Trailer Analysis - The Dark Knight
In the first shot, we are shown a high angle, aerial
shot of The Batman on top of a high skyscraper. This if followed by a bird’s
eye view of The Batman as he jumps off and dives into the city below. Through
mise-en-scene we can analyse the clothing and the lighting in these scenes.
From the first few shots, we can tell he is wearing dark black clothing which
is expected by the audience due to previous Batman films. A low-key lighting is
used, this dark look links well with the title of the film and is a common
colour used in these thriller, crime and action genres. As the Batman dives from
the building and falls further and further, the non-diegetic music volume
increasingly builds up until it suddenly cuts to a huge explosion and a loud
drum sound effect. As the explosion appears and slowly fades, the logos for the
film institutions are also displayed. The colour scheme during this first few
shots of the Batman and the institution shots are all blue and black. These
dark colours connote death, crime, action and mystery - indicating to the
audience that these are the main genres for the film directly from the start.
Near the end of the institution shots, we hear a non-diegetic voice over of
character saying ‘where do we begin’. This adds more mystery to the trailer
because now we don’t know who is saying this and why.
A brief pause later, we also hear the non-diegetic
voice over of the same character saying ‘a year ago these cops and lawyers
wouldn’t dare cross any of you’. From this we could determine he is talking to
criminals or dangerous people and this also indicates that the location
previously used to be filled with crime but has now been mostly eradicated.
During these scenes, we also hear the non-diegetic soundtrack in the background
of quiet orchestra with drums. This helps add more atmosphere of the sequence
of shots. The first shot here we see is a bird’s eye view of a skyscraper and
then a high single shot, while the cameral tilts down, of hundreds of police
officers walking in the streets. From the tall building at the very start of
the trailer and during these shots, the audience can figure out that The Dark
Knight is set in a city with large buildings and streets. As the voice over
says ‘cops and lawyers’, we are shown a medium shot of a cop and a lawyer but
from these we can also conclude that these are important characters in the film
and play a significant role. After the shot of the lawyer and the cop we hear
the voice over say ‘what happened’. We are long shot of the Batmobile as is
demolishes a wall followed by an over the shoulder shot of Bruce Wayne as he looks
at this Batman suit. This shot shows the audience actual character of Batman.
From mise-en-scene we can see that he is wearing a formal suit and his hair is
combed back – suggesting that he is wealthy and an important figure. The sound
at this point suddenly becomes louder and higher until the shot suddenly cuts
to black. This quick cut to black connotes a thriller and action genre because
the build ups create suspense and the sudden cuts create moment where the
audience feels tense. The editing technique dissolve us used here to transition
from black to a behind shot of person who was voicing the voice-over earlier.
In the shot the camera slowly pan from left to right. The character in frame is
in the shadow and is hard to see. This adds mystery to the shot because people
want to know who it is. The very next shot is a close up shot The Joker as he
says the words ‘Kill The Batman’. From the shot of the Joker, the audience can
conclude many different things about him, such as that he’s the main antagonist/villain
in the film by the way he looks. Through mise-en-scene we can tell that he is
wearing a worn out and scruffy looking blazer, he has green hair and the face
paint he’s wearing makes him look crazy and insane.
At the start of this shot we hear a loud,
non-diegetic, drum sound effect as the same time as rows of cop’s break
formation. By the way everyone in the shot is acting, we can see that they all
seem frightened. This is also backed up by the sound of the diegetic screaming.
The screaming is followed by a loud non-diegetic laugh, from The Joker, which
sound creepy and almost haunting. This could relate to the genre, as thrillers
contain moments that make people worried. In the next sequence of shots, the
audience see a long shot and an aerial shot of a huge building exploding. Big
explosions link towards an action and adventure genre, meaning that the film
will also contain these and making it appeal to the target audience.
Throughout these next minute, the audience gets to
find out the heroine or love interest in the film - Rachel. In the shots that
contained the love interest, the colours used are mostly warm colours like
orange - which is typical for a romance film. Having a love interest/heroine in
the film will help the film appeal to a larger target audience because the
romance parts will appeal more to women whereas the action and fighting more
appeals to men. Women stereotypically prefer romance and love because it suits
their stereotypical innocent personality whereas men prefer violence because of
their masculine and aggressive convention. In some of the shots, we see Rachel
hang out more with Harvey Dent. Most audience members could conclude that Bruce
has feeling for Rachel however Rachel is with another man. A medium shot of a
car is suddenly crushed by the Batman as he falls from above and then it cuts
to black. As the Batman crushes the car, we hear the diegetic sound of glass
smashing and we also hear the non-diegetic sound of an echoic rumble. During
this moment, we hear the familiar voice of the Joker, then a medium shot of the
Joker shooting into the sky. We first hear the loud diegetic sound of the gun
shot and in the background, we can hear the ambient sound of people screaming
like they are scared. We then see the Joker walk up to Rachel with a knife and
start walking around her. As he’s walking around her, the music suddenly builds
up and abruptly stops as it cuts to the next shot. This will leave the audience
with questions like ‘is she safe’ and ‘what is going to happen to her’. The use
of these enigmas is effective because it makes the audience go see the film as
they want to know what happens.
The next shot is an aerial shot of the Batman on top
of a tall building and the camera is moving closer towards him. We can hear a
non-diegetic voice over of the Batman saying ‘I’ve seen now what I have to
become to stop men like him’. This implies that the Joker is a hardened
criminal and is very hard to defeat, and may also suggest that something bad
happened to Rachel or someone close to him. For the next few seconds, we are
shown shots of the cops, Harvey Dent, The Joker and several things burning and
exploding. There the director has used fades to black between every shot that
sync with the loud drums beat of the music. The pace of the beat gets
increasingly faster and creates tension as it builds up to a climax. A couple
shot of the Joker is shown with no non-diegetic music playing. This breaks the
tension created by the previous build up then we are brought back to the action
as the music suddenly comes back along with the pace editing used. The fast
paces editing is a strong indicator that there will be lots of action in the
film.
By the end of the trailer, the audience and clearly
determine the protagonist, antagonist, the heroin and other significant
characters within the film. This trailer if very effective in drawing in the
audience with its many action shots and fast pace editing to show that this is
an action adventure film. It gives the audience a clear picture of some of the
main characters in the film however it doesn’t tell us or show us the whole
story. These raises enigmas like ‘what’s going to happen’, ‘will the antagonist
be defeated’, ‘will there be a happy ending’ and much more. Questions like is
what makes a movie trailer become more popular as people want to theorise and
talk about what may happen. This makes them also go and see the film so that
their enigmas can be answered.
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