Research and Planning Dark Knight

Analysis of Dark Knight  

Camera Shot/Angle/Movement

Dark Knight opens with an establishing shot this gives the audience a view of where the film is going to be set. The film then goes into a forward panning shot, this pin points a certain part of the establishing shot allowing the audience to delve deeper into that specific part. The director’s intention was probably to make the audience feel like they were literally going deeper making it seem like they are in the film themselves.

There where a few shots of the characters from the back one could suggest the director show to film it this way to build suspense, not being able to see the faces of the characters makes it very sinister.

A couple of high shots are used in the opening; it allows the audience to see what the characters see. They are on top of a building looking down this also gives a sense of danger it builds tension.

This is a high angle shot, showing the thieves zip lining across a bridge in Chicago the director might have filmed it this way to show the audience the way the characters are truly risking their lives just for money. 

Characters

The main characters are the masked thieved its clear that they are all men, just from watching the opening for 2.30 minutes it is obvious they have no loyalty to each other, their greed for the money causes them to go as far as killing each other. Their hidden identity sparks up a lot of curiosity. Who are the thieves? Why are they here? Why are they stealing? Why are they killing one another and innocent people? These are all questions that pop into the audience’s heads so they are eager to watch on and find out. 

Locations

The location of the opening is at a two places, one being the top of a sky scrapper and the other at the bank. The characters are talking about money so it’s clear that they are going to steal from the bank. The bank robbery could be seen as very cliché but not really a generic occurrence in a thriller film.

Narrative/Plot

The opening gives away a few clues; it seems as if the thieves don’t actually know the identities of each other which is very odd. Two thieves talk about the joker not knowing he was sitting right in the back seat this builds interest around this joker character, why is he so popular? This could suggest he will be a main character in the film. The title of the film is “Dark Knight” this title suggests evil to me, a knight is usually someone who is honorable and fights but just by putting the word dark in front of it completely changes views on what exactly the film could be about.

Themes

Themes of murder, deceit and disloyalty are definitely in this film. The themes of murder and disloyalty come from the way the thieves kill each other even though they are all supposed to be working together to get what they want the thieves that are still alive are very self centered. The theme of deceit comes from the other characters knowing of the joker but not knowing he is sitting right under their noses. Why doesn’t he want to be known? 

Genre

The genre of this film is quite ambiguous, the many elements throughout the opening such as the camera shots and sound makes it a mixed genre. I see conventions of action movies from the bank robbery and the way the thieves zip line across the city but the music and the masked characters are conventions of thriller movies. So in conclusion the film has a mixed genre of thriller and action.

Sound

The most of sound in this opening is non- diegetic. The music is very fast and jumpy this builds suspense and tension causing the audience to be on the edge of seats curious to find out what will happen next. The diegetic sound of the gun shots and people screaming also shows conventions of a Thriller film this automatically grabs the audience’s attention is eager to find out more about the masked thieves so they continue to watch on.

Editing

The shots in the opening are medium length one could assume the directors intentions while doing this was to it give the audience time get familiar with the setting. When the masked thieves begin the robbery its self the shots get a little faster giving the audience an over view of the happenings in the different areas of the bank. The shots get shorter and the music gets faster which builds apprehension the audience is left feeling puzzled on how exactly the robbery will end up.

Mise en Scene

The tall building and sky crappers show the film is set in a city. The street signs and traffic lights show the film is definitely set somewhere in America.