Section 2 : Own Analysis 1 : The Dark Knight

Character/Function

The clowns we see at the beginning are all masked, showing they want to hide something, aswell as there identity, as though they are not proud of what they are doing. They have red eyes, suggesting they are dangerous people, however it could symbolise they are passionate for what they do. The clowns outfits are all black, which give a good contrast against the white sky when they are in the tall building. They aim there weapons at anyone they see, showing they are brave, have authority and have power to make them get on the floor, and to prove this they give the hostages grenades to show they are deadly serious. You hear them talking about the joker, one of the main characters, as if he is not too important, however at the end he comes in with the bus and takes out the last of the clowns. Also them being clowns, shows they are stupid and silly. They are all also men, showing they are all fighting to be the dominating male, or that females arent up to the job. The bank worker comes up from behind them and shoots one of the clowns, this is very unexpected and turns the story around, because the bank worker is fighting back. They all seem like they have a conspiracy to kill one another maybe because they are all too greedy and want the money. This also supports the point that there are cracks in their teamwork and breaks in the team.


Camera
The first shot from height, looks like it to be a helicopter and zooms into one particular window and it is smashed, this shows by zooming into one small thing, the clowns only want one thing, and that is money. Also when they go down the zipline and cross the buildings, the camera follows them out and turns down to emphasise the fact of how high they are above the street. This gives a good effect also as it is like you are going with them down the zipline and makes the audience feel included.


Location
The location seems to be a typical American city as symbolised by all the yellow taxis, possibly new york, and the bank has lots of old pillars showing it could be quite a prestigious place. The clowns also move across the rooftops as they dont want to be seen, they access the wiring and shut down the power, or security, so they are able to get to the vault. This is an interesting location as many things are going on. Once they get to the vault the room is very dark and dingy showing it wants to be hidden from people like the clowns. The vault itself looks very professional, showing the bank is wealthy and again could be a very prestigious place.


Music/Sound
As soon as the picture comes in, there is a loud and prelonged boom, suggesting you are straight into the action, a ticking beat then is added which sounds like a bomb ticking or a safe ticking, this foreshadows the events to come. This is also like a build up, building up to an event such as a bomb exploding or a safe being cracked, which does happen when they get through the vault, and the ticking stops. This beat runs all the way through the opening scene, except when the bank employee and the clown have a shootout, tension is created just by hearing the loud gunshots, so the music is not needed. The music stops again at the end when the final sarcastic lines are said and the bus smashes into the last clown, killing him.The end of the ticking could suggest the end of the clowns life or that the time for this heist has run out.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0OYBEquZ_j0