The Dark Knight
The Dark Knight is a 2008 superhero thriller film directed, produced, and co-written by Christopher Nolan. Featuring the DC Comics character Batman, the film is the second part of Nolan's The Dark Knight Trilogy and a sequel to 2005's Batman Begins, starring an ensemble cast including Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Heath Ledger, Gary Oldman, Aaron Eckhart, Maggie Gyllenhaal and Morgan Freeman.In the film, Bruce Wayne/Batman (Bale), James Gordon (Oldman) and Harvey Dent (Eckhart) form an alliance to dismantle organised crime in Gotham City, but are menaced by a criminal mastermind known as the Joker (Ledger) who seeks to undermine Batman's influence and create chaos.
To open the scene, Christopher Nolan employs an establishing aerial shot which gives the audience an idea of where the movie is going to be set. Since it pans around an area with high skyscrapers, it implies to the audience that it's taking place in a wealthy area. This could suggest, due to the genre of the film, that the bourgeoisie are going to be the victims, or perhaps they are the antagonists themselves. As well as this, Nolan employs certain aspects of mise-en-scene, such as lighting, to tell the audience that the events are taking place during the day. This is different to other thrillers, which are typically set in the dark, as it creates suspense. Non-diegetic sound then takes place which is a very eery tune produced by Hans Zimmer. This music works well with the mise-en-scene as it brings tension and suspense to the bright and happy atmosphere; ultimately suggesting something bad is going to happen. As the camera gets closer towards the tall building, a glass window shatters. This use of sudden and loud diegetic sound shocks the audience as it's unexpected would make them jump, this is something to aim for in thrillers as it intrigues the audience. A behind-the- shoulder shot is then employed to show a masked man's face with a gun in his hand.
Through the use of mise-en-scene, Nolan uses props, such as an ambiguous mask and a weapon, to tell the audience that this is a bad person/villain. Ultimately, this suggests to the audience that something bad is going to happen, this also coheres to the superhero thriller genre. Through editing techniques, Nolan adopts quick cuts between different shots to show that events are happening quickly to do with the masked men, this could perhaps suggest they are on a mission in the wealthy city and creates excitement for the audience. Nolan zooms in slowly from a mid-shot to a close-up of a man holding the familiar villain mask in his hand, he then gets into a car abruptly. Nolan creates increasing tension and suspense within the film opening by using quick cuts, mise-en-scene and sound.
Due to the film being about the never-ending conflict between the Joker and Batman, Nolan uses the clown masks to help the audience distinguish between the good and bad people. This is because the Joker always wears messy makeup on his face. This is also a good technique as a lot of individuals in the audience would be scared of clowns, making the joker seem sadistic enough to try and scare people with his appearance to get a thrill, inevitably, this cohere's to the superhero thriller genre. The dialogue within the next scene works well with the mise-en-scene, as the villains are heard talking about their share of money and who can shoot who. This increases the tension as it sounds like a bank robbery is going to take place, making this a typical convention of the general thriller genre; crime. Nolan adopts a long-shot of the villain's surroundings within a bank. A dolly shot is also employed to move along quickly with the actors, this gives the audience a sense of chaos. Diegetic sound is then employed via gunshots and people screaming. The camera then cuts to close-up shots of the individuals faces in the bank to express their fear to the audience, which suggests to them that something bad is happening. Behind the shoulder shots are used to show how the villains hold up guns to the bank workers faces, this use of camera positioning almost makes the villains look faceless and emotionless, meaning they lack remorse and will do anything to finish their mission. This is a common stereotype of a villain and compliments the genre nicely.
Another technique that was adopted was a hand-held device. Commonly used in thrillers, this use of the camera brings shakiness to the screen, making it look like it's coming from a real person perspective who is present in the room. Because of this, the audience would feel as if they are also there, shaking from the fear of being shot. This is a good technique to build tension as it makes the events seem more realistic for the audience. This is important to create within a thriller as it keeps the scene exciting and thrilling.
Overall, Christopher Nolan employs common techniques used within the thriller genre to ultimately build suspense and intrigue the audience. Some of these techniques include mise-en-scene through props and lighting, camera shots and sound.
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