The Dark Knight For My Film Study Class

[Doctor Jones]

I'm doing a final exam and we have to pick a film and analyze it. We have to pick a scene and describe what's going on in it.

I picked TDK obviously. t: So far it's coming along pretty nicely for me but I feel like I need more ideas. The scene I picked was the prologue bank heist.

Here's what I need to include:


Mis-en-Scene -

Motif -

Music and Color -


I think there's another thing but I can't recall it. But so far, those have been coming along. You can tell me your ideas and I could include them. I would like to get a general thought on it. Thanks.

 

[hatebox]

I did this for a class once.

If you want to go really in depth, which I presume you have to, do a (seemingly) boring scene. Something with not too many shots or action, so can analyze every morsel of it.

Ie. not the bank scene!

 

[Doctor Jones]

I did for a class once.

If you want to go really in depth, which I presume you have to, do a (seemingly) boring scene. Something with not too many shots or action, so can analyze every morsel of it.

Ie. not the bank scene!

Well, I actually do have alot of stuff in mind for the bank scene if you look what I have to do. There are alot of stuff in that scene for the requirements.

And when was there a boring scene in TDK?

 

[hatebox]

The essay I did expected me to talk in depth about every shot, as well as other stuff. Clearly if you did that for the entire bank set piece you'd end up writing a novel. I don't know if your requirements are different, maybe you just have to do a general overview.

If it's an in depth study, I'd go for something like the courtroom scene or the Maroni leg breaking/Schiff interrogation scene.

 

[Rasputin911]

The interrogation scene or the money burning scene would be good

 

[CELTICPRED]

You could probably write a decent page alone about the framing of the Joker in the shot of him on the street corner.


The use of negative space relating to the actors and important objects in the shots as well.

 

[General Vulcun]

I did an essay analyzing the endings of The Dark Knight and The Godfather, and comparing them. I did pretty well on it (got an 'A'), and one of the things my prof congradulated me on for it was how I covered the necessary bases of film analysis.

Mise en scene is very important to highlight, but just make sure you tackle every last bit of cinematic that goes into making a scene function the way it does.

What type of shot/angle/lens is used in this particular scene/take? How does it function in this scene? Why does it successfully work as well as it does?

That's just an example, but I think you get the point. Just don't skip out on any opportunity to communicate different ideas and meanings in your paper. If there's one thing I personally learned from film class, it's that every single shot present in a film is so unbelievably detailed and rich with information.

If you would like somemore help, just send me a PM.

 

[stlblues84]

I always believed that the best scene to analyze was the hospital scene because as the Joker is describing madness and chaos to Harvey, you see his actions playing out in the inter-cutting scenes.

 

[Fenrir]

Well there are a couple of great scenes you can write on:

1. The interrogation
2. Any conversation between Bruce and Alfred
3. Harvey's Press Conference
4. Joker hanging upside-down talking to Batman
5. The final confrontation with Gordon, Harvey and Batman (I think this will be the best one to go with)

Good luck.

 

[Doctor Jones]

Thanks everyone. Very nice input from all of you guys!

I was actually thinking of doing the interoggation scene, the last scene (but maybe some people may not have seen the film)

But the bank scene does pose alot of requirements. I just feel very comfortable with that scene and I analyze it. But I'll think of what you all said!

Thanks again. But more ideas are welcome.

EDIT: Damn, I'm reading over your stuff again, everyone, I'm starting of thinking to do the Dent/Shiff scene. I don't want to do the interoggation scene, I'm trying to avoid something where the Joker is the main focus. But for the bank heist, he's just a presence not revealed until later which plays into the motif with the music forshadowing to his reveal.

Maybe for extra credit I can do two of them.

*Yoda voice*

Passionate I am. Of film and TDK.

 

[Sarge 2.0]

Here's an interesting place to start:

http://blogs.suntimes.com/scanners/2009/01/dark_knight_quiz_1_whats_wrong.html

 

[Borat]

I did this a few years ago. At the time I picked BB. I used Batman's first appearance scene. Pretty much I over explained every little thing that was going on. I even made up hidden meanings within the scene that probably wasn't true. But if you do that you'll get a good mark like I did. t:

 

[Icarus_Warrior]

For Media this year (Year 12), we're doing a compulsory film study on The Dark Knight. I was thoroughly surprised and therefore I've already started my holiday homework by watching the film, lol.

 

[Anita18]

Here's an interesting place to start:

http://blogs.suntimes.com/scanners/2009/01/dark_knight_quiz_1_whats_wrong.html

I find the comments much more interesting to read than the actual blog postings. That guy just sounds like he wants to pick on details that "derail" the film. The Joker lies and he's able to accomplish anything he wants. Just accept it.

General Vulcun, I'd like to read that paper of yours. It sounds really interesting. I've just recently gotten interested in film, but I definitely approach it on a more visceral level that I can't always express on paper.

 

[Sarge 2.0]

I find the comments much more interesting to read than the actual blog postings. That guy just sounds like he wants to pick on details that "derail" the film. The Joker lies and he's able to accomplish anything he wants. Just accept it.

General Vulcun, I'd like to read that paper of yours. It sounds really interesting. I've just recently gotten interested in film, but I definitely approach it on a more visceral level that I can't always express on paper.

Jim is engaging in disciplined film criticism. He's simply pointing out why the film didn't work for him (flaws in cinematic and spatial logic, Nolan's sloppy direction, etc.) but he accepts that it works for others on an impressionistic level. He's not trying to "derail" the film, he's just examining it with the technical scrutiny that seems to offend certain fanboy sensibilities.

 

[Anita18]

Jim is engaging in disciplined film criticism. He's simply pointing out why the film didn't work for him (flaws in cinematic and spacial logic, Nolan's sloppy direction, etc.) but he accepts that it works for others on an impressionistic level. He's not trying to "derail" the film, he's just examining it with the technical scrutiny that seems to offend certain fanboy sensibilities.

Maybe I'm more of a fanboy than I realize if I'm taking offense at his assertions that the real-world implausibilities of TDK's opening bank robbery should be counted as a detriment of the film itself.

I do agree that the action sequences are still spatially convoluted. I had to rewatch the Pruitt building scene like, 10 times before I could figure out exactly what was going on.

 

[Sarge 2.0]

He wasn't talking about the real world implausibilities so much as the cinematic ones. His big problem was Nolan's sketchy stage direction and camerawork.

 

[Sarge 2.0]

Just to be clear, I disagree with Jim. I love TDK but I'm always interested in a contrary opinion.

 

[Anita18]

He wasn't talking about the real world implausibilities so much as the cinematic ones. His big problem was Nolan's sketchy stage direction and camerawork.

Not in that post. He even writes: "Let me start by asking you to examine one simple, minor early example that has to do with narrative logic and, perhaps, setting up the audience's willingness to suspend disbelief in a comic book universe rendered with hyper-realistic visuals (even, occasionally, in IMAX)."

He says it right from the beginning - he's ASKING us to criticize the film's use of implausible situations. Or maybe I'm reading that post all wrong.

And I'm completely befuddled as to what he means by this:

The point I want to make, and it sounds really simple but shouldn't be taken for granted, is that we are inclined to believe what we see in a movie in a movie, and every shot represents innumerable choices about what to include, what to leave out, and what to put where. I think this particular shot is a bit of a cheat, and I felt cheated by it the first time I saw it -- not merely because it suggests so many implausibilities (that's a minor distraction in the moment itself), but because it's an important shot that falls a little flat -- a sustained crane shot that pulls back and doesn't show us what we're meant to "see": the bus exiting the bank.

Doesn't the film show us the bus exiting the bank? Or okay, should the shot have been wide enough to conspicuously show a GOTHAM NATIONAL BANK sign to pound into our heads that "Hey, this is a bank, remember? In case you all forgot that Joker just had a goon crash a bus into a bank they were just robbing and tossed a bunch of duffle bags they filled with cash into the back of said bus. And oh, this is also for all of you folks who came into the movie 5 minutes late!"

 

[ross2287]

The interrogation scene

 

[Doctor Jones]

Yeah, I decided to go with the bank scene still. Believe me guys, I've been thinking of your suggestions for a while now, I think of the things I need for your suggested scenes.

The Alfred Burma scene and the Dent/Shiff scene have been on my mind for a long time now. In study hall tomorrow, I'll draw out some stuff from the scenes you guys asks for and see if it will work.