9 shot film Analysis

The dark knightIn this presentation my aim is to produce a nine shot analysis on a similar film to our media assessment. To do this I will need to analyse a thriller opening scene. In this case, the opening sequence is from the dark knight.

The Dark Knight is a British-American superhero film directed, produced by Christopher Nolan. The dark knight was released in the year of 2008 and is based on the DC Comics super hero known as Batman which was originally a comic which was written by Bob Cane. The movie is the sequel to Christopher Nolan’s previous film “ Batman Begins”. The narrative of the film centres around crime between the protagonist; Batman/Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) and the antagonist; The Joker (Heath Ledger). The genre of the film is a crime thriller as it has many generic conventions which connote to the audience that it is of a crime thriller genre.

Establishing shotThe establishing shot in this sequence shows the location of the opening scene. In this case, we can see large buildings which connote to the audience that it is being set in a wealthy environment. The shot shows a city landscape on a sunny day which is used to show that it is a normal day. During this shot, non diegetic music is being played in the background. Non diegetic music means that the music is not being heard by the world of the film. The ambient music is very tense which signifies to the audience that something is about to happen. During the establishing shot a camera technique is used. The technique used is the zoom. The zoom is used to make the audience focus on particular bit in the establishing shot. In this case, it is used to be zoomed into one of the windows. This also builds up tension and suspense.

Over the shoulder shot In this shot we see a high angle, over the shoulder – medium long shot which allows the audience to look down on the characters to focus on to someone who appears to be the villain. This is supported by the props being used by the antagonist. In this case, the props being used are the gun, the mask and in the setting there is a smashed window. The mask is also used to hide the antagonists face. This is a narrative enigma in the genre of a thriller as we do not know who he is and why he has broken the window. The mask is also a generic convention as it is used in many different thrillers to hide the identity of the antagonist. The music is still very tense and is also very much non diegetic. Compared to the first scene, diegetic sound was used when the antagonist broke the window. Diegetic sound is when the sound can be heard by the characters in the world of the film.

Long shot This shot used is a medium long shot which is transferred into a close up of the mask using the editing technique of the zoom. This shot is used to show the body language and clothing of one of the antagonists. The antagonist appears to be fairly out of place as he is wearing very dark clothing and is holding a mask on a bright sunny day. As you can see, his body posture is very normal and still which shows that nothing really is going on. This zoom is mainly used to focus on the mask to show that he is an antagonist. The mask is also used to hide the identity of the character. This is generic convention and also a narrative enigma. The mask is used as a connotation for horror which foreshadows later events in the film. Another narrative enigma in this shot is the prop of the bag. By seeing this shot we do not know what's in the bag which makes the audience wonder why he is holding it. The music is the same. This is very tense and is used to signify to the audience that something is going to happen.

Over the shoulder In this shot an over the shoulder shot is used. The shot shows the audience, three antagonists wearing a clown mask. The masks are used to illustrate that they are the antagonists. The shot is used to signify to the audience that these antagonists are about to do something evil as they are driving to a specific location. This is also illustrated by prop of the gun which is held by the antagonist in the back seat. Dialogue is used in this scene. Dialogue is also another form of diegetic sound. The background music is once again non diegetic. During this scene, the music is gradually increasing in tempo to denote suspense and tension.

Over the shoulder shot This shot shows an over the shoulder shot of the antagonist speaking to a civilian. The shot is used to show the facial expression of the civilian. As we can see she is very scared due to the fact that her workplace is about to get robbed. The shot also shows that the camera is at a slight low angle shot. This is used to show that the civilian is the vulnerable person in the scene. The clothing of the women shows her working class. As we can see she is dressed very smart. This shows the audience that she has a good job and is of high class. The clothing of the women also shows the audience that the antagonists are about to rob a business atmosphere as everyone apart from the antagonists are all in suits. The music is still non diegetic. This builds up tension. Diegetic sound is also used as the civilians in the scene are screaming. This means that the characters can hear this in the world of the film. Masks are still being used to hide the face of the antagonists.

POV shot / Over the shoulder shot

This shot is a medium close up, it shows a clown in the background about to kill the one in front. The shot is blurred at the back (shallow focus) to connote the clown at the front is the main focus in the shot. The music is non diegetic and the dialogue is diegetic. The props used are a gun and this is to show how he betrays his fellow antagonist. During this scene, the music is gradually building up in tempo to add tension and suspense. This forecasts an incident later in the scene.

Close up shotThis close up shot is showing the calm facial expressions on the actors face and the Mise-en-scene which is the suit he is wearing which connotes the high class person which he is. While the shot shows the man to be calm and high class, the non-diagetic music in the background is building up in the background to foresee an action shot which is lead to engage the audience later on.

Over the shoulder shotThe over the shoulder shot shows his fellow antagonist to be under threat from the gun that is being pointed at him. The over the shoulder shot is used to show what the antagonist is pointing at. Also, this shot shows the frame reference in the shot. The diegetic dialogue tells us about the betrayal that he is doing and how the other antagonist is in an dangerous situation. The music in the background is therefore low and allows the audience to still feel that an action shot is to take place as the man under threat is still not shot.

Long shot

The long shot shows the bus crashing into the antagonist by another antagonist. The man with the suitcase full of money is shown to be run over therefor the money is now in jeopardy. The camera angle is looking up at the bus to show that the bus is superior than anything else in the scene.