The way this scene is filmed is important as camera angling is a vital element when it comes to giving the audience a different perspectives as the purpose of this is to enhance the audiences engagement in other words, it makes them active while they're watching the film. The scene starts with a very wide shot so the audience can see what kind of area that our main protagonists is in which is near the roof of the International Finance Centre. Obviously there won’t be a weather shot for this as Batman only comes out of his cave at night time. But as the wide shot goes on it gets closer where Batman is and its cuts to a more close up of Batman’s back where he is looking down the city. This could mean that while he is looking down, he is looking over the city and protecting the city as well as looking for his target Mr. Lau and planning his attacks.
After that we could see a close up of Batman’s new gadget (some kind of sticky bomb device) as well as setting the time for the bombs to explode. This is used because it tells the audience that something will happen after the 2 minute and 30 seconds. Later when the scene skips to the mobile phone that was planted there before the scene, the camera zooms out till we see the computer monitor gone off tells the audience that the mobile phone is doing something to the equipment therefore the camera focuses the Centre on the mobile phone to let the audience know that the mobile phone is the reason why the equipment are failing.
Next up when Batman starts to glide to the opposite building, we can see his cape being a shape of a bat. This signifies that he has truly became a bat but the cape is also used intimidating the thugs and crooks as well as giving himself the confidence that he could actually fly like a bat. Furthermore if we're judging from his point of view, he will be looking down at the city, again this shows that he is the protector of the city. Then after that we see a over the shoulder shot for Mr. Lau, this is used because the director wants to show the expression of him being anxious and feared of what's coming for him.
In conclusion, I think that the cinematography in The Dark Knight is amazing as it includes many different shots just in one scene but also the director Christopher Nolan has made the camera telling a separate story and gives the audience a different experience.
The first shot of the sequence is a wide shot, but you should also label it as 'an establishing shot' and discuss the role of these shots.
ReplyDeleteYou have identified the shots correctly and have made an attempt to discuss how meaning is generated. However your work is too descriptive and you must spend more time on considering the positioning of the audience.