The Dark Knight Close Analysis Jeffrey Berris Pria Shoha Stefanie Sternfeld Alexa Hannawa

Briefly Introduce the Extract Main purpose-introducing the joker as the main character and shows his creepiness. Presents the various people robbing the bank, first instance of the Joker harming the city Portrays the Joker as a ruthless, coldhearted villain who terrorizes the city of Gotham. Location—NYC bank, introduces the Joker’s role going against the city Joker is a criminal with no strings attached. Doesn’t engage in any deep relationship with characters because he is focused on causing chaos to Gotham All of his accomplices kill each other so there is more money, the Joker ends up being the last one standing. Bank manager stands up to the Joker to show that some people can stand up to criminals in the face of adversity

Briefly Introduce the Extract Continued…. Emotional Responses Fear: The Joker creates the fear that he is very powerful and the thought that worse things are eminent. He is presenting a new class of criminals to the city. Nerves: The scene also creates nervous tension because of how creepy and radical the Joker is.

Discuss Important Aspects of the Mise en Scene New York City Bank – Shot in daylight showing a more realistic depiction of Gotham City – New, tall glass buildings – Central bank of the city Interior of Bank – Typical of what a state bank looks like High ceilings, modern architecture, marble floors, clean – Large vault with plain colors to emphasize how the space is confined Exterior of Bank – Big city – Crowded streets – Tall buildings

Discuss Important Aspects of the Mise en Scene continued…. Casting wasn’t important in this scene because the characters faces were covered Costumes and props are a major factor in contributing to the viewers understanding and enjoyment of the sequence. – Clown masks on the bank robbers is one of the most important props Clowns usually give a feeling of happiness and smiling However, there is also the theme of clowns being evil. The masks also correlate with the Jokers face paint, hence his name, the Joker.

Discuss the Cinematography There aren’t unusual shots; however, there’s various shots that are typical in a lot of movies. Mostly every character in the scene receives close ups. – clown gets a close up to show how they get their job done. – The regular citizens and bank clerks get close ups to show their fear as a result of being robbed. – The bank manager gets his close up to exemplify the backbone he has in standing up to the robbers. – Finally, the Joker gets his close up at the end to introduce his weird character. Close ups on the props – The tools used to crack the vault and other weapons.

Discuss the Cinematography Continued…. An extreme long shot is used in the beginning – Zooming in on a building, one of the clowns uses a special gun in order to break a window. Using a small “zip-line” to cross over from one building to the other, having the camera follow A long shot is used when the bank manager takes his shot gun to scare and shoot the clowns. Kinetic camerawork is used. – Dollies are used when the camera zooms in on one of the clowns holding his mask before getting into the van. Dollies are also used when the clowns are running into the bank trying to get everyone’s attention to them. When the bank manager is using the shot gun to scare the robbers, a dolly is being used. Panning is used when the robbers are coming into the bank.

Discuss the Editing Continuity editing flashing between people but it doesn’t mess up the essence of the scene Cross cuts. – First cut is from the robbers entering the bank from the roof to the robbers entering the lobby – Second cut is when the robbers are cracking the vault, jumping back to the robbers in the lobby This scene isn’t slowed down or sped up at any point The eyeline match scot is used once When the joker is standing by the front doors at gun point and then he starts to talk about the bus driver, then the bus comes through the wall The Shot reverse shot is used occasionally It goes from the bank manager to the robbers frequently Also cuts from one robber to another The editor does not use any transition effect

Discuss the Use of Sound Main sources of sound are robbers voices, gun shots, other weapons/tools for their robbery, and the school bus The sound in the scene is diegetic because the sounds of the guns and voices from the characters are all on screen Sounds from the scene are synchronous. The gun sounds and their voices coordinate with their actions on the screen The music in this scene is a slow beating rhythm so it adds suspense and creates mystery The sound effects are used to engage the audience in the shooting and keep them on the edge of their seats The gun shots are exaggerated making the shots echo throughout the bank, this becomes the dominate theme of the scene The dialogue in the scene separates the Joker from everyone else. Throughout, the robbers have plain and common voices. However, when the audience hears the jokers voice, it is very creepy and mysterious. Hearing this for the first time introduces his character.

Discuss Special Effects No pyrotechnics are used. There are stunt artists when they zip line across the buildings, however, we don’t know if they are legit actors because they are wearing the masks. There wasn’t any chroma key used, it was shot on site. There aren’t any CGI’s or captions here.