Music Video Analysis: Kill Bill - SZA

Kill Bill - SZA (Christian Breslauer, 2023)

The song "Kill Bill" comes from SZA's second studio album, SOS (2022). The martial arts film duology Kill Bill: Volumes 1 and 2 (2003–2004), which centers on an assassin named the Bride and her desire to destroy her ex-boyfriend, was the inspiration for the song's title. The lyrics of the song address SZA's fantasies of killing an ex-boyfriend and his new girlfriend out of jealousy, mirroring the plot of the movie. The music video is heavily narrative driven and it also embraces multiple Tarantino references as for intertextuality. And some of the other ones as well and some

CONCEPT, PERFORMANCE, AND NARRATIVE

The music video follows a narrative thoroughly. The video kicks off with a group of assassins attempting to murder SZA subsequent to her break up with her ex-partner. The following scenes show SZA's determination in killing her ex, indicating through her practicing with figures and toys before actually killing him, and showing off his heart as if it's her reward and marks the end of the revenge. Also, the narrative was shown clearly as the music video uses the Andrew Goodwin's Theory of links between the music and the visuals. The visuals and the lyrics incorporated together to deliver a full plot of female rage and revenge.

CAMERA WORK

Close-ups were frequently used to depict the alluring expressions of SZA, or to emphasize the lips (helps creating sensual effects on viewers) which relates to the genre characteristics of R&Bs. Wide-shots were used to portray fighting scene, which depicts clearly the violence. Additionally, mid-shots were helpful in both showing the expressions of SZA, as well as having enough space to display revealing parts of the body, which gain contributes to the intimate feels. Zooming shots were used twice, first when the character is practicing throat cutting in the dojo, and second when she finished killing of her ex and holding his heart, narrowing the attention from the background (portraying the violation of blades and blood), to the emotions of SZA, representing her dark, twisted mind.

MISE-EN-SCÈNE

Bearing in mind that the narrative of the music video follows a revenge plot, therefore the colors involved are principally dark colors (black), to embrace the ferocity, while is also due to the influence of the Tarantino references. Red color was displayed at many scenes at the later part, representing anger and violence. SZA wears red outfits while doing very savage activities (riding a motorbike at high speed, fighting with assassins, and finally killing of her ex), is a representation of female power. The appearances of weapons (knifes, blades, swords) are very regularly, as they depict the act of killing and to emphasize once again the idea of "taking revenge". Low-key lighting was merely in use, drawing the attention to a dramatic, dim hue that shows of the dark, isolated side of the female character, and to maintain the intimate atmosphere.

EDITING

Initially, SFX was used for the gun shooting scene at the very beginning. Then, one noticeable thing about the Kill Bill is a short animation scene where the actual violence took place. The scene was suddenly animated to reduce the depiction of censored contents (blood and violence), and to further differentiate fantasy (unrealistic scenes) and the reality to sensitive audience, those that are the most vulnerable according to the Effects Model (children who haven't fully developed yet). Additionally, there are also many transitions of sliding over during when she is putting on clothings to prepare for her attempting revenge.

CODES AND CONVENTIONS

Considering that R&B is heavily targeted towards the younger audience, the iconography usually tends to promote sexuality, multiple sexual aspects were inserted. For instance, the main character (SZA), is seen to be wearing very revealing clothing, specifically at the ending where she is supposedly not having clothes on. Low-key lighting plays an important role in creating an intimate sentiment. Multiple close-ups and mid-shots were involved to convey the "alluring" expressions of the artist, which once again to reinforce the tempting atmosphere of R&B songs, and enough to display the appealing parts of the body.

INTERTEXTUALITY: TARANTINO REFERENCES

The intertextuality was shown clearly through a various references of Tarantino's films. 

The song "Nobody Gets Me," by SZA, is featured in the opening seconds of the video, which then shows a clip from "Kill Bill" starring Uma Thurman and Elle Driver from Budd's trailer. The action-packed video also includes various tributes to Tarantino movies, like a fight scene at the House of the Blue Leaves and animation by O-Ren Ishii. The R&B singer is hanging in shibari (Japanese bondage) as "Seek and Destroy," another song by SZA, plays at the end of the clip.

The video follows SZA as she reenacts a condensed version of the events of Kill Bill Vol. 1 and Kill Bill Vol. 2. The animated sequence in Breslauer's video is modeled after the anime director Kazuto Nakazawa and production company Production I.G.'s work on Kill Bill Vol. 1. Vivica A. Fox, who played the role of Vernita Green in the aforestated movie, also makes a brief appearance.  

USES AND GRATIFICATIONS

Entertainment: Kill Bill involves lots of entertaining aspects, initially is the music, then comes the participation of action-packed scenes, which were majorly influenced by the movies of Tarantino. Sexuality was also promoted greatly in the product, as there are many scenes of the character wearing attractive revealing clothing, which could be an attractive pulling factor towards the selectivity of certain audiences. Additionally, as the music develops through a narrative, it could provide an enticing watching experience as the plot develops.

Personal identity: female empowerment and self-love after a failed relationship were highly stimulated, even though it was promoted through violence practices (which could provide a negative effect). Female might find the video aids them through a heart-break, as it values high self-esteem subsequent to a break-up, through scenes of SZA riding a motorbike and confronting her ex-boyfriend. Therefore, it makes the female audience feel better about themselves. 

Social interaction: Kill Bill had achieved many success on the charts and on social media (noticeably TikTok). As "Kill Bill" spends its 21st week at the top of Billboard's Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, SZA has made history with her hit. Even though the fad has been around for a while, there is still a huge demand for sped-up music on TikTok. With a huge amount of young people interacting with TikTok everyday, they would certainly look up the music video for such popular song on YouTube, to benefit their sense of connection and to avoid FOMO (fear of missing out). 

EFFECTS MODEL:

As had been concerned beforehand, even though the music video does great at promoting female empowerment and raising the female audiences' self esteem and recognizing their identity when going through a such relatable experience: break-up, the way it delivers the message could be a bit controversial. The emphasization of the main character taking a revenge on her ex by killing him, could be an encouragement for women to enact violence on their ex-partner, as they're influenced that such actions are savage and powering.