Do you find me sadistic ?
This line is the first Dialogue of the entire film, this draws the audience in due to the fact that we cannot see the face of 'Bill' and therefore this creates some mystery around him, why the bride is in this situation and how these two people are linked. We then see the hand of Bill - with a gold ring and Bracelet, to further give the impression that he is quite wealthy - wipe some of the blood of of The Brides face with a handkerchief with the name 'Bill' sewn into the corner (this is the first time we learn of Bill's Name, further creating some mystery) he then continues his monologue :
I bet I could fry an egg on your
head about now, if I wanted to.
Pause
No kiddo, I'd like to believe you’re aware enough
even now
there is nothing sadistic in
my actions... - Maybe towards
those other jokers - but not you.
Pause
No Kiddo at this moment, this is me
at my most masochistic.
During this Monologue he continues to wipe the face of the bride - with her still heavily breathing, this give the indication that she is quite scared of Bill. The way the camera is angled could give the indication that we are looking at her from Bills viewpoint, and because it is looking down on her it could signify that she doesn't have much power in the present situation and/or that Bill is a very dominant figure within the scene - despite the fact that we have yet to see his face. The Director could be doing this the keep as much mystery around the character of Bill as if the keep the audience watching and interested in the film.
At this Point we hear Bill pick up a gun and load it and The Bride says :
Bill... It's your baby
we then hear the gun fire as soon as the bride finishes hr sentence and then the scene finishes almost instantly after this.
Within this scene was mostly about drawing the audience in and to get them interested in what is going to happen in the rest of the film, and i think the director has done this quite well. The fact that it was entirely filmed in black and white and the mystery that the screen play creates around Bill really draws you in for more.
Once upon a time in America - 1984, Directed By Sergio Leone Staring Robert De Niro, James Woods and Elizabeth McGovern
A former Prohibition-era Jewish gangster returns to Brooklyn over 30 years later, where he once again must confront the ghosts and regrets of his old life. - IMDb.com
Scene starts with the sound of footsteps at the end of the credits with a totally black shot and then female character (possibly a femme fatale) opening the door to her darkened room so she is a silhouette in the frame (as a medium-close shot & also the backlighting to create the silhouette - as if the director wants you to focus on that character within the scene) with the song God Bless America playing as a Non-diegetic sound. As she walks in the room her sihiloet disappears and you can only see her face - again to focus the attention squarely on her and what she is doing - and she tries to turn on the light but it wont turn on, to give the scene some tension and also the lack of ambient lighting within the room can act as a signifier to say that the room is not safe/Dangerous and also to add tension.
There is then a high-angle shot looking though some kind of ornament or light fitting towards the door where the female character is standing and then it then proceeds to pan down as the Woman walks toward the bed within the room. it then cuts to a close-up of the hands of the woman operating the switch of the lamp and then tracking her hands to screw in the bulb to get the light to work - this then lights up her face which give the audience there first proper look at her face, and her costume to give the audience an idea of what period the film is set in. It also helps build the American Stereotype of the time within the film along with all the other features of the scene - although such features as the song God Bless america gives a false indication of the Stereotype.
The next shot in the scene is a Close up of some bullet holes in the bed. then it cuts to a shot of her pulling back the covers - as she does that the camera zooms out to show the entire bed or to give the "Bigger picture" as it were - to expose the outline of a person in Bullet holes on the bed, possibly as a reference to the chalk outline the sometimes put down in other crime films to indicate a murder scene. Then - with the song cutting to an end - you see a close-up of a hand holding a gun, smash a picture with a quite loud noise as if to break the tension within the scene, cutting back to a high shot of the woman to give a sense of insignificance within the current scene and situation, and then cutting back to the hand and then the camera then pans up to the face of a man. You then see another two Male characters walk out of the shadows. The three men are all waring similar clothes, which signifies that they are all in the same line of work - most likely Gangsters or Police by the way they are dressed - they then proceed to ask the woman "where is he, where is he hiding", after replying "i don't know" on of the three men hits the woman - adding to the effect of insignificance and powerlessness the woman has in the present situation, along with the high angle shots whenever she is in the frame, also the opposite for the three men, which are always almost shown in a low angle shot to give a sense of command and authority in the situation (possibly suggesting that they are police). as she stand back up she asks the men "what are you going to do to him" - the audience does not know the man s name yet - you see a mid-shot of one of the three men screwing a silencer onto his gun and then you see him aiming and firing at the woman and she then collapses onto the bed - where she is then shot again. Two of the men then leave the room and the one remaining man switches off the light, as if to signify the woman has died and she is no longer present in the room.
The Three Men are probably part of a stereotype of the typical American "hard man" - gangsters looking for money or a rival or tough cop typelooking for a criminal. Possibly to help the audience establish a era in which this film is set or to give the three men some mystery around them. They could also be getting the audience asking some questions about the man they are looking for, such as what has he done ? or Could he just have been caught up with something that he had no part in and he is just running from these men ?
There is also the link between the Bed-side light and the woman, when she enters the room she goes and turns it on - this gives us the first proper look at her face - and then, at the end of the scene when she dies, one of the men turns it off again. This could possibly be a signifer of her life or presence whithin the room as before mentioned.
