Blog 3 - Scene Analysis of "The Dark Knight"

For my scene analysis I chose a scene from one of my favorite films "The Dark Knight." The beginning of the scene when the Joker is interrogated by the detective, everything is calm and the dialogue is easy-going. I am only explaining this because the shots match the tone because there are rarely breaks in continuity. There will be a shot of the officer and then it slowly zooms in on his face as he speaks. And then the camera will pan to the Joker and slowly zoom in on his face as he talks. The scene turns chaotic when Batman emerges from the darkness, and the shots follow suit by heavily breaking continuity. The audience is left disoriented as shot after shot the camera cuts from the Joker to Batman and vice versa as they bicker back and forth. Roughly 80% of this scene consists of close up shots of their faces because their dialogue is so important. The focus remains on their different facial expressions, as Batman remains stoic throughout the scene and the Joker laughs and acts dramatically. This scene is less about action and more about how the characters engage and interact with one another and the way the shots are made allows the audience to understand the full extent of the tension between them. Towards the end of the scene when the action picks up again and Batman gets physical with the Joker, the shots once again become even chaotic and pretty much lack continuity entirely. There are a mixture of close up and full body shots used. There are also shots that include both characters, but just their profiles, as the camera pans slowly away from them to represent the shift in mood. The audience understands there is no chance of reconciliation between these two characters by the end of the scene.