micro and macro year 9 film studies assessment

Kill Bill - The Bride VS. Gogo and The Crazy 88's

This is a brilliant sequence from my favorite Dilogy Quinten Tarrentienos KILL BILL where our main protagonist Beatrix Kiddo (Black Mamba) has to kut her way through an army of samurai.

Mise-en-scene 

setting

the scene takes place in a hotel/Bar in Tokyo Japan where one of our protagonist's enemies (O-Ren Ishii)

and her personal guard is staying. it is a large open area with a wooden staircase that goes up onto the second floor when O-ren is staying. I think the Hotel was designed to imitate old Japanese homes but still keep it modern. The open upstairs makes for a perfect dramatic entry for O-Rens guard.

     

Props

In this scene, primarily swords, knives and a variety of other weapons are used. However, occasionally Beatrix Kiddo uses tables and chairs for offense and defense against her foe. For instance, in one scene Beatrix kiddo flips a table on its side to shield herself from GoGo’s aggressive onslaught with her meteor hammer. Beatrix then uses the broken table leg too wound and kill GoGo.  

Costume

 for this scene, Beatrix kiddo is wearing her iconic yellow motorbike suit with black stripes down the arms and legs. all of O-ren Ishii private army (the crazy 88) are wearing black and white suits with a headband wrapped around there faces with holes for the eyes. and O-ren Ishii is wearing a pale white kimono. 

Hair and make up

In this scene Beatrix kiddo has her long blond hair down, it stays this way through the whole scene however towards the end it gets darker and redder because it stained with the blood of the crazy 88. O-ren Ishii has her black hair up in a tight bun which emanates her business-like persona. I also think her hair was like this for practical purposes because if her hair is up then it can't get in the way of a face when fighting. No obvious makeup is used on any of the characters in this scene. However, the fake blood is used brilliantly and almost comically at great effect. Most if not all the characters get stained and covered in it which adds for an excellent gruesome and gory effect.   

lighting 

This throughout the scene basically stays the same. the dim lighting that illuminates the room gives the scene a darker and perhaps more evil feel to it, it makes the surroundings harder to see and therefore brings in a small element of mystery. The windows are brightly lit up by cars and lamps from the world outside. I think metaphorically this shows how ordinary people are currently unknowing of what is happening inside the building.  

cinematography

Almost every single type of camera shot I can think of is used multiple times in this epic fight scene. Wide shots are used to gauge how many people are in the scene, close-ups so the audience can see and feel the emotions and thoughts of the characters at certain points in time. zoom out shots from close to wide so we can see someone's movement over time. shoulder shots to get the perspective of the character. And loads more 

Sound

During the scene, both diegetic and non-diegetic sound is used. at first, we can hear what the characters are saying and any other noises from the surroundings like the sliding of doors. However, later in the scene well-chosen non-diegetic music is played so we can get a better understanding of the mood of the scene these songs are played

4:57 - Cane/White Lightning by RZA & Charles Bernstein 7:56 - Opening theme song to Karate Bullfighter entitled Kenka Karate Kyokushin Ken 9:15 - Nobody But Me by The Human Beinz