Kill Bill II

Kill Bill Volume II
In Quentin Tarantino's film Kill Bill Volume 2, chapter 9, scene 11 displayed a variety of camera movements in order to convey the emotions of the characters, and to provoke a specific emotion from the audience. However, prior to discussing this scene, I need to give those of you whom haven't seen the movie a little background information.Beatrix Kiddo (Uma Thurman) was an assassin for Bill, but decided to leave her life when she found out that she was pregnant. She was pregnant with Bill's baby but she never told Bill. She decided to leave her life as an assassin, and not have the baby grow up with Bill as a father. In the meantime, she found a man who wanted to marry her. However, when she was at her wedding rehearsal, Bill found her and was very upset. He spoke with Beatrix Kiddo and convinced her that he was o.k. with her marrying another man. He also agreed that he would come to the wedding. On the day of the wedding, Bill and his cohort of assassins attacked the wedding and killed everyone. While Beatrix Kiddo lay on the floor dying, Bill pulled out a gun and shot her in the head. Her last words were the baby is yours.Beatrix Kiddo woke up from her coma, and believed that she had lost part of her life and her baby. She decided to go on a mission of revenge and kill all who tried to end her life, with Bill being the final target. In chapter 9, scene eleven, we see the attack on Ellie (Darryl Hannah) and exquisite camera shots that display anger, battles of power and the intensity of the fight.Ellie was in the process of leaving the trailer of Buddy (Bill's brother), after having killed him. The first shot was an extreme close-up of Ellie's face. Tarantino did this so the audience could see the fear and shock in Ellie's eyes. After all, she thought that Buddy had already killed Beatrix Kiddo. However, Beatrix Kiddo was not dead, because she had gotten out of being buried alive, because of her training in martial arts. The next camera shot is a medium long shot where the audience is focused on the middle of Ellie's torso and the feet of Beatrix Kiddo flying toward her. The medium long shot captures Ellie being thrown toward the wall of the trailer. Beatrix Kiddo and Ellie battle it out with the camera being focused on both characters. However, when the characters used extreme force toward each other, the director switched to a close-up shot. In the close-up shot Tarantino focused on the eyes of Ellie and Beatrix Kiddo. Tarantino also used high-key lighting in order to put focus on the sword. When one character began to win the fight a low angle shot would convey the power of the character. Back lighting would also emphasize the powerful character and visually represent their position in the fight. If the character were losing power in the fight, Tarantino would use a high angle shot that would put the character in the submissive position. The use of angles and lighting was interesting because most of the background in this scene consisted of low-key lighting in order to emphasize the dark world of murder in which the characters' lived. At two points within this scene Tarantino manipulates time. The first time he did this was when Ellie got knocked into a counter. As she got up, the camera used slow-motion to exaggerate the cut on her face and the pain of her injury. The second manipulation of time was when Ellie was in a medium long shot flying toward Beatrix Kiddo in a martial arts motion. As she approached Beatrix Kiddo the camera switched back to normal speed and she went threw a wall. This manipulation of time was interesting, because it built a climax toward Ellie being thrown into a wall. In order to emphasize the motion of flying in the air, Tarantino incorporated cartoon-like music to emphasize the fall that was supposed to crush Beatrix Kiddo.Filmmakers use many techniques to emphasize power, characters' emotions, and movement. By incorporating appropriate camera angles and sound the frame is enhanced. A well-done scene would portray meaning, representation, relationships and be well developed. I hope that filmmakers are inspired to imitate the artistic stylings of Quentin Tarantino, and I hope to see more films from him in the future.