Friday 31 January 2014

Case Study: 'Kill Bill: Vol. 1'

Explain how Tarantino establishes Thriller conventions in the opening of 'Kill Bill: Vol. 1'

   


    In the opening of Tarantino's 'Kill Bill: Vol. 1', the first thriller convention  to be established is with the character of Bill - the greedy, malevolent character with a dark, corrupt past; which is a generic character type explored in thriller texts. In the short, close-up tracking shot of Bill's feet; we see that they are clad in a pair of 'cowboy boots'. As part of his costume, these boots could have been used to make the character seem as if he is trying to make himself look taller; physically putting himself above everyone else - possibly trying to instate his own apparent feel of authority over others. We later see Bill wipe the blood off of The Bride's face, with a handkerchief with his name on it. The fact that he has a handkerchief with his own name embroidered on it would suggest that Bill is a fairly vain and conceited character; possibly with a great feeling of ownership over certain things - and probably people too. In this shot, we are also able to see that Bill is wearing jewellery; which makes him appear flashy and pretentious. 

    The use of black and white not only helps to create an atmospheric feel; but also helps the audience to differentiate between  'flashback' scenes like this one, and 'real-time' scenes which soon follow. The use of black and white helps to create an atmospheric feel by contrasting the binary opposites of the colours; which could be reflective of the dark, deplorable character of Bill - who shoots someone when they are most defenceless, and the vulnerable, 'anti-hero' type character of 'The Bride'. The use of black and white could also be referencing the sub-genre of 'Noir Thriller'. 

    The cliff hanger at the end of this opening is very effective in keeping the audiences interest and attention. This could be due to the main character - The Bride- being shot in the head at the very beginning of the film, as many would doubt anyone could survive taking a bullet to the head at such close range. This helps to intrigue the audience and engross them into the events about to unfold, as they would want to know how she survives it; and what will happen next. This would therefore be a very appealing opening to the audience, as it would absorb them in the film and elicit their curiosity from the very beginning. 




Inter-textual reference between Tarantino's 'Kill Bill: Vol. 1' (Chapter 2) and the opening sequence of David Lynch's crime noir drama 'Blue Velvet'.





    In this scene, we see a shot of a street decorated with very bright, friendly looking houses. The use of bright coloured houses - similar to those in the opening of 'Blue Velvet'- could have been used ironically; as they look very aesthetically pleasing, but dangerous things are happening inside - such as the fight between 'The Bride' and Vernita. This, along with the idyllic American suburb front helps to add a falsity to the scene; making it feel as if the people there have something to hide. This could be reflective of the fact that both 'The Bride' and Vernita have a fairly dark past, in reference to their involvement with Bill and the 'Deadly Viper Assassination Squad' that they have both tried to move on from.




    During the fight between 'The Bride' and Vernita, the school bus pulls up infront of the house, and Vernita's daughter arrives home. This reinforces the idea of falsity and concealment of truth, as when her daughter walks in, Vernita and 'The Bride' put on a front and pretend to be old friends; keeping their dark secret of how they became acquainted from the young, oblivious girl. This could be linked to the opening of 'Blue Velvet' where we see the young school children be ushered across the road, which -in both texts- could be symbolic of peoples seemingly innocent ignorance of the true, sinister events that are occurring in their neighbourhood unbeknown to them. 

    This sense of fake appearances and heightened colour in both 'kill Bill: Vol. 1' and 'Blue Velvet'  also have clear links to 'The Truman Show' and 'The Wizard of Oz'. In 'The Truman Show', they use the idea of brightly coloured, idyllic suburban houses to enhance the feel of a false reality - making everything feel uncomfortably 'perfect'; fitting of the narrative as Truman is an unsuspecting insurance salesman who finds out that his whole life is a reality TV show.



    In 'The Wizard of Oz', very similarly to 'Kill Bill: Vol. 1', 'Blue Velvet' and 'The Truman Show'; the use of bright, garish colours help to create a sense of falsity and surrealism - creating the illusion of a utopian surrounding in which everything is perfect. Much like 'The Truman Show', this effect is very fitting for the narrative of 'The Wizard of Oz' as the land of the munchkin's is fake, the wizard is fake; and they all exist only in Dorothy's imagination, due to her desire to escape reality. 




    


Tuesday 28 January 2014

Thriller Production: Revised Shooting Schedule



Thriller Production: Character Profiles

    In our original idea, we decided to have both a female antagonist and victim. We were going to use these characters to both follow and challenge generic thriller conventions.
    Upon reviewing our raw footage - under advisement from our teacher- we later decided that our antagonist wasn't very fitting for what we wanted to do with our thriller production; so decided to change to a new, male antagonist character.


Bonnie


    Originally, we were going to have a female antagonist named Bonnie. We decided on this name as it is a feminine name that comes from the Scottish word "bonnie" meaning "pretty, attractive"; hoping to create an ironic juxtaposition from the connotations of the name with the nature of an antagonist. we also chose this name in reference to Bonnie Elizabeth Parker (Bonnie & Clyde) - who I have included in my 'Female Serial Killers' contextual study. 
    
    Bonnie's costume was inspired by that of Richard in 'Dead Man's Shoes' - incorporating the army jacket and gas mask. We decided to use fairly dull colours to try and follow the convention of having the antagonist in dark colours -creating a cool, iciness about the character, reflective of her personality- and added pink gloves to try and create a contrast to this; reinforcing the femininity  of the character. We wanted Bonnie to have a fairly similar costume to Sam - the victim- as to reflect the fact that Bonnie is trying to 'blend in' with others, and seem 'normal'; as many real life psychopaths try to. We used a gas mask and hockey stick - along with the military boots - to try and make the character appear to be threatening and unnerving. Thus, making it clear to the audience that this character is the antagonist of our narrative. We later decided to change our antagonist to a male character as we didn't feel as if the character of Bonnie looked or felt threatening enough for our thriller production.  






Sam


    In our narrative, we have a fairly ambiguous female victim named Sam. We decided on this name as it is a fairly common unisex name, which makes it seem as if the victim could have been anyone - hopefully evoking tension within the audience by making them feel as if it could well have been them in Sam's position.

    We wanted Sam to have a similar costume to Bonnie as we wanted to reflect the fact that Bonnie was trying to 'blend in' with normal people. After we decided to change our antagonist to a male character, we decided to keep Sam's costume as it was because we still wanted to include the 'Dead Man's Shoes' inspired costume; but to use it in a very different way for this character. We decided to 'flip' the idea of Richard's style of clothing being used for the antagonist to the victim as in our narrative, there are points in which it seems as if the ambiguity of Sam as a character briefly leads the audience to question whether or not she actually is the innocent victim they were all lead to believe she was.



Ian Moone 



    Originally, we had a female antagonist called Bonnie; but as we felt the character wasn't quite what we wanted for our thriller production, we decided to change our antagonist to a new, male character. We decided to call this character Ian Moone after Sqweegel, a character in an episode of the same name; from the 11th series of 'CSI'. In the show, Sqweegel is an enigmatic male serial killer who goes by the alias of 'Ian Moone' - an anagram for 'I am no one'. As our antagonist is also very enigmatic - wearing only dark colours, following the victim and never revealing his face until the end of our thriller production and also watches and attacks victims in their own homes, much like Sqweegel; we felt that this would be a very fitting name.

    We wanted Ian Moone to have a costume composed of only dark items of clothing, to portray his cold, calculating nature. The use of a dark costume also helps to reinforce the feel of enigma about the character, making him seem very shadowy and shifty; which would be very beneficial in helping him to execute his devious and repulsive actions that are soon to unfold. This would help the audience to identify that Ian Moone is the antagonist of our narrative, hopefully causing the audience to feel disgust and distrust towards this character.


Friday 24 January 2014

Contextual Study: The Parker–Hulme Murder Case (Heavenly Creatures)

    The Parker–Hulme murder case took place in the city of Christchurch, New Zealand, on 22 June 1954, when Honorah Rieper was killed by her teenage daughter, Pauline Parker, and Pauline's close friend Juliet Hulme.


    As a child, Parker had suffered from osteomyelitis; and Hulme had suffered from tuberculosis, and was sent by her parents to the Bahamas to recover. The girls initially bonded over their respective illnesses, but, as their friendship developed, they formed an elaborate fantasy life together. They would often sneak out and spend the night acting out stories involving the fictional characters they had created. Their parents found this disturbing and worried that their relationship might be sexual. Homosexuality at the time was considered a serious mental illness, so both sets of parents attempted to prevent the girls from seeing each other. 

    In 1954, Juliet's parents separated; her father lost his job at Canterbury College and planned to return to England. It was then decided that Juliet would be sent to live with relatives in South Africa—mainly for her health, but also so that the girls would be more effectively, if not permanently, separated. Pauline told her mother that she wanted to accompany Juliet, but Pauline's mother made it clear it would not be allowed. The girls then formed a plan to murder Pauline's mother and leave the country for Hollywood in the United States.


     
On 22 June 1954, the body of Honorah Rieper was discovered in Victoria Park, in Christchurch, New Zealand. That morning Honorah had gone for a walk through Victoria Park with her daughter Pauline Parker, and Juliet Hulme. Down the path, in a wooded area of the park, Hulme and Parker bludgeoned Rieper to death with a brick placed in an old stocking.  After committing the murder they had planned together, the girls fled, covered in blood, back to the tea kiosk where the three of them had eaten only minutes before. Major lacerations were found about her head, neck, and face, with minor injuries to her fingers. Police soon discovered the murder weapon in the nearby woods, and the girls' story of Rieper's accidental death quickly fell apart.

The trial was an astonishing spectacle, with speculation about the girls possible lesbianism and insanity. The girls were convicted on 28 August 1954, and each of them spent five years in prison as they were too young to be considered for the death penalty. They were later released, and adopted new identities. 


Case Study: The Purpose of Jackson’s Use of The Humming Chorus From Puccini's Opera “Madam Butterfly”

    In 'Heavenly Creatures', Jackson uses an aria from Puccini's opera 'Madam Butterfly'; of which Juliet Hulme sings on the eve of the murder she and Pauline Parker commit. This amplifies the importance of the events that follow, and adds dimension to the film.


    The inter-textual reference to Puccini's 'Madam Butterfly' in 'Heavenly Creatures' is one of great significance. The reference to opera is reflective of the two girls delusional view of their lives as some kind of grand opera, along with the actual reference to 'Madam Butterfly' in regards to tragedy and drama.
     Audiences who recognise the reference to the tragic story of 'Madam Butterfly' will be able to create a link between Butterfly's traumatic demise and the calamitous struggle that Juliet and Pauline find themselves with. In Puccini's opera, Butterfly - a 15 year old Japanese girl - marries a U.S Naval officer named Pinkerton; who leaves shortly after their wedding. Three years later, Butterfly is still waiting on Pinkerton's return - that many have told her will not happen- and it is revealed that she has given birth to his son. It is then that pinkerton arrives back to the house in Japan - but with his new American wife, Kate; as she has agreed to take care of the child. Agreeing to give up her child if Pinkerton comes to see her himself, Butterfly then prays to statues of her ancestral gods, says goodbye to her son, and blindfolds him. She places a small American flag into his hands and goes behind a screen, killing herself with her father's hara-kiri knife. It is then that Pinkton rushes in to see Butterly, but to his dismay he is too late. 



   For audiences with knowledge of Butterfly's excruciating demise, jackson's choice of soundtrack creates emphasis on the harrowing events that are about to unfold for Juliet and Pauline. It enables the audience to relate the tragedy and anguish of Butterfly's destruction to the agonising deed that is about to occur in 'Heavenly creatures', foreshadowing the events about to take place. 


Contextual Study: Psychopathy & Empathy

   As a generic character type of Thriller texts is a 'psychotic individual', i carried out some research into psychopathy and empathy.





   In the early 1800s, doctors who worked with mental patients began to notice that some of their patients who appeared outwardly normal had what they termed a “moral depravity” or “moral insanity,” in that they seemed to possess no sense of ethics or of the rights of other people. The term “psychopath” was first applied to these people around 1900. The term was changed to “sociopath” in the 1930s to emphasize the damage they do to society.
   Psychopathy can be described as an aspect of personality or as a personality disorder. As a personality disorder, it is characterized by enduring antisocial behaviour, diminished empathy and remorse, and disinhibited or bold behaviour. As an aspect of personality, it represents scores on different dimensions of personality found throughout the population in varying combinations.




   A psychopath could be described as a person with an antisocial personality disorder, manifested in aggressive, perverted, criminal, or amoral behavior without empathy or remorse.
  

   In this scene of Tarantino's 'Jackie Brown', we see the character Louis - the 'psychotic individual'- kill Melanie in a public place in broad daylight.




   The fact that Louis shoots Melanie in a public place - such as the car park- in broad daylight portrays him as a fairly psychotic character as he has not been secretive about the murder; and seems to show very little recognition for his actions, along with the fact that he still talks to her as if she's beside him; when she's laying dead on the floor after being shot twice.



  

   Psychopaths exhibit antisocial and aggressive behaviour, as well as emotional and interpersonal deficits including shallow emotions and a lack of remorse and empathy. Studies suggest psychopaths have atypical responses to distress cues (e.g. facial and vocal expressions of fear and sadness), including decreased activation of the fusiform (part of the temporal lobe and occipital lobe, located between the inferior temporal gyrus and the parahippocampal gyrus) and extrastriate cortical regions (the region of the occipital cortex of the mammalian brain located next to the primary visual cortex), which may partly account for impaired recognition of and reduced autonomic responsiveness to expressions of fear, and impairments of empathy.

Monday 13 January 2014

Thriller Production: Location

Weybourne Beach











This location is an effective choice for our thriller production as the primeval setting of the beach helps to reinforce the predatory feel of our antagonist in our narrative. This setting also helps to portray a certain frigidness by appearing to lack all warmth and feeling, reflecting the antagonist and any possible ordeal that may occur. As it is a beach location, the audience can recognise and associate their own experiences of such places in numbing weather; adding to the bleak and steely atmosphere we intend to portray. 


Baconsthorpe Castle









This location is an effective choice for our thriller production as it's aesthetically pleasing greenery creates a welcomed contrast between the brutal iciness of the beach location, yet is also isolated; luring the audience -along with the victim in our narrative - into a false sense of security. The ruins of the castle surrounding the grounds could be seen as metaphorical of the antagonists decaying sanity, symbolising their eroding mental state.