film scene essay

An Analysis of Mise-en-scene & Cinematography in the Dark Knight Chapter Six

The Dark Knight (2008 Director: Christopher Nolan) is the story of a masked vigilante known as Batman (played by Christian Bale) and the new threats to Gotham he must face. It is a sequel too Batman Begins (also directed by Christopher Nolan).

Mise-En-Scene

The tone of this scene is very sceptical and mysterious this is shown by the lighting being almost high key with the contrast of the facial expressions and the dark costumes the characters wear. At the beginning of the scene the characters are wearing dark suits and are shown with a shadow over their faces symbolizing how evil they are. When the Joker appears he just strolls in whilst laughing sarcastically whereas the other antagonists walked in quietly and were searched showing a major contrast between them. The Joker is wearing a purple suit which is in very good quality and was brought with the antagonist’s money. The colour of the suit shows that he is different compared to the other characters and is not with them but against them.

The most significant prop in the scene is a pencil which the Joker uses for a “magic trick”. He makes the pencil “disappear” by slamming someone’s head into it which signifies his approach towards violence is very calm. The way he makes a joke of killing someone it is almost second nature. The scene is set in a kitchen of an abandoned or closed restaurant which is shown as a kind of meeting room for the antagonists it shows that they are very secretive in the way of which they plan things which shows they are hiding from the police & are doing it during the day to avoid Batman. There is a TV in the centre of the room and when it gets turned on, Lau (a Chinese accountant) appears on the screen, Lau is seen as an antagonist even though he is wearing brighter clothes and is in a very high-key location. This could be showing him as the antagonists only hope because the police are using marked bills to find their possibly stolen money.

After the Joker appears he sits opposite the TV becoming the opposing centre of attention. The joker starts talking to and shows Lau’s flaws, the TV gets turned off showing how the Joker has made is point and is now the new centre of attention and the new hope in helping the antagonists with an even better proposition. Another prop used is five grenades that are in the Jokers inside coat pockets. Their pins are tied to the Jokers finger by a piece of string, this shows that he doesn’t care about his own life or doesn’t care about taking anyone else’s, he is a smart character and is prepared for any kind of situation and shows he is a criminal mastermind. The Joker is wearing makeup for the entire scene which shows he is different, an outsider, someone who tries to intimidate people or someone who does not fit in with ordinary people.

The facial expression of the other antagonists is always the same either a slight smile or a blunt look full of no emotion but the Joker always seem to have a smile on his face or a look of concentration/thought because he is always thinking of different ideas and plans to persuade the antagonists to pay him. Also the Joker is full of energy but is not getting ahead of himself whereas the other antagonists are either very tense or are moving uncontrollably with frustration without thinking which shows how deviant & mischievous the Joker is when compared to the clumsy and unprepared thugs.

Cinematography

At the beginning of the scene the camera follows one of the lead antagonists as he enters a room. The camera slowly zooms into a TV and slowly pans across the room showing all the antagonists. This show how much of them are being affected and that their are so many of them showing how threatening their presence is. As Lau talks to the antagonists the camera follows the police outside a bank, they use a low angle shot is on a policeman showing how intimidating they are towards criminals and injustice.

As the Joker enters the room a tracking over the shoulder shot is used, this shows how mysterious the Joker is as you only see the back of his head. The over shoulder shot shows the Joker as being a large intimidating character and the antagonists as small and insignificant in comparison. The camera then follows a character as he gets up to stop the Joker, as he gets close the camera tries to follow the mans head as it is pushed down but cannot keep up showing how he is ready for anything, quick & efficient the joker is at handling business.

The camera focuses with a close up shot on the Jokers face then focusing on the two other antagonists, as they talk, the camera shows a medium close up shot of the antagonists showing their facial expressions and surroundings which keep a few of their entourage in the frame reinforcing their threatening image. Whereas when the camera focuses on the joker with a close up shot all you can see in the frame is jokers face, showing how isolated, vulnerable and alone he is compared to the antagonists it also shows that when he is alone he is still the centre of attention.

The camera movement becomes fast paced as one of the antagonists gets angry switching from close up’s to mid shots showing the panic and frustration of the other characters. Once the Joker has shown the grenades the editing refers to its normal pace showing how the Joker is always in control of the situation even if he’s willing to get harmed.