The Dark KnightThriller Genre

Ben Land & Ryan Gooderham

About the filmRated 12 by the BBFC due to the violence and threat included.

Released in 2008, directed by Christopher Nolan

Produced by the production company Warner Bros

The inspiration for the film was the Joker’s comic book

The budget for the film was $185 million and the box office raised $1.005 billion.

Narrative Conventions

Plot twists & turns – The joker is one of the masked criminals

Multiple lines of action – we see many different elements of the bank robbery taking place

Narrative retardation – we don’t know that the Joker is one of the criminals in the opening, and instead of calling 911, they dialled Batman – “that’s funny, it called a private number”

Mis direction – we think the man in the bank is a hero when he stands up but he’s just a nobody and gets killed (although he says the important line: “you don’t know who you’re stealing from”)

Deadlines – the robbers want to get the job done before the bus comes

Principle of concealment – all of the bank robbers end up killing each other

Reviewer’s OpinionsThe Guardian - - “There are some really exhilarating set-pieces, especially the one that kickstarts the proceedings”

Roger Ebert - - “the special effects are extraordinary. They focus on the expected explosions and catastrophes, and have some superb, elaborate chase scenes.”

Empire - - “It isn’t perfect but then, like its hero, like his late co-star, and as Nolan’s fitting tribute so ably observes, nobody is”

Technical ConventionsCamerawor

k Establishing shotExtreme close up

Effects:- Allows the audience to clearly

see that they have been tricked and shows the Joker has appeared – highlights a key moment

Effects:- Shows us where the action is

taking place- Looks quite dramatic- Helps the audience understand

where they are

Tracking is also used to follow the action and create a sense of pace and danger.

Technical ConventionsEditing

- Continuity editing is used throughout- This makes the audience

believe what they’re watching- There is some fast paced editing

used in the opening when people begin to shoot each other in the bank

Technical ConventionsSound

- Diagetic – most of the sound used in the opening is diagetic sound (e.g. characters talking and gunshots being fired)

- Exaggerated sound – sounds of zip-wire and gunshots are overly exaggerated to create a feeling of danger and to highlight their importance

- Eerie, tense music – the music used in the opening is mostly tense and at times quite fast paced creating a dramatic feeling.

Technical ConventionsMise-en-

scene- Costume – the criminals are wearing stereotypical dark colours, but also wear scary clown masks that hide their identities

- Dark lighting at points (e.g. when the criminals break into the actual bank)

- Props – the important props in the opening are the guns and in particular, the grenade that is put into a characters mouth. This shows the sheer danger and makes the audience worry about what will happen to the characters.

How the opening doesn’t follow conventions

The criminals are wearing white masks decorated with bright colours – usually bad people wear dark colours to symbolise their dark nature

The first character to die isn’t blonde – it’s a man who tries to stand up to the criminals

Our opinionsWe feel that the opening is exciting and fits mostly with the conventions of thriller films.

It could, however, go into a bit more detail to enable us to understand the story more after the bank robbery has started.