Research: 'The Dark Knight' analysis (holiday homework 2)

The Dark Knight is an action-thriller movie based on the fictional character Batman who sets out to dismantle the remaining criminal organizations that plague the city streets of Gotham. This movie follows the codes and conventions of a thriller well.

At the beginning of the film, we are instantly met with the first convention of a film – the production company’s logo. This is then followed by introducing the audience to the first part of the film straight away; a narrative opening structure is used here.

The story which instantly unfolds in the opening of ‘The Dark Knight’ takes the audience by surprise, as they are met with a violent bank robbery, right after hearing several conversations about an unidentified man named ‘The Joker.’  At the end of the bank robbery scene, the audience meets the villain – The Joker – who is behind the mischievous and smartly planned daylight robbery, which he successfully gets away with. The Joker is wearing a black suit and a mask which connotes that he is a sophisticated and mysterious person. This leaves the audience in suspense about what will happen later on in the movie; as well as leaving them asking “who is The Joker?”

They are then introduced to the other main character – the hero – Batman who also remains anonymous.

The mise-en-scene of the film follows the conventions of a thriller. For example, dark lighting is used in the bank robbery scene. Clowns are usually associated with fear as a fake smile is painted on so we cannot see the truth – this associates with The Joker as he is feared by people and not known.

However, this may seem not follow the conventions as the hero is dressed in black whereas the villain is dressed in coloured clothes and make-up – we would expect this to be the other way around.

The sound used in the film is amplified diegetic sounds of the gun shots and people screaming whilst the bank is being robbed. There is also tense music being played in the background. Quick cuts and various camera angles are used in conjunction with this to help create the tension and fast-paced atmosphere.