The Dark Knight Rises - Textual Analysis

Batman - The Dark Night Rises

i have watched the first five minutes of the film and analysed four key areas, Mise en Scene, Editing, Sound and Camera Movement and Camera Shots

Mise en Scene

at the start of a film you do not expect it to be action packed and interesting straight away but The Dark Knight Rises challenges that idea as straight from the off we are introduced to one of the main characters 'Bane'and his team, straight from the beginning we are located in a moving Jeep travelling at pace through a field, the drivers have 3 people hostage and have assault rifles to their faces watching their every move so they do not try to escape, once the moving Jeep comes to a holt the hostages are taken to a plane waiting for take off, the plane is a private plane and only holds many men with assault rifles, during the flight they reveal one of the hostages and its the man himself 'Bane' who is now having a conversation with his enemy, suddenly Bane's team land on top of the plane in the middle of the air and kill Bane's enemy and his assailant, everything happens so quickly so this instantly makes the audience focus on the action so they don't miss anything vital!

Editing

the first five minutes of the film consist of straight cuts and jump cuts, the straight cuts are used at the beginning to create tension and chaos early on so the audience maintains its interest, the jump cuts are used to make the specific scene more interesting by making everything so packed and full of full time action, if the jump cuts were not included the action taking place on screen wouldn't seem so serious but because it is so constant and intriguing nobody misses a second of it and the jump cuts work as intended.

Sound

the sound used in this clip is very mysterious at the beginning and it keeps the audience on their toes as when the Jeep is approaching at pace the sound track behind the action picks up also, it creates tension and excitement for the audience as we know something is about to happen! the sound being played at this point is non diegetic as the characters cannot here it, just the audience. later on in the five minute spell i analysed diegetic sound is also used as at one point all we can hear is the frightening wind from 30,000 feet up and the voices of Bane and his enemy! this gives the audience a sense of realism as they believe because all they can hear is his voice and the natural sound of the air they are apart of the action.

Camera Movement and Camera Shots

the camera shots and camera movement at the very beginning of the clip are very casual and very calm, there is a close up at the start when we first see the hostages in the Jeep this is so we can feel like we are in the same position as them, there is a low angle shot as we are positioned on the grass of the field when the Jeep drives past, this is to show the audience the pace of the moving car. mid shots are used so the audience feels a sense of realism as we are positioned at the same height as the characters and an establishing shot is used also as the plane is gliding through the air, this is to show us the height and the danger at the position they are in.