Batman interrogation scene micro essay

My Microfeatures:

1. Sound - Sound is key throughout this particular scene, in fact throughout many movies themselves. Without it there would be no tension, an aspect which is needed to make the scene that special and intense. Sound helps emphasise a feeling or emotion and this scene has done that brilliantly. Throughout my micro analysis I'll be analysis both non diegetic and diegetic sound to help emphasise the point that music helps us dictate how we are meant to feel throughout he piece.

2. Costume/mise en scene - Without costume Batman wouldn’t be Batman and The Joker wouldn’t be this menacing leader that he is but instead a representation of a playing card (goofy, funny and civil.) It's what defines him as the psychotic maniac that we've grown to love over the course of the film. It to plays a main part within the film.

3. Lighting - Thirdly lighting helps us to see things for what they really are, helps people stand out from the crowd, helps emphasises the good between the bad, which is exactly what it does throughout the film.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xnOLhXmhkyA

Lighting, Costume and sound are key parts of this film, particularly this scene. They can change moods, make us feel something without even coming to a realization as to why. The difference in colour saturation/tone of lighting can make a scene feel dark yet at the same time can make things look peaceful and bright. The change from quiet to loud noise can make an audience feel from relaxed to tense within seconds. Whilst costume can give someone authority or a fear status just by association/look. These aspects of film are what makes The Dark Knight the great film it is. The film in which I will be showing use these skills effectively will be Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight (2008.) The sequence in particular is the interrogation scene where Batman tries to get Joker to tell him the locations of Harvey Dent and Rachel.

The dark knight revolves around the story of a billionaire(Bruce Wayne played by Christian Bale) playboy by day and dark and mysterious Batman by night as he prepares for one of the of the biggest duties ever, stopping the notrious and infamous Joker(Played by Heath Legder.)

I never noticed it before until now but when Batman grabs Joker, you hear the music change to indicate that Batman is in control as the commissioner points out, slowly it switches over to Joker's "buzz" theme which shows Batman slowly losing control and as the buzz gets stronger, so does Joker's power (3:09 - 3:45 on-wards.)

This is made clear when Joker laughs in Batman’s face. We hear the acousmatic sound of the siren/buzz slowly become louder and starts to match the sound of the dialogue when we notice Batman struggling to regain order. Indicated through the high treble of the buzz in the audiovisual. The buzz sound is important because it's a noise which we associate with danger or warning so having it as Jokers background music so to speak adds to the onscreen tension/power change. An empathetic noise. The lack of dialouge from Batman also emphasise the fact that Batman is not the one in control. The silence makes the sound seem like dialogue. It is clear to us what emotions and feelings we are meant to see through the music conveying these images throughout ears and not our eyes.

During the brief encounter with Commissioner Gordon interviewing the Joker, we notice a change of shots ranging from medium to close. At the beginning of the scene, Commissioner Gordon enters the interrogation room were he Joker is waiting. When we first see the characters, we see them from a personal distance, or a medium shot. The longer the camera lingers on them, the close the camera zooms in on their face. By the end of the interview with the Joker, we are completely zoomed in on only the commissioner’s face. Through this close up, we understand what Commissioner Gordan is feeling: we experience his anxiety as we see his next pulsate and his nostrils flare.

4:47 on-wards we hear a loud noise with a low pitch. Signalling that now Batman has what he needs he has quickly been given the powerful status that he is known for having yet with the low frequency background Buzz is could indicate that he is not fully in control of the environment/situation or that Jokers influence has died down. The repitiveness of the buzz is done to keep the unsettling environment. The music needs us to act as if we are in Batman’s situation. That we are confused about what exactly is going on. We feel nervous due to the music.

Firstly I will start by analyzing lighting within the sequence. The scene starts with Commissioner Gordon walking through a door to see Joker. As he walks over towards him the camera changes perspective and we see what Joker looks like from his pov. We notice that the only light surrounding Joker is the light coming from the lamp. This is done to emphasize The Joker's face. There is many reasons as to why. For example, it emphasis Joker's creepiness. It makes his face appear more unsettling and scary for the viewer as it's the only thing in detail and seen within shot. We have our eyes focused on it. The dull colour of his face is suddenly expressed as something bold yet dark and eerie due to the dark background. It adds a similar affect as to what horror movies use when usually most moments are shot in the dark. It makes us feel more afraid of him. The fact how he remains calm (along with his weird features) makes the audience anxious. A similar effect is used in Stephen King's It when Georgey is offered a balloon whilst talking to the clown. The darkness relates to night time, fear, evil etc... So adding this backdrop with the Joker highlighted show that he is these things. The darkness stops us from knowing what is beyond or even there in the first place. We want to know. We want to feel safe. The dark backdrop makes us feel worried due to the fact that we don't know what's behind it. All we know is that the Joker is there. Which worries us more. We feel trapped and that the only person with us is him due to the fact the mid to extreme mid shots make it feel more like we are having a conversation with him. highlighting his odd features. Perhaps making us see him as something as much more menacing and worrying than we once thought. We see more clearly how he feels due to the fact that the features are now somewhat highlighted. Each facial movement is now more recognizable due to the lighting. Secondly it keeps our eyes on the Joker. Showing that he is key to this scene and the background (which is later revealed) is not important. We should not be distracted. Perhaps emphasizing how import his performance, dialogue particularly at this moment is to the film. It also emphasises his how somewhat pathetic look as when the Joker's head is slammed onto the table we begin to notice how chipped and blurry his make-up actually is. This makes the audience sympathize with him because, for the first time, he looks somewhat innocent. In the scene the scene lights up and the Joker’s head is slammed into the table. Here we have our first non-diegetic sound, although it is the quietest in the scene. As his head is slammed into the table, the sound echoes for a few beats, and it is obvious that the characters did not hear the echoing. We then see the Joker wincing in pain, and for the
first time, we see the Joker as a victim. Next is a long shot of Batman with his back to us punching the Joker’s hand as it lies on the table. We cut to Batman’s face as his hand
slams down on the Joker’s. Next, Batman sits down across from the Joker, and now
begins a series of over-the-shoulder shots that last the rest of the scene. There is a close-up on the Joker, and on the left side of the screen we see the blurry outline of Batman’s
head and shoulder. We are first peering over Batman’s right shoulder, and next, we are
peering over his left.

Secondly costume and makeup is a huge part to the performance. Jokers especially. His makeup helps us understand who he is without even knowing his name. The big cheesy yet creepy smile, the white makeup etc... He has been given a look that we associate with childhood nightmares. A scary clown. Similar to Stephen Kings It. Yet The Jokers make up makes us believe he generally looks like this. Now his characters looks originate from the comics where he fell into a chemical pit which ruined his skin and hair. Making him what he looks like today. Usually you'd expect the curly hair, big red lips and white makeup which covers up his features yet Nolan wanted a more serious look to a somewhat gimmicky character. This was done by exposing his features with less powder around his face. To help us show his emotions more clearly. We can see throughout this scene he is frowning and raising his eyebrows, the use of less makeup helps emphasize every major or minor facial movement. In a way making it look disturbing. It makes him look more human. Helps us understand the concentration or anger with each bit of dialogue. More like a threat which is realistic and something that could scare us in real life.

Nolan did a similar real life gritty concept with Batman Begins. Making Scarecrow somewhat more human and slightly less surreal with his suit and potato sack like mask yet added that surreal look to give him a nightmarish like image. Something we could actually be scared of if we were in Batman’s shoes. Now with Batman his gearhas changed over time. Becoming a more dark and mysterious look. Perhaps to reflect his unsual superhero style along with his dark humour and tone. The use of black helps him blend into the dark whilst being the same colour as a bat. Batman’s character originally found bats scary so he decided the best way to scare people is to be his own fear and there by himself overcoming it. The change from the gimmicky, stereotypical colourful gear to a more gloomy look helps us understand who exactly he is. His assemble matches his attitude. Along with his character. Despite his costume screaming deranged villain, it's the opposite.