The Dark Knight Poster Analysis

I feel that The Dark Knight advertising poster is very effective.

The poster denotes a low angle shot of Batman standing in front of a crumbling building, with a fire the shape of the Bat symbol. Batman's stance would connote that he is powerful as he has his fists clenched. The low angle shot also makes Batman look in control, it also connotes that he is not going to back down in any battles he may encounter.

Also denoted in the background of the poster is a city line. This would connote that some form of evil is causing havoc in the city, as you would not normally expect to see skyscrapers on fire and pieces of debris floating around.

Although there is not much going on in the poster, it still gives the audience an idea of the role Batman will play in the film, and gives a small insight to what might happen in the film.

You can also tell from the poster that the film will be an action film from the stance of Batman, and the skyscraper which is on fire. These features will excite any action film fan, and will make them want to goa nd see the film immediately.

Scream - Opening 2 Minutes Analysis

The first thing we see in the opening scene is a close up shot of a telephone ringing. The character answers the phone and decides that the caller has the wrong number and then puts the phone down. She begins to walk away from the phone, but she hasn't even left the room by the time it rings. She instantly has a very worried look on her face. This allows the audience to share the characters fear and makes them begin to wonder if it is the same person calling.

When she answers the phone she discovers that it is the same caller. He says to her that he wants to talk to her, but she declines and puts the phone down once again.

We then see a mid shot of a tree in the characters garden panning down to a view of the house. The most significant thing in this shot is the squeaky swing in the foreground of the clip slowly swinging, this is one of the first main genre indicators in the opening scene. As it is night out and the trees are not moving, you would assume that it was a still night - but with the swinging swing, it might suggest to the viewer that there is somebody out there. This then creates the enigma of whether the person who keep calling is in her garden.

The caller then rings again, determined to talk to her. They enter into a brief conversation about movies, and are discussing their favourite films. The caller asks what her favourite scary film is, and as she answers with the film "Halloween" she picks up a knife from the knife block, and then places it back in. This is another subtle genre indicator that this is a horror film, and could even indicate that the knife could maybe be used as a weapon later on in the film.

The mise en scene in this film is very successful in reinforcing the films genre. For example, one of the most apparent features of mise en scene present which has been used very effectively is the use of lighting. The general lighting is fairly low, with small lamps being the main sources of light, this conforms to the conventions of a horror film (by using dim lighting), and also makes the film appear much more realistic as no harsh lighting which you would not usually find inside a home is being used. This low level of lighting also helps the viewer to feel sorry for the main character, as it makes her appear vulnerable, especially with the character who keeps ringing her.

I like this opening scene as it really entice the reader to the film - it makes you want to find out who the caller is, and this is one of the main reasons why it is so effective. Another reason the opening scene is effective is the mise-en-scene, for example, the squeaky swing and the picking up of the knife all give the viewer a hint of what is to come - without spoiling the whole plot.

Warm Bodies - Opening 2 Minutes Analysis

The first thing we see in the opening scene of Warm Bodies is an extreme close up of the main character sharing his thoughts with the viewer. Going straight into this shot creates a huge enigma as the viewer begins to wonder why he and a large group of others seem to be living in an abandoned airport. This enigma is soon answered in the main characters narration.

Also in this first clip a lot of humour has been used. For example R, the main character, states that they are all dead. R then begins to insult the other characters by saying they are dead and that they look awful. Using humour this early on in the film allows the viewer connect with the character, which may also help them empathise with him later on in the film.

In R's monologue we hear about what he spends his time doing, for example, he explains that he likes to guess what the other characters jobs where.

The shots being used are generally mid shots with a slow pan and zoom edit. This complements the slow moving background music well and shows that the film isn't going to be a full on action film. From the mise en scene we can see that the film if going to be a zombie film.

The opening 2 minutes provide the viewer with a huge bit of background knowledge about R. I feel that it is a strong opening scene as it explains some of the bits of the film which are not self-explanatory.

Mise en scene is cleverly used in this clip to reinforce the genre of the film. The clothes which are being worn by the characters suggest that they have not changed their clothes since they were humans - which tells the audience that judging by the state of the clothes, was a long time ago. This makes the opening 2 minutes much more effective as it conveys much more information about the film to the viewer than what would be conveyed without a lot of attention being paid on mise en scene.

The editing of the opening 2 minutes leads to R becoming the most prominent character, this leads to a more successful film as it allows the viewer to connect with the character, and possibly side with them in any conflict which might be present throughout the film.

The Dark Knight - Opening Scene Analysis

The opening scene of The Dark Knight goes straight into action and shows a skyscraper window being smashed by two characters wearing clown masks covering their faces. This immediately creates an enigma and captures the audiences full attention, making them want to find out what the need for the masks are, and why they just smashed a skyscraper window.

In the next shot we see a man with his back facing the camera carrying a holdall over his shoulder, and carrying the same clown mask seen earlier. His pose looks very threatening as he stands still in a busy junction, while the camera pans and zooms in on clown mask being carried.

Suddenly, the background music begins to speed up and the character walks up to a vehicle passing him while placing on his mask. Just as the character enters the vehicle we go back the skyscraper shot, and now see the two characters glide across a zip wire, over a busy road, and onto the roof of a building.

Just from these shots so far, it is obvious that the genre for this film would be action. This can be inferred by the many genre indicators already seen. For example, the fast background music, the variation of long and close up shots, and also by the things that the characters are doing, for example, breaking through a window.

The next shot we now move to shows the van which we earlier saw one of the characters enter. Inside of the van the characters are discussing how many shares each person will get. This answers the first enigma, as it indicates to the viewer that the reason they may be wearing the masks is they are about to break into somewhere, this can be inferred from the characters discussing their shares. Another enigma is immediately created as to what they will be breaking in to, and what they will be sharing between each other.

The viewer isn't left in the dark for long however, as we now see the characters from the van entering a bank and threatening the staff and customers, which now makes it obvious that the characters were discussing what share they would each get from money they are about to steal.

We next see two of the characters on the roof of the bank disabling the banks alarm system. One of the men says "That's funny it didn't dial out to 911, it was trying to reach a private number.", the other man asks if that's a problem to which the response is "No". The man who asked if it was a problem then immediately shoots his accomplice, this shows that he cared more about what was in the robbery for him, than the other characters and was even willing to use his accomplice for his skill, and then kill him to make sure that he wouldn't be able to take a cut of the profits.

We can also tell from the opening that the characters are not new to crime, as even when faced with one of the bank's employees with a shot gun, they still retaliate and don't forget why they're there.

Overall I feel that this is a very effective opening scene as it is full of action and enigmas. This helps to keep the viewer interested in the film and not lose interest due to a boring plot. There are also elements of humour in the scene, for example, one of the gunmen says to a teller at the bank "Let's go pal, I'm making a withdrawal here." as he drags him over the counter. Including small jokes like this in the opening scene has helped to make it a very strong scene which completely entices and immerses the viewer into the rest of the film.