The Dark Knight Analysis

In 'The Dark Knight' trailer, jump cuts and non-digetic sounds are used frequently. An example of this is when the scenes mainly focus on the characters Batman and The Joker, the scenes alternate from one to another with jump cuts and adrenaline pumping music is being played in the background. This makes the audience feel tension and excitement from the music which gets them intrigued to watch the film and the jump cuts adds a similar effect by injecting adrenaline into the audience. The music also makes thee movie ironic and thrilling.

Many themes have been expressed in the trailer which varies from thriller to romance. Themes such as romance have been presented between the characters Bruce and Rachael which shows love between them and tells the viewer how much they care for each other. Drama has similarly been added to romance as Rachael also loves Harvey which conveys a love triangle, the audience can easily gather this from simple short scenes within the trailer. Another theme that has been presented is thriller as there are multiple explosions of buildings and vehicles which also presents the film as an action movie, along with the fact that The Joker and Batman are seen using weapons toward each other. These themes make the movie a variety of styles and genres which makes the audience more interested in the film and is not focused on one theme such as romance, the audience feels more intrigued in watching the movie and can observe the realism being conveyed as the trailer uses many non-digetic sounds such as explosions which need to be as realistic as possible which supports the action/thriller theme.

There are many characters within the trailer of 'The Dark Knight' such as Batman and The Joker with different costumes. Examples such as Batman is wearing an armour suit equipped with gadgets and weapons and the main concept of the suit resembles a bat. The Joker on the other hand is seen wearing a suit of different colours and wearing make up on his face to resemble a clown. These different costumes os characters tell the audience about them and their personalities. The Batman is wearing a dark armour and looks intimidating which makes him a dark character, he also has different gadgets and weapons around his waist which conveys the image of him having good fighting skills and knowledge, the audience can perceive this from just the trailer alone
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Director Case Study

Quentin Tarantino

Tarantino is an American film director and was born in 1963. He has directed many popular thriller films such as Pulp Fiction, Kill Bill, Death Proof and Reservoir Dogs. Tarantino is known for his famous collaborations of styles combing into one, such as Sonny Chiba-style Kung Fu and spaghetti western to create Kill Bill. He has been nominated for 7 oscars and won one for 'Best Original Screenplay'.

David Fincher

Another famous thriller director is David who is an American director also. His most famous work includes 'Panic Room' and 'The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo'. He is also for his directing and filming of many music videos Fincher and has achieved a 'Academy Award' for his famous film 'The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button'.

Panic Room

In the beginning of the opening sequence, it shows the Columbia production with an eerie wind sound effect to express the point that the film is a thriller. It also builds up to the actual opening titles showing the film producers and cast. The titles are faded in from a black screen to show New York City from a high angle. The camera moves forward to make the audience feel like they are looking down at the city and can see everything. While this is happening, slow deep strings are being played in the background to  build tension and curiosity for the audience, 'Columbia Pictures' is also shown in the sky in a silver stone font. This can represent security which is the role of a panic room and also it blends with the city. The transitions between each scene is basically a quick cut, each title has its own angle which are written near buildings. When the 'Panic Room' title appears, a deep string is played to express that it is the main title and highlight of the credits. Sounds of the city are also edited into the music to show natural surround which includes car horns and car passes.

Se7en

In this opening sequence, the music being played in background is very eerie as it consists of high choirs and a dark drum beat. This scary music makes the opening sequence very chilling and expresses that the film is a thriller. Many sound effects such as door creaks and tape recordings are used to make the music disturbing for the viewer.

 There are no digetic sounds as all of the music has been edited into the film and no dialogue is present from any characters, there is however vocals added in to the music.

The transitions in the opening sequence are very fast which makes the scene fast paced, this also creates tension and suspense for the audience. 

Fight Club

In this opening sequence, the camera is zooming out from a person and starts right at their genes. The opening is set in a dark and gritty atmosphere with adrenaline pumping music being played in the background. The music is also in sync with the titles as they suddenly appear and then soon fade away in a smoke effect, they are written in a luminous blue which is stands out and shows contrast against the dark background. Towards the end of the opening sequence, the camera completely zooms out from 'within the person' and shows a helpless man sweating in a chair with a gun pointed towards his mouth.

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo

This opening sequence is both disturbing and yet interesting. It shows many clips of objects in the form of black ink, this represents the 'tattoo'. The clips mainly focus on a woman covered in ink or made of ink, she is seen emerging from a sea of ink and also shows many electric plugs resembling snakes covered in ink. Every scene is set in a dark setting and the only contrast from this is fire, matches falling down to the ground and a type of glorious bird that seems to be on fire as it flies upwards. The music that is being played in the background is very insane which matches the scenes. This makes the viewer confused and yet intrigued.

The Power of Editing

The Power of editing

Reverse shot: The camera films the person while also filming the back of another; this makes the scenes more dramatic.

Panning: The camera moves across the scene.

Close up: The camera exposes a person face.

Medium Shot: The camera exposes a person from their waist.

Extreme Close up: The camera exposes an aspect of a persons face for e.g., the eyes.

Zoom in: the camera moves in on the subject.

Match On Action: The camera cuts to a different angle while filming a fluid motion.

ROCKY IV Scene

Followed the character by panning.

Zooms in different scenes,

Scenes are cut very quickly to show adrenaline.

Extreme close ups on muscles show strength.

Compares shots to different people.

Low angle shots and high angle shots.

Mid-shots.

Shots motivate the viewer.

Montages are a series of clips of a certain subject or lifestyle.

Jump Cuts/cutaways

Point A and Point B could take a while to progress such as walking down stairs.

Jump Cuts- several cuts jumping in a movement.

Match On Action shot shows a fluid movement of two different cuts from point A to near point B; this saves time.

Cutaways show the movement from point A, to a different angle showing a different scene, and then back to point B.

These techniques are use to distract the viewer and decrease time.

Goodfellas

Long Take -Tracking the characters through the journey, make the viewer feel like they are with them.

People move around the camera,

Camera pans to show more scenery and characters.

Dolly Trolley- Camera on a wire.

Fast and slow cutting- scenes being cut to several angles in fast motion or slow motion.

Learning Pit stop

I have learnt what montages are and how jump cuts/cutaways can speed up a person’s action. I have also learnt about long takes and how they make the viewer feel like they are there.

I am more confident in understand the definitions of several camera shots.

Thriller Conventions

A thriller is a genre that specialises mainly in tension and suspense, the main aim of the films is to make the audience intrigued and 'thrilled'. This can mean it can scare them which ties into the genre of a horror thriller or it can increase adrenaline in the viewers, in which case it would be called a action thriller. Plot twists and cliffhangers are the main elements used in thrillers which create shock and anxiety for the viewers.


Many famous thriller directors include David Fincher, Steven Spielberg and Alfread Hitchcock. Each with their own speciality and ideas but the same elements and concepts are uses: to stimulate the viewer's mood by heart pounding and adrenaline pumping moments. Thrillers go into even more sub-generes such as mystery thrillers and even psychological thrillers which heavily focuses on characters and overlap into the horror side.


Thriller films can be traced back to early 1920's where Alfred Hitchcock made his first movie, 'The Lodger' which was a silent production of the London Fog. From his first release to his most popular which includes 'Psycho', he is considered to be the godfather of thriller films. From the early 20's to 60's was more focused on the puzzling side of the film, normally in cases of "Who dunnit'. But in the 1970's and 80's, early stages of violence began to be present in films, the earliest thriller film involving violence was 'Frenzy' in 1972 by Hitchcock.


Sub-genres in thrillers incude:

• Conspiracy thrillers: The main character (often perceived as the hero) who confronts their enemies that they recognise. 
• Crime Thriller: This type of genre uses psychological elements and focuses on the criminal rather than the authority figures. This makes the viewer see the criminals side and how he escapes certain situations.
• Erotic Thriller: Erotic thriller is mainly around sex and sexual relationships between characters, this could even be between the hero and villain. 
• Psychological Thriller: This type of genre focuses on the conflict between the characters emotionally rather than physically. 
• Spy Thriller: This genre focuses on the character being a government agent who is attempting to find a criminal  or a rival government of agents.