The Dark Knight: Camera Work
Camera work plays a key role in establishing Nolan's style in the opening scenes of The Dark Knight. The different shots Nolan uses gives the audience a deeper understanding of the direction in which the film is going. We are introduced to the film with an establishing shot of Gotham City, as the camera zooms in on one particular building. This helps establish the location and setting, as there are several skyscrapers present and it is day time. The next important shot in the opening scenes is when the camera zooms in on a man's lower back and mask, standing at the corner of a road. Nolan uses this shot to signal to the audience that this man is involved, he is in the centre of the frame therefore he will be important.
As is common in Nolan's films, the leading male characters are driven by their need to get the job done. If the audience has seen others of Nolan's works, they will begin to assume that this man will be more important to the film than just a guy who pulls off a bank heist. This idea evolves through the movie with this character, The Joker, as he is definitely motivated by his desire to finish what he started. This shows when he gets worried at the end of the film when the boat of citizens fails to blow up the boat of convicts and vice versa.
The final most important shots of the opening sequence are the point of view, close up shots of the bank manager and The Joker as he pulls off the mask and reveals himself. First, we see the bank manager's face in close up from the point of view of The Joker. Nolan uses this to show the fear on the manager's face, especially when The Joker shoves a grenade in the manager's mouth. We then cut to a point of view close up of The Joke from the bank m...
... middle of paper ...
...rals, they are neither purely bad nor purely good which is was the audience can easily identify with them.
Mise-en-scene, especially lighting, in both The Prestige and The Dark Knight plays a big role in Nolan's style. In The Prestige, the contrast between the brightly lit stage and the dimly lit backstage show us the reality of Angier's life and his facade. In The Dark Knight, the shadows on The Joker's face when he removes his mask gives The Joker a sense of mystery and confusion.
Camera work assists with establishing Nolan's style by giving the audience a deeper understanding of the films. Nolan's close up shots show emotion on faces, which shows the audience conflicted characters, such as Borden when Angier is drowning. Close ups also help with Nolan's tendency to place the audience directly in the mindset of characters, especially using point of view shots.
One way the filmmakers did this is with the on location shots of rubble in many scenes. The characters in these shots are carefully placed to make the rubble stand out behind them. Lighting is carefully placed to illuminate the rubble and make it stand out. However, the carefully planned cinematography also plays into the overall meaning of the film and not just how it looks. The lighting, for example, influences our feelings for certain characters. Susan Wallner is always filmed in light. This is a drastic difference from how we see Hans Mertens. Hans is usually filmed with low light and is very dim. This helps show that Susan is optimistic, while Hans is pessimistic. Another way lighting is used in this film is to create shadows. Shadows are very prevalent in the last sequence of the film. Hans has confronted Bruckner and as the camera cuts back and forth to each of them we see Hans shadow keeps growing bigger and bigger behind Bruckner. We can interpret that as the shadowing is growing bigger so his Bruckner’s fear, because the dialogue coming from Bruckner is getting faster and we can also hear the fear. There are many times in the film where close ups are used to make the storyline more dramatic. One scene that comes to mind that makes use of quick cuts and close ups is in the end of the film: Susan ran in, stopping Hans from killing Bruckner. At this point we
Mise-en-scène, cinematography and editing are used in all forms of cinema. Within the “Declaration of Principles” scene of Citizen Kane, lighting, blocking and panning are three of the main sub aspects that work in unison to consistently demonstrate important aspects of the film. Welles uses these attributes to portray to the audience how this younger Kane is an important newspaper owner, with an even more important document. He creates a scene that has a heavy emphasis on panning to continuously preserve a frame that centers Kane while also lighting the document so viewers can constantly see the important plot and characters of the movie.
Having artfully explored the origins of the caped crusader in Batman Begins, director Christopher Nolan puts Gotham City under a completely new perspective in The Dark Knight, the thrilling second instalment of his superb reinvention of the superhero franchise.
In the earliest 1940 's superhero films started to become popular on the big screens. One of these popular films is known as Batman, which came out first as a comic book called "The Killing Joke". Batman is considered to be a superhero possessing great talents and for being a true example of hope towards Gotham city. Although these superheroes are one of the main characters in movies, they also have enemies to confront with which are also known as super villains. In this case, the Joker known for his criminal mastermind plays an important role as a villain. Having a huge impact through films, film viewers have had the chance to appreciate different versions of the Batman 's movies. The Joker, being one of the most classical villains in DC Universe is portrayed in different aspects. Analyzing Tim Burton 's Batman (1989) and Christopher Nolan 's The Dark Knight (2008), viewers can assimilate but also differentiate the Joker in couple ways.
Close up tends to take up at least 80 percent of the frame and this helps get a feel for what a character is thinking. One example of this technique being used is when Connie and her friends were changing their clothes at the mall. The director did a good job of using this technique because it helped the audience get a sense of a coming of age moment for Connie as she dresses in very short clothing. Another example of this technique being used is the confrontation between Connie and Arnold where you can see Arnold is making Connie get into the car. The director decided to do this to show the innocence of Connie being taken away and consequently to show the audience her vulnerability. The last example that shows close takes place in the scene where Connie is making out with the guy in the car shows another situation of her losing her innocent. The close up shot on Connie shows the emotion of fear and sadness in Connie face. Connie has created an attractive adult persona through her clothing, hairstyle, and moreover her general behavior and nevertheless gets the attention she desires from boys. But Connie confuses her ability to command attention from the boys with her desire to have them pursue her in a sexual way. These close up shots are very useful in showing the detail and emotion of the
“The film was shot using a wider than usual lens so that it could be shown in I-MAX cinemas nationwide. Today’s audiences want an experience bigger than reality. We have to go that extra mile to give them that something extra.” Chris Nolan also insisted that the film should have a distinctive style which included making the film feel sincerely dark and sinister. Very rarely were the cameras sat still instead the cameras used very technical tricks e.g.: tracking, zoom. This film was originally promoted using a very unique style. Instead of paying for adverts they decided to promote the film using an alternative route. One of the ways this was accomplished was by de facing thousands of fake dollar notes by putting the jokers smile on top of the original face. A sane yet effective way was when many “Batman” recruits placed Joker cads into hundreds of books in libraries to do with death, this had the desired effect as many people became stirred up as to what this meant. The next alternative was to send out spam emails to the site named www.whysoserious.com. But when did Batman evolve as part of our lives. It was in 1939 when the world was introduced to a new hero. Bob Kane’s simple vigilante, Batman. The comics were e-introduced during the 50’s period. Yet due to Comic Book Censorship the violence was forced to gradually become weaker. The well anticipated Batman retuned in the 1970’s. Yet to intrigue a wider variety of audience he appeared more complicated and violent than previous comics. Today’s Batman comics show Batman as a real man with realistic and varied dilemmas. Due to these changes Batman is now one of the most original and adored comic book heroes. Nolan’s interpretation is a variety of the previous comics. It includes the violence of the First Batman mixed with the complexity and realism of today’s modern comics.
Smoke billows out from a Manhattan skyscraper, damaged by a fiery explosion. This could easily be a scene from 9/11, however we see Batman looking grimly on as a poster advertises the film will be released soon. Clearly this film plays on the fears of terrorism. As depicted in The Dark Knight, the Joker plays the terrorist, while Gotham’s leadership struggles to contain him. The film departs from the superhero ideals of pure good versus pure evil, showing a murky world where moral decisions have to be made in order to stop evil. Because of this, The Dark Knight seems to be an allegory for the War on Terrorism. This paper will look at how the Joker represents terrorism, while Batman represents George Bush and his administration’s War on Terror.
What I understand from those shots is that the director wants to show the viewer that there is a crime that’s going to take place in the movie based from those shots that were taking. Based from those shots we might find the suspects. According to Richard Barsam and Dave Monahan, “a shot is a series of frames, that runs for an uninterrupted period of time. Film shots are an essential aspect of a movie where angles, transitions and cuts are used to further express emotion, ideas and
What do you think about when watching a film? Do you focus on the characters' good looks or the dialogue? Or do you go behind the scenes and think about what made the film? Maybe, it's even a combination of all three. No matter what comes to mind first, an important part of any good movie will be what you see. A camera and good director or cinematographer is needed to make that possible. Different directors and cinematographers will use different camera techniques to make you focus on what you see. Camera techniques show emphasis in films, because they make you focus more on situations and people. They are especially important in Darren Aronofsky’s Requiem for a Dream.
The vision Christopher Nolan had for The Prestige (2006) was to add to the outbreak of street magician film, whilst playing a large dramatic subplot equal in grandeur to the magical performances within the film. In the final sequence of the film, I will analyse how the cinematography and sound helps to resolve the plot so that it summarises the themes present in the film, whilst also invoking a response from the audience. Nolan uses close up shots, non-diegetic sound (music) and dialogue collaboratively to convey the dramatic, personal subplot of the characters and their relationships, whilst appealing to the audience bringing forth an emotional response from the audience. The heavy, slow, dramatic atmosphere of the ending sequence uses various
Most of the film was shot with 50mm lenses on 35 mm cameras. This technique carefully lets the audience see the film as though watching a ‘live scene’. This has the effect of drawing the audience closer into the action.
...successful collaboration of sound, colour, camera positioning and lighting are instrumental in portraying these themes. The techniques used heighten the suspense, drama and mood of each scene and enhance the film in order to convey to the spectator the intended messages.
Specifically when he says, “Nobody panics when things go to plan, even if the plan is horrifying” (Tryee, 2009). The Joker said this when he was talking to Harvey Dent. He was giving him a speech before he blew up the hospital because he knew if he did not change his mind about who the real killer was, then he would surely die next. The Joker murdered Harvey’s girlfriend Rachel, so avenging her death is what Harvey wants to do. The point of his speech was to change the direction of the blame. Everyone is to blame except himself for the death of Rachel. The blame is on society. Suggesting that Rachel was going to die anyway and that she was not important enough or people to actually try and stop the chaos. His persuasive words work on Harvey and he becomes the murderous “Two-face”. Honestly, his mental issues are what persuade and scare Harvey into listening to him. I want to find a pattern, or a common motive from The Joker, but taking innocent minded people and turning them into monsters strays away from what I think the real purpose
Any fan of Batman knows that “Batman Begins” and “The Dark Knight” are two of the best Batman films made in the seventy-eight years that Batman has been around. The plots really make you look deep in yourself and show the true and more real sides of the characters of the Batman world. Each movie shows the evolution of Batman and shows only a few of the many crazy and intense adventures of this mysterious hero. These two movies are the first two in the dark knight trilogy, created by the amazing Christopher Nolan. These movies were heavily praised for their astounding realism to the real world, and its pros and cons. But they were also extremely liked for their possibility for
As one of the most popular directors in Hollywood, Christopher Nolan was known for his complex storyline and non-linear structure of the film. His most famous work including The Prestige (2006), Inception (2010), Batman series (2005, 2008, 2012), many of his work has been nominated for numerous awards. This paper mainly analyses two famous film posters from his works, The Dark Knight (2008) and Inception (2010).