I may look to improve this in the future:
Intro:
The Dark Knight is an action motion picture and the second
film in the Christopher Nolan Trilogy, which was released in 2008. It starred
Christian Bale, as Batman and the late Heath Ledger, as The Joker. The Dark
Knight is considered one of the best Action Adventure movies of all time and
that is why I have chosen to analyse the first scene. I think it will be good
to look at because it gives our group ideas for our Horror/Action Hybrid
regarding the Action aspect.
Genre:
The Action genre convention is stereotypical and tends to
follow a similar structure. They tend to involve a hero(s) who has to overcome
multiple challenges, struggling against all odds, which may are life
threatening for the ‘hero’ in order to defeat a villain; with an ending that
concludes in victory for the ‘hero’. This hero in The Dark Knight is Batman as
he battles to defeat The Joker.
The Adventure genre involves an adventure, well done, in
which the protagonist goes on a journey which often involves them risking their
lives. In The Dark Knight this is Batman because he risks his life for the sake
of others even though he is expected to get out of these situations.
So the Action Adventure Hybrid genre works very well for a
film of this sort as it features a main protagonist trying to defeat evil.
Uses and
Gratifications Theory:
The ‘Uses and Gratifications Theory’ can be applied to this
film and it is fairly obvious because of the genre of Action Adventure, which
primarily focuses on fictional stories. The audience will use this kind of film
for entertainment purposes and also as an escape from their lives.
Film Opening
Analysis:
It starts off with an establishing shot of the Gotham
skyline and draws attention to a glass building which is zoomed in on. As the
building gets closer, the window smashes, meaning a diegetic sound has been
implemented. This causes a change in camera shot, which changes to an over the
shoulder shot of someone wearing a mask, holding a weapon and dressed in black.
This leads the audience to think that something bad is about to happen, which
can be established from the ‘villain’ in all black as well as the weapon as
these are typical of the action genre. So it is very stereotypical so far. The
over the shoulder shot then tilts down as the two ‘villains’ make their way
across the building on a wire, to communicate the height they are at. The shot
then cuts to an aerial shot, to again emphasize the height they are at and to
make it look more dramatic. This is all happening while the non-diegetic music
in the background which is typical of a film in the action genre when something
dramatic is going on.
The camera then changes to a figure in a suit, holding his
mask by his side and a sports bag in the other. This gives the impression that
he’s fairly relaxed and not bothered if his identity gets found out. The
background music that has been added is non-diegetic sound and is fairly quiet at
this moment. It then switches to three guys masked in a car talking about how
the Joker is in charge of what is about to happen. The audience can then figure
out that the Joker is going to make an appearance at some point in what seems
to be an attempted robbery. This becomes clear when they go into a bank and
take hostages. Then switches outside to the guys that were in the first part of
the scene and one of them shoots the other so he can have his share. Indicates
to the audience that they are greedy and driven by money, which is often
associated with people who commit robberies. The rest of the crew kill each
other leaving one who turns out to be the Joker. He drives the bus out of the
bank and the camera shot changes from a close up of the bus which pans out into
a long shot of the Joker amongst school buses.
In this scene there is a single plot because their objective
is the same, to rob the bank, with a parallel plot which involve the guys on
the roof, and The Joker. These come together at the end when the guy in the
safe crosses paths with The Joker, who gets shot for his troubles. Leaving all
the money to The Joker. The plot of this scene is linear because everything
runs in chronological order. This helps to tell a story because if it was full
of flashbacks then it wouldn’t make any sense.
It is difficult to apply Propp’s theory to this scene
because there are no protagonists displayed in the opening scene. However the
Joker can be seen as the antagonist because he’s just robbed a bank. The money
could be considered the princess because that is what The Joker gets as a
reward so pulling off this heist.
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