Wednesday 7 December 2011

Further Analysis of The Dark Knight Opening

02:00
‘I know why they call him the joker’ introduces a transition through dialogue into the jump shot of the ‘two guys on the roof’, who say in the jump cut ‘so why do they call him the Joker?’
The shots quickly jump again to the ground level as the antagonists are going into a building (the use of short shots and jump cuts are used again to create an atmosphere of action). The shot taken at 02:11 is a low angle shot. This time the shot works with the connotation of what the antagonists are wearing – black – creating a situation suddenly of them to have some sort of power.
02:08
The right pan shot from the car to the building slowly transcends from eye level to low angle. During this course at 02:08, one of the characters is faced away from the camera and appears to be looking onto a tall building in the fore ground. Because this shot transcends into a low angle shot, gives the characters a majority of the power, but creates a greater sense that the public area is even greater than them as the buildings are taller. This represents the local authority control, money control or even government control and how in comparison they are as antagonists are weak.
02:08 and 02:13
Both of these shots are considerably longer than the previous shots, however because they are tracking the characters, it still creates this sensation of movement and motion, without the jump cuts or the switch to other shots; it still shows this atmosphere of action and pace.
Towards the end of this clip, at around 02:15, a fire shot is dispersed by the antagonists for around a second, and the shots quickly jump to the desks shots for reaction. For the audience to be able to see the reaction creates emphasis on what the antagonists are doing, as well as the atmosphere and tension that is created in the clip, also making it more realistic. The shot jumps again to dolly –follow- the previous shot of the antagonists running through, holding back to reveal a long shot. Because the antagonists how now burst into action, running, this creates the representation of time within the clip suddenly, through physical embodiment rather than shots. This also represents the connotations of the antagonists, as they are violent: as expected due to ideaology of ‘masked men’.
Between this shot and the next (a point of view, dolly back shot of a very long shot of the frontal antagonist character) the establishment of side light is asserted, as it appears naturally coming in through the building. Because the room is dark and poorly lit, the mise en scene of what appears a bank robbery, inclines that the antagonists, because they are wearing black, control a majority of the power within this building and foreshadows that their crime will go successfully.
02:28
An important representation of mise en scene is created as a blond haired women is targeted by the antagonists. Firstly, because she is female, and the antagonists from the sound of their voices and physical physic are male, it creates the representation that females a weak against males, and are therefore helpless. The fact that the women is blonde, suggests the stereotypical connotation of horror films particularly, that the blonde girl is always the first to die from the women side of the group – this obviously transfers into other genre’s however, as she is targeted here.
02:30
Another important presentation is made from mise en scene, but this step away from the stereotypes of antagonists. The antagonists on the roof are seen with an over shoulder shot of a device, appearing to hack through the alarms. The fact that they are taking precautions  to stop the alarms with smart technology, steps away from the stereotype that criminals are seen as stupid, idiotic are undereducated. Instead, it helps aid the modern representation of organized crime, which antagonists are able to specialise in something that will aid a certain crime.
02:31 and 02:45
Though the clip experiments with new representations that is of modernized crime, these two different shots, transitioning between cut shots returning into the building, are both two shots. The antagonist who was the ‘hacker’ is in focus view of the viewer, whilst his partner on the roof is out of focus and appears slightly shifty, seeming to rummage through something. At the second time, he draws out a gun and shoots his partner in the back. By doing this, it creates the representation through the two shot that these two characters had not been close to begin with, that one had been placed behind the other, shows only a business link between them due to the current narrative and mise en scene of the makes. This representation also relates back to the typical gender stereotype that men betray each other, particularly in crime.
Notice of 180 degree rule between two jump shots at 03:14 and 03:16 – although the two shots are in different areas, they are responsive / reverse shots and therefore are placed on the same line of the 180 degree rule, as was the roof shots; although location may change during jump shots, they still respond across the same line.
03:21
Here there is a mid shot of a slightly greying man in a suit – as he’s at a desk he appears as a banker during the raid of the antagonists. ‘Get down on the ground’ is being shouted through dialogue in the background as diagetic sound whilst the mid shot focuses on his facial expression: making it clear he is un-amused and does not appear frightened: as said in dialogue arond 03:46, ‘do you know who you’re stealing from? You and your friends are dead’. The mise en scene shows that his suit placed him within a work station of this bank and even a high class. The combination of the mid shot and mise en scene represents that people within higher classes will refuse to allow money to be taken so easily, creating this ‘stubborn’ stereotype or ‘tight pockets’.
03:33
A low angle shot is taken of this banker with a shotgun. That it is slightly low angled represents that he has taken some majority of the power suddenly, from previously shooting one of the antagonists.
03:40 – 05:10
Quick jump shots is used again in editing with short shots to show fast pace in time. Most of the shots used are mid shots, close ups or two shots taken from a distance – however the two shots are never shown as together, but slightly separated; this adds emphasis on the betrayal taking place thus adding the presentation that criminals, or men in general, betray one another.
05:24
Slight high angle shot on the banker who was shot down, now representing the power struggle between men as there is only one antagonist left. The fact that the antagonists betrayed one another, suggests this ideaology that men struggle for power between each other. The man now on the floor appears in a dark suit (connotating power which is contradicted and removed from the shot angle) and the side light that is coming from the windows, because he has fallen in the light suggests that he is a good character.
05:52
The final antagonist is dressed in a dark / light blue unlike the other dead antagonists whom were shown more so in black. This connotation suggests that he is intellectual, and must be, because he’s the last one left alive.
05:44
This is when the Joker is unmasked. The shot is a close up, low angle shot. Immediately it creates the representation of power, and that the light is projected from behind - his face in darkness – suggests how dark this antagonist character is; the close up also brings attention to the emphasis of the Joker’s appearance as a criminal, looking slightly terrifying through mise en scene. This representation suggests that those men with more power over others are ‘scary’ or have the power to make other men / women, scared.

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