Case Study - The Dark Knight.

1)Institution
Name: The Dark Knight Director: Christopher Nolan Producers: Christopher Nolan, Charles Roven, Emma Thomas Distributed by: Warner Bros. Pictures Release Date: July 24, 2008 (UK) Genre: Thriller, Action, Crime, Drama Certificate: Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of violence and some menace. Country: USA, UK Budget: $185 million Box office returns: Gross revenue was $1,001,921,825 Awards: Won 2 Oscars. Another 79 wins & 60 nominations. Running Time: 152 min

2) Audience The Dark Knight is a thriller film, with sub genres consisting of crime, drama and action. Similar to The Number 23, this film is also quite diverse in genres, which could mean that it would appeal to a much wider audience. The Dark Knight might also capture the audience of comic book lovers as it is based on the comic book batman. The trailer created would be very appealing to an audience, because it is so action packed and makes the film seem great. This might persuade the audience to go see it as it captures there attention. The Dark Knight has done very well it terms of audience appeal and with all of the awards it one, including 2 Oscars! The IMDB user rating was a whopping 8.9/10, which is very high. This shows that the majority of people who watched the film liked it a lot as there has been 417,583 votes so far, and the average rating being 8.9/10. One user of IMDB comments on the film stating "Film surpasses the hype". As the film had a lot of hype about it, this comment shows that in the users opinion it did not fail to deliver and it exceeded the film's expectations. The film did so well in terms of box office returns partly dude to all of the publicity the film had before it had reached the cinema through the likes of advertising and reviews. This made the audience aware of the film and possibly encourage them to go and watch it. Another user of IMDB states "Who paid the critics" and rated the film 1 out of 10. This shows that the film does not appeal to all of the audience. Reading on through this users review, they express their disapproval of the over-hype the film received. This is the opposite of the first user comment, so this could suggest that the film is not to everyone's taste

3)Technology
With technology ever changing and evolving with time, popularity of films have increased dramatically, mainly down to advertising. There are many ways in which the film can advertise including: banners on the internet, trailers on the tv and cinema, film posters in bus shelters and on buses, websites. As there is more technology when it comes to advertising, the general public's knowledge of the film will be increased. This may make more people come to watch the film in the cinema or purchase the dvd. New technology may have also increased audiences access of the film. For example, there are many ways in which people can watch films now days including: cinema, dvd, tv, ipod/itunes, streaming online (illegal). As there is easier access to watch films, and alternative methods to watch films, there will be an increase in accessibility.





The opening sequence consists of very atmospheric non-diegetic soundtrack that creates a lot of tension. Similarly to The Number 23, The Dark Knight also uses a lot of drums to build tension. The very first sounds we hear are loud, booming drums. This could possibly represent a war drum to show the audience that a lot of fighting and violence is about to commence. It could also represent a beat of someone’s heart as it is of a similar tempo/pace. There First image is of a huge explosion that comes towards the screen. The colours of the explosion are shades of dark blue and black. Blue usually connotes masculinity, cold and fire (blue flame), which are juxtapositions of each other. The masculinity connotation could represent Batman’s character. The cold could represent the cold heartedness of Batman or possibly another character. Fire could represent the amount of violence in the film. It could also represent pain because fire is often associated with pain, indicating that the film includes lots of pain, mainly in a physical form, where the conventions of the genre Crime are introduced. The colour black connotes mainly negative thoughts such as depression and anger. This could be some of the themes expressed throughout the film. Through the explosion there is a clearance that forms in the middle of it. I have interpreted this as a formation of a bat, however it’s quite hard to see due to the diffusing smoke. The bat figure in the centre of the explosion could represent Batman being right in the centre of action. It could possibly mean that Batman is the cause of the explosions, representing corruption and violence.

The first shot we see is either a crane shot, or one giving the impression that it is filmed on a helicopter. This could possibly represent that the bank robbery commencing has hit the news channels and the helicopter filming the first shot is a news helicopter, attempting to film the events. It could also represent the movement of a police helicopter, which could signal to the audience that what they are about to see is potentially dangerous as it is involving police. The shot moves in to a particular building, where out of the blue, one panel of the window smashes open. The non-diegetic music really helps build tension to the opening sequence, as it is very atmospheric and mysterious. The next shot we see introduces the first characters, whose faces are hidden in a clown masks. Clowns often connote horror and fear, as many people have a fear of clowns, called Coulrophobia. This could represent that the men wearing clown masks are terrorising characters, out there to discomfort and frighten people. They are loading a gun that fires a rope attached to a hook, which they fire out of a broken window onto the roof of the opposite building. The audience might pick up indications that what these men are doing isn’t necessarily normal behaviour and would arise suspicion in the audience as to why they are risking their lives to zip-wire to another building many stories high above the road below. There is an interesting shot used to introduce another character below on the road. It starts of at eye level then begins to lower and zoom in at the clown mask in the man’s hand. This could indicate to the audience that the mask is very significant as the camera zooms in on it. A van skids to a halt next to the man and the man puts the mask to his face and hastily jumps in the car. The man putting on the mask could represent the terror and corruption his actions will create in the next few minutes. The fact that the van was travelling at a high speed, and the way the man hastily jumps into the van could represent that they are on a well-planned, tight schedule. This is emphasised later on as the audience sees how efficient the masked criminals are at robbing and how well planned the robbery is.
On the roof, where the two men intervening with the electronics of the bank, one of the men shoots the other after he has carried out his task. This shows the audience that the character is very heartless and does not care about shooting someone. It also shows to the audience that what the masked men are carrying out is very important to them as it involves killing another human. Then masked men who have entered the bank, fire shots in the air and orders people to get on the floor with their hands in the air. This is the first indication to the audience that they are carrying out a bank robbery and certain things begin to fall together and the audience begin to understand and appreciate the scale of the operation. The gunshots in the air show that the masked men mean business and they want people to do as they are told. The masked me then distribute grenades to the innocent people in the bank. This emphasises how heartless and greedy these men are, and how they would be prepared for kill just because of their love for money. It may also cause members of the audience to feel sympathetic towards the innocent victims in the robbery, which makes the audience engage with the film.
All of the criminals are dressed completely in black, besides the mask. This could suggest that they want to remain completely anonymous. It makes the characters remain very mysterious and creates a sense of suspicion in the audience. The black connotes darkness and evilness, which could represent the criminal’s characters.
It is quite odd that throughout the whole opening sequence there are no rolling credits. This is quite unusual for all films. I think the reason why credits aren’t include in the opening sequence is perhaps to focus the audiences attention on the action. After the first action-packed opening sequence it is closely followed by another fight scene. None of these sequences would be a suitable place to have credits as the audience would want to focus on the action, so this might be why they haven’t included any credits. Another reason why they haven’t included any credits could be because they want to stand out from almost every other film that includes credits in their opening sequence. They might not want to follow the trend set by the majority of all other films and wish to be a bit different.
The rules of thirds also play a part in representing one of the criminals, The Joker. The Joker appears to be the leader of the gang of criminals and the mastermind behind the operation. He is often shown in the very centre of the shot, indicating to the audience that he is a very important character. The point of putting The Joker in the middle of the shot focuses the audiences attention on him straight away as that is the first thing they are drawn towards as its in the centre. The Joker being the centre of the shot could also represent that he is in the centre of the action all of the time. Again it emphasises his importance and in a way it almost makes the audience respect him due to the indications of his high position in the hierarchy.
In my opinion, The Dark Knight has the most exciting, action packed opening sequence out of the other films in my case studies. The attention to detail is overall incredible, and has you on the edge of the seat, completely involved in the film. The length of the sequence is just right and gives it enough time to that captures the audience’s attention and makes them want to see the rest of the film. It also nicely summarises what you could expect to see throughout the rest of the film. The opening sequence of a film is so important as for the audience, it is the make or break situation to determine if the audience would be willing to watch the rest of the film. Personally, I think The Dark Knight really is a “make” it situation for the audience.