AY: Technical Analysis

The Dark Knight Rises (Nolan, 2012)

 

 

Technical analysis of The Dark Knight Rises showing shot length, type and the mise-en-scene.

DW: Technical Analysis

Batman: The Dark Knight (Nolan, 2008)

This is my technical analysis for Batman: The Dark Knight. (from 0:54 - 2:38):

Camera and Mise en Scene:

Sound:

The minimalistic non-diegetic sound track throughout the opening allows the diegetic sound to become emphasised; this is noticed in particular through the natural crescendo created by the zip line, emphasised in post-production to build tension and connote that something dramatic is about to happen. The non-diegetic sound that was used however, was minimalistic in a way that didn't deviate attention from the narrative and become over powering, but not so minimalistic that it was not at all noticed. The occasional sharp boosts of non-diegetic anchors the bits of drama in the opening, making the audience jump and informing them that this is a point of significance.

What Have I Learnt? 

In doing this technical analysis, I have taken much inspiration in the appliance of sound especially; but also the vast range of camera shots displayed in the 'Batman: The Dark Knight' opening seem to be integral in creating an effective and entertaining opening. If we can replicate the careful balance between non-diegetic and diegetic sound to convey emotion and anchor the audiences' attention to certain aspects of the opening, then our sound mix will be effective in complying to the crime-thriller genre if we use range of camera techniques displayed in 'Batman: The Dark Knight'. 

AA:Technical Analysis

The Sixth Sense 
The Sixth Sense - Youtube Link

2 notable shots:

Group: Concept Development

What Do We Want?

Having watched a few clips from movies of the genres, Crime Thriller and Psychological Thriller, there are a number of techniques and ideas that we wish to replicate in our piece; ranging from very basic shot types, to title animations; all of the aforementioned are key in emulating a thriller sequence accurately. Furthermore, we noticed that the director David Fincher in particular has created some very notable openings which, collectively, we have taken inspiration from.

For Example...

• Se7en (Fincher, 1995)

• We liked the edgy, quick-snap-moving titles that change every fraction of a second; the image to the right changes to the next design of the title within half a second, if that, of each other - building on the suspense and thriller 'feel' gained throughout the clip.

• Panic Room (Fincher, 2002)

• Making the titles interact or appear part of the surroundings was also an idea we liked; it anchors the urban surroundings we wish to set our piece in, and if combined with the quick snap titles mentioned above, it will allude fully to our crime thriller genre.

• The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo (Fincher, 2011)

• The simplistic close up shot at eye level, with a black colour wash makes this shot very effective; it's dark, mysterious, and gives the audience the impression that there may be more to the shot than is being revealed. Also, this is conventional of a film-noir style thriller which, we have discussed incorporating in our piece.

• Silence of the Lambs (Demme, 1991)

• The combined idea of having a faded shot laid over the top of a close up and the over the shoulder, unaware type shot is very appealing to us, as it allows the audience to know more than the character the audience is positioned with and also conforms to the 'creepy', 'edgy' style we aim to achieve.

Group: Genre Decision

Crime Thriller

• The dark and pycological themes of thriller appeals to the group and sparks ideas of dark streets in urban areas.
• We want to conform to sterotypes of "The narrative often involves a hero or protagonist who is the only person who can solve the puzzle laid out by the serial killer or antagonist. The solution is never or rarely supernatural and adds to the realism that creates the fear." As said in Alex's Genre Conventions post.
• The decision of crime is inspired by the sherlock holmes film and tv drama,and a film noir style would allow for us to practice lighting and camera positioning techniques.

• Film noir: A subgenre of crime fiction consisting of often a lone mildly rouge cop that solves the crimes.
• The key lighting technique used are using large amounts of contrast and spotlights and the classic stripped blinds effect.

AY: Generic Conventions

Horror

Nosferatu (F.W. Murnau, 1922)

 



•  Long casting shadows and silhouettes are used to create suspense
• Eery non-diegetic sound or silence is also used to build up tension
• Isolation of characters within the piece creates a sense of vulnerability
• The iconography of the vampire is stereotypical through costume by the image of him having large fangs, long nails and dressed in old fashioned clothing

Thriller

Inception (Nolan, 2010)

• Set in busy urban and surban areas create a sense of realism
• Lots of action scenes to create a fast pace and to engage the audience
• Involves a protagonist who has a problem to solve
• Conventional lighting of bright when the hero is present however it is more dark and sinister when the antagonist is seen creating the distinction between good and bad
• The soundtrack is upbeat and anchors the action through the use of crescendos

AA: Generic Convetions

Horror

Scream 4 (Wes Craven, 2011)

• Low key lighting is used to create moods and suspense as well as create a sense of isolation.
• Often considered "cheesy" the slasher horror model is adopted a lot with the conventions of a lone serial killer and a group of people being picked off one by one.
• Unlike usual conventions scream 4 is not set in an isolated area. But many parts have dark streets and alleys perfect for the slasher horror genre.
• Hand held camera shots are used to make it harder for the audience to see whats going on and to promote terror and panic.
• Slow paced editing is used to create suspense and sped up to create a frantic situation. 
• Non-diegetic music is used to create similar effects to the editing and diegetic sound of breathing or footsteps create suspense and anticipation. 
• Iconography is highly influential in promoting evil with colors such as red or black and mixed with the use of low key lighting or light emitting props such as touches or flares 

Thriller

The Silence of the Lambs (Jonathan Demme, 1991) 

• Set in busy urban and suburban areas to create realism.
• The narrative often involves a hero or protagonist who is the only person who can solve the puzzle laid out by the serial killer or antagonist. Such is shown by the young agent who is the only one who can stop Lecter.  The solution is never or rarely supernatural and adds to the realism that creates the fear.
• Much like horror low key lighting is used to create moods and suspense.
• Psychopathic protagonists are often and used to get into the minds of the audience.
• Film noir style lighting is used to create the dark and un-know aspects of the genre.
• Large amounts of violence occurs in the genre and blood and body dismemberment, stabbing weapons are used as they are more close and personal. 

DW: Generic Conventions

Horror

Chernobyl Diaries (Parker, 2012) 

• In suspenseful moments, sound - both diegetic and non diegetic - are almost completely cut, this builds on the tension and the suspense within the audience.
• The contrast in light between scenes where all is fine and scenes where it all goes wrong is very noticeable; the shot is filled with natural light when all seems fine, then as night draws in and the light is limited, the horror aspect begins to develop.
• CUs in suspenseful scenes anchor the fear in the shot.
• The initial POV, handicam style of the trailer connotes a holiday, and suggests the characters having fun. 
• Fades are used to cut between scenes to elongate them and build on the suspense - conventional of a horror film.
• Bursts of non diegetic sound when something happens makes the audience 'jump'. 
• Motivated cuts are used to attract the audience in to the story which, in turn, makes it easier for the clip to be scary as the audience are more involved with the clip. 
• The fact that it is all the characters are in a group can lead to lots of different story lines; i.e. one of them going missing/dying.
• Snap zooms from MS to CUs highlight the scariest parts or things the audience need to notice.

Thriller

Batman: The Dark Knight (Nolan, 2008)

• The black/blue colour wash over the entire clip gives it a very cold feel, and somewhat distances the audience from the film.
• The CUs of the antagonist, The Joker, highlight his insanity and convey's all the emotion.
• The long fades to instant snap-back to the clip, anchored by non diegetic bursts of sound make the whole clip sharp and on-edge. 
• The diegetic sound of the characters talking is normally kept to a low, making the other aspects of the dense soundtrack more noticeable.
• The idea of having a narrated voice over a blackout adds to the mystery of the antagonist, and builds tension.
• The crime thriller aspect is highlighted through the use of detectives/police officers - the costumes of each of the characters distinguish what kind of character they are.
• The orchestral, non diegetic soundtrack makes the clip powerful and full of action. 
• ESs/ELSs zooming in to the protagonist position the audience with him. 

Group: Preliminary Task

The Brief

The preliminary filming task must include:

1. Continuity Editing
2. 180' Rule
3. Two Lines of Dialogue
4. Opening of a Door

The Ideas

• After deciding that we all liked the idea of a thriller type genre, we began to develop story ideas.
• These mainly revolved around the idea of a kidnapping of sort.
• Initially we wanted to create a reason for the kidnapping; for example, a document had been stolen or something of value had gone missing.
• However, we decided it would be more effective if, in the clip, what the kidnapper was actually looking for wasn't revealed to the audience - thus adding an element of mystery.
• To convey the typical conventions of a thriller, we discussed low lighting, varying shot types, lots of POV/handicam, but most importantly minimalistic diagetic sound.
• The latter was the base of our first shot, emphasised footsteps shot at a POV angle.

Initial Storyboard

Final Cut 

This is our final cut of the preliminary task, 'Kidnapped'

Evaluation

• For a first attempt, with a generally minimalistic knowledge about editing in particular, we feel that this was rather good.
• We complied to the brief by editing in continuity, applying the 180' rule, using multiple lines of dialogue and opening of doors. 
• We experimented somewhat with Premiere to see what we could work out and therefore apply to our piece. This mainly involved the altering of light levels so that they all matched (especially the ECU of the hand turning on the light switch) and also the fading up and down blur effect at the start of the piece. The fact that we could apply these effects already makes us more confident about editing our final piece.
• Editing with music was also a rather new experience; anchoring cuts to the soundtrack to make motivated cuts was useful in considering how we want to do our title sequence, in that we want to make sure the non-diegetic soundtrack is in unison with the visuals. 
• Overall, we feel that this was a successful exercise and has proved we can turn an idea into a reality which, has boosted our confidence in achieving some of the shot ideas we have at present. 
• However we realise now, having finished the editing, we could have created the same piece but with far less shots; this is noticed especially when the victim is walking through the corridors - too many shots for minimal action. 
• To create a successful title sequence, we now know how important it is to, whilst always applying continuity, use less shots to convey more action so that the audience have less time to think about what is going on, thus vicariously becoming involved with the piece. Also, framing is something to be considered carefully which, hopefully, will be made easier by properly storyboarding our piece. 

DW: Film Openings Research

Se7en (Fincher, 1995)

• The fast cutting rate, snap zooms, and overall 'sketchy' style of the sequence is appealing, and somewhat conventional of a thriller-style film and also connotes multiple lines of action.
• The ECUs and CUs build suspense as they show specific details and the odd-doings of the person holding the pen.
• The film noir, minimalistic theme connotes a limited amount of information is being revealed to the audience at this stage.
• Entirely non-diegetic soundtrack, technological sound; quite a dense sound track towards the end that builds up throughout the clip. 

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo (Fincher, 2011)

• The non-diegetic soundtack of 'Immigrant Song' by Led Zeppelin dominates the clip and anchors the fast cutting rate.
• Jump cuts are combined with tilts shot at a CU throughout the clip to reveal different parts of the image at different times and stops the audience from focussing too much on one element.
• The lack of continuity adds mystery to the clip, as there is no way of seeing how any of this sequence could have any relevance to the film.
• The film noir / black and white style of this clip allows the fire to stand out midway through, and averts the audiences attention away from what is happening in the clip. 
• The snap induction of the text at the start of the clip fits to the music, combined with the sharp looking text suggesting a horror/thriller type film.
• With each snare drum or bass drum in the music, the shot changes, presenting lots of information to the audience, fast. 

The Number 23 (Dougherty, 2007)

• The simplistic style of the clip is affective in building suspense, the typewriter effect especially connotes something official and crime related - followed by the appearing blood stains which suggest a murder or a thriller type situation.
• The minimalistic non-diegetic soundtrack anchors the overall style; the random loud 'glitch' sounds make the audience jump and further connote the thriller genre.
• The pan shots varying in speed and the tilts throughout, replicates how people would glance over a document, picking out the key information and not focussing on the rest.
• Shot at a CU, it focusses the audiences attention on the text.
• Uses the rule of thirds in positioning the important text; means the audience do not get bored of concentrating in one area of the shot.

AA: Film Openings Research

• The idea of a Crime Thriller arose and i like the idea of the genre.         

                                                           Zodiac (Fincher, 2007) 

• The clip has a creepy feel too it with the use of the non diegetic sound of the song Hurdy Gurdy Man by Donovan. 
• Secondly the pen draws upon the newspaper in red creating a ghostly effect due to the lack of both the pen and the hand which would wield it. 
• The constant POV of the newspaper positions the audience with the wielder of the pen. The continuity of the shot also allows for the audience to see it in almost real time. But the stop and start nature of the camera movements again creates a frantic creepy feel. All this instantly connotes the genre of a detective lead crime thriller, of which this movie is. 

All these points are made clear in this trailer. 

                                                        

                 
                                                            Goodfellas (Scorsese, 1990)

• The clip uses low key lighting which gives the dark and gritty effect and highlights the dark and brutal scene laid before the audience.
• The close up of the character emotions is very effective in showing the almost emotionless attitude of the characters. Also it blocks out most of the scene creating the mysterious closed off nature of the activities.
• Finally the non diegetic narration at the very end creates the very character lead genre that we were thinking of, and does it well. 

Panic Room (Fincher, 2002)

• Another great opening from Fincher. His dark and gritty style is very effective and the titles as always are clever.The titles being rotoscoped onto the buildings is very atmospheric and they loom over the city below. The large overcasting shadows put the city in a lower key light than would be perceived to the human eye, this again connotes the darkness of the genre.
• The dark slow non diegetic music connotes the dark nature of what is to come. 
• The long pans of the city set the scene for the audience to give a sense of immersion to the film

AY: Film Openings Research

Orphan (Collet-Serra, 2009)

• The non-diegetic music used in the clip has a very ghostly feel to it.
• The appearing images when the lighting changes gives the idea of the darkness concealing secrets. It also suggests the possibilty of danger hiding in plane sight.
• The medical documents indicate someone with severe physocological issues.

Casino Royale (Campbell, 2006)

•  In the first shot the audience is positioned as the villian being shot by a man. This identifies him as the hero in the film whilst illustrating the genre of the film. This man is also the only 'human' face that is shown throughout indicating his importance in the film.
• The choice of soundtrack for the opening communicates to the audience that this man is well known and possibly one to be feared by villians.
• The card motifs used throughout suggests card and casino games which relates directly to the title of the film.
• The use of guns indicates violence in the film which also connotes to the genre.

Sherlock Holmes (Ritchie, 2009)

• The only dialogue in this clip is of Robert Downey Jr saying "Case re-opened". Instantly this connotes to the audience that it is a detective film about a man trying to solve puzzles.
• The use of freeze frames and the yellowed effect gives the illusion of an old book as Sherlock Holmes is a series of well known books. This also helps to illustrate the time period in which it is set as the writing is in an old looking font.