April 12, 2012
The Dark Knight
The Dark Knight, hands down, has to be my absolute favorite movie. Along with many other factors, the camera work, sound, and cinematography really gives it great sense of atmosphere. In the beginning of the movie, eerie music is used before the opening title even appears. When the Batman logo comes up on the screen, it is surrounded by a black and blue smoke, foreshadowing the dark events of the movie. An
extreme long shot is used to show the opening shot of the city, and then focuses on the bank where
the criminals are breaking in. One particular shot that makes good use of zoom
in and music shows one of the men, from the back, standing on a street corner.
As the camera zooms in on this individual, foreshadowing that it’s the Joker,
the music grows louder and builds up in intensity, but suddenly changes when
the van he is waiting for pulls up. It still keeps up the foreboding mood, but
changes the pace of the scene a bit. A little bit more into the beginning of
the opening sequence, the Joker finally reveals himself and there is a close-up
on his face. Right before he leaves, he leans over the banker, who is laying on
the floor, and sticks a grenade in his mouth. The difference in height shows
the Joker having more power and control than the banker. Another scene that
makes great use of sound (or lack thereof) and camerawork is the entire chase
sequence. At the start, when the truck containing Harvey Dent and the cop cars
start driving through the city, the sound cuts out and very subtly, the eerie,
foreboding music used throughout the film starts up. As they head even further
through the city, they find their intended path blocked by a burning fire
truck. This is a kind of visual irony, because fire trucks are made to put out
fires, but it’s also a twisted symbol of anarchy from the Joker to show
disorder. When the police are forced down to the lower route, the actually
chase starts. During this sequence, the camera shots are all over the place,
including inside the cop cars and S.W.A.T vans to create a sense of confusion
and disorder.
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The Dark Knight is a great film. I agree a atmosphere is clearly created through the sounds,camera work, lighting and editing. There are many ariel extreme long shots used to show the full city and activity. Flat angles and dutch angles are used several times. For the most part scenes are in dim lighting or complete darkness to foreshadow dark events. Down lights are used on the wet streets to illuminate the dark scenes. Spot lights are on the police and Batman. The camera is almost always panning or tracking characters to keep up with the action sequences. The music is very symbolic, usually growing louder and faster as the suspense grows. Flashbacks are used frequently to connect crimes and throughts. Shot duration changes from very long to very short as the chases begin. The Joker is purposely shown as powerful especially in the bank when an extreme low angle is used as he stood over the banker. The eerie music and abrupt stops create a great feel of suspense. The Joker is a very ironic and twisted character. I agree his actions were a symbol of anarchy. The burning fire truck is a great example of visual irony. The Joker felt accomplished leaving the city in complete disarray leaving everyone but himself, powerless. The camera work was amazing and made me really feel as if i was there.
ReplyDeleteI’ve also seen the dark knight. Saw this like a week ago. When I was watching this I noticed that in the opening scene when the joker is robbing a bank they used lots of shots. Like when the start the director used extreme long shots to show that the robbers are around the town showing where they are. He then when to a medium shot to show you what they were planning on doing. The director then when to another long shot to show the robbers zip lining across the rooftops and landing on top of the bank. I also noticed when they are robbing the bank the robbers shot the person once their job is done I notice that when they do this they cut to a medium shot to show that they completed their task and then they are getting shot. Also in this scene you can see it goes from a medium shot when the jokers jumps into the bus and drives away and it goes to a close up on the bank managers face when the string from a grenade gets pulled that is in his mouth. Then right after that there is a quick cut into an extreme long shot to show the bus left the bank and has entered a caravan of other buses and is now hidden in the caravan.
ReplyDeleteI saw the Dark Knight on its opening night at the movie theatres. After walking out of the theatre that night I was convinced that it was the greatest movie of all time and that no other movie would ever be better in my mind. Although it is no longer my favorite movie, I still think it has to be in the top five. The movie can always be found on television and whenever I have a chance to watch it I do. I watched the movie over break and noticed many different film techniques used throughout the film that really add to the movie in a positive manner, techniques that I had never noticed before when I watched it. Out of all the techniques I picked up on the one I noticed the most was the use of camera angles to show who was in the position of power. This can be seen literally throughout the entire film. One example is the opening scene when the joker is tormenting the citizens in the bank. Low angles are used throughtout the scene to show he's in power. Another example can be seen when the joker is dangling by his feet from the skyscraper. Here there is a low angle on batman to show that he is the one in power.
ReplyDeleteI just re watched the Dark Knight for about the 6 time and It is hands down one of my favorite movies.The Dark Knight does not feel like a comic book film. It does not call attention to its comic book origins but rather bases itself in a realistic time period that could be representative of anywhere in the world. Much like Ironman, the Dark Knight is about character and motivation before it is about action and spectacle. The film strives to tell a story that is fun in a fantastic sense but also can be understood as a commentary on present day choice of right and wrong in a morally confused world.The Dark Knight does live up to its title. It is extremely dark (though the city is not as malicious looking as it appeared in the first film). The violence at times is stark and unrelenting but in a non-exploitive sort of way. It mirrors the society that Gotham City has become. The city has spawned violence as a result of its own corruption and misdeeds. It truly captures the understanding that violence begets violence.
ReplyDeleteGotham City is a barren landscape and, as a result, contains only three men willing enough to take on the role of cleaning it up. In the film, all three men represent different modes of the male perspective. Harvey Dent is the idealist who believes change can occur through effort and determination. Batman, on the other hand, desires alterations but is conflicted on how to go about achieving it. Lieutenant Gordon (Gary Oldman) covets modifications but is also a man who understands the corruption and decay that probes the individual. He is an idealist but with a greater sense of awareness and understanding then Dent and Batman. These three characters help to complete each other and yet remain individualistic in their beliefs and actions.Though the film does sort of lose itself in the final thirty minutes, the film still does leave the viewer with great expectations for a third entry in the series. Perhaps the anticipation will not be as tantalizing as the original films ending (with the introduction of the Joker playing card) but it does add another depth to the already impressive lengths this franchise is attempting to strive for. Let the anticipation begin.
I have also seen the movie The Dark Knight and when I first saw it I was blown away. One thing that I really liked about the movie was how the editing and filming combined to make it feel so dark and gritty. One thing that really stands out in this movie to me at least is the use of chioscurio throughout the movie. Throughout the movie characters faces are often hidden, disguising there true intentions. Another thing that I really liked is how the set and scenery used in the movie really helps to set the tone. At its heart The Dark Knight is a fairly dark movie, and the set up of the movie really helps to get that point across. Although Gotham is a "modern" city it seems much, much darker than any city I have ever been in. Even in the daylight the city seems dirty and corrupt. Another thing about the movie that caught my attention is the way that the movie seems to use the character of the Joker to show all of the darker sides of human kind. Basically he is used as a symbol for what chaos can do to people. He never really has a motive for a single thing he does and just seems to kind of float around. In fact there is a scene shown where he burns a huge pile of money showing that he does not care for material possessions.
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