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Textual Analysis for AS blogs

Title: Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice

Year: 2016

Director: Zack Snyder

Introduction:I have chosen to analyse this film opening because I am quite intrigued by the DC Cinematic Universe because they bring a lot of excitement and thriller in their films. The first ten minutes a lot of key scenes are happening which can creates an effect on us as the audience because we feel sympathy for what happens to the boy’s (Bruce) parents who get shot in the first 5 minutes and we also feel sad in the last five minutes when a lot of people are dying from buildings collapsing because of aliens destroying it.

Narrative context: The film is About Bruce Wayne, Who happens to be a vigilante called Batman that is taking on the man of steel in a fight because he blames him for the destruction of Metropolis during an alien invasion. Also because of what happened in Metropolis Bruce fears that the man of steel is a threat to humanity because of his God like abilities which then make Bruce want to kill the man of steel, even if he is not an enemy to humanity.

Enigma codes:

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-Why did his parents get murdered?-who killed his parents?-How did the destruction of Metropolis happen?-What will the destruction lead to?

How are the characters established and represented?

The characters in the first part of the scene is a family but first we see a long shot of people holding two caskets which indicates that a terrible tragedy has just happened as we also see a little boy running away because he can’t bare the loss of his parents death. Then the scene cuts to a bird’s eye view shot which shows the boy and his parents walking down a dark and creepy road. The camera shots mostly focus on the boy as there are close up shots of him to indicate that how happy he was with his family and it tells us that this child is the main protagonist of the film because the opening spends most amount of time with him. Then the next scene we see is still the same character but all grown up now but this time he is fearless as he is not scared of the alien attack that is happening because he is driving towards the danger and he is trying to save people. This makes him a typical thriller character in this opening scene because he has suffered from a tragedy when he was a kid and now that he is all grown up he is helping one of his employees to get out from a rubble that is stuck on his legs.

Locations:

The first location used in the opening sequence is a funeral which is typical of thriller because it showcases death. The next shot we see is the location of a dark alleyway which implies that the city is not safe as each camera shot is used effectively as if

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someone is watching over the family. The second location used is completely different to the first location as it is in a big city which is surrounded by a spaceship and god like beings fighting, this is typical of thriller because shows danger happening. These two locations plays a significant role for our main character as it has an emotional impact on him because whether it’s in an alleyway or a big city, he is witnessing death all around him where ever he goes.

Camera and editing techniques:The opening shot of the film is a long shot of the graveyard with people holding two caskets which highlights that the film is going to have a lot of death in it. Then some quick edits are used to show a boy running from his parent’s funeral which makes us feel sympathy for him because he has suffered a loss. Then slow paced editing is used in the next scene which shows how his parents died. This is in slow paced because it shows every detail and action in how his parents get murdered and that it makes us feel helpless for the boy because the boy is witnessing his parents getting murdered in front of him. The next scene is completely different to the opening of the film because it shows the destruction of metropolis and how it is affecting people’s lives. Fast paced editing is used in this situation because it displays all the tricky situations that people are in and it is typical of thriller because it’s showing action and death taking place.

Use of sound:The use of sound is very important in the opening of this film because we hear a piano being played slowly which emphasises that tension is being build up. This is non diegetic music being played which creates an effect on us as the audience because we think that something bad might happen to the family. Then the use of diegetic sound is used when we hear a gun being shot at the parents. This creates an effect on the audience because it makes us feel frightened of the bullet of how powerful it is when it’s shot from a gun and it makes us feel sympathy for the parents because they got shot from close range which made us hear the bullet being shot even louder. Then the next scene of the opening is the destruction of metropolis which has a lot of diegetic and non-diegetic sound being played. Diegetic sound is used when we hear all the building collapsing and we also hear people screaming from the destruction. This has an effect on the audience because it makes us hear all the terror that is happening to the people and it makes us feel sad because buildings are getting destroyed by God like beings. Non diegetic sound is used when Bruce is driving his car threw a dangerous road which he is trying to get to his work place. The sound that is used here makes the audience feel excited and pumped up because Bruce is driving towards the chaos and he can get hurt while driving there.

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Titles:

The titles that are used in the font are simple and thin, the colours that are used are white and it is positioned to the bottom right. This is not typical of a thriller tittle because of the font; it doesn’t have that much detail to it like other thriller films.

Intended target audience:Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice is most likely to target teenagers, adults and DC comic book fans as its target audience because most thriller films have mature themes and its audience’s age is ranging from 15-32 year olds. Also most people from that target audience would want to watch these kind of films because these films have a lot of action scenes in it and it has a significant story behind it which keeps the audience entertained.