The Dark Knight - Close Reading

Q1. Visual Element.
Lighting – He (the Joker, played Heath Ledger) has light shining on him making thewhite he was wearing stand out more to the viewers of The Dark Knight, this shows the viewers that he is an importand person. This also might make the viewers concerntrate more on the Joker because of the way he stands out against the darkness of the room. The lighting in the room where the patient is, is quite dark, but the sun comes through the window and shines onto the Joker making him and his face make-up, once again, stand out. This hints to the viewers to concertrate on the Joker.
Q2. Aural Elements.
Sound Effects – There are a number of sound effects in this scene. One of is while the Joker is threatening/scaring the patient/victim, they emphasise the breathing and whispers of the Joker to make him stand out and seem more threatening to the viewers. Another example of the sound effects used in this scene would be when the Joker blows up the hospital and the explosion and sound of falling bricks and other objects are made more powerful and noticable when they hit the ground showing the power of the guns. This helps the viewers have a better understand of the fact that the Joker has blown up a big building and chaos is created in the by what he has done and he walks away, not caring/bothered about it. If the sound effects weren’t used in this scene the explosion of the hospital wouldn’t appear to be a big deal.
Q3. Editing and Production Design.
Setting – Most of this scene is set in a hospital, the viewers can tell this by the cleaness of it and the clothes they are wearing. This scene starts in a storage room/some kind of small room, but the main bit in this scene takes place in a patients room (in the hospital), this is shown by the patient bed and doctors tools, showing the viewers the Joker will do anything to get this patient (e.g. posing as a nurse). After the Joker threatens the patient in the hospital in this scene he walks out into the city as the hospital blows up, the city is full of people and cars, it is a typical American city. The tall buildings and cars everywhere shows the viewers that it was chaotic at the time.
Q4 & 5. Character.
Sound – When the Joker is in the patients room the sound of the scene is quite quiet, this causes the viewers to focus on what the Joker is saying, as the film makers have made his voice stand out on purpose. When the Joker walks out of the hospital and blows it up with the remote the sound of the scene becomes loud. The explosion and the sound of all the people and chaos going on around the Joker makes the viewers pay attention to him because he is the only person in the scene not caring about what has happened and while most people are going towards the explosion he is walking away.

Shot Size, Angle, Movement and Framing – The angles in this scene are very important to show the Joker’s power over the victim/patient. For example, when the patient/victim is lying in the hospital bed at the start the camera angle makes him and the Joker look like they are at the same level. This shows the viewers that the Joker is confident. Later on in the scene (still in the hospital room) the Joker is shot from the patients point of view (him looking up at the Joker). This shows the viewers that the Joker is more powerful than the patient. In the hospital room there isnt much movement, there is movement when the hospital has been blown up, as everyone is running around in the chaos and there are cars everywhere, and the Joker is walking away. But in the hospital room, it is quite still, the only movement is when the Joker moves to get the gun, or moves to the other side of the bed. The framing in this scene is also important, the framing cuts out the rest of the Joker’s body, making the audience concerntrate on the Joker’s face and what he is saying.
Q6, 7 & 8. Atmosphere.
Costume – The Joker is posing as a nurse so that he can get to the patient, so he is wearing a nurse’s dress. This outfit is completely different to the Joker’s character, because nurse’s help people and the Joker is the opposite to a nurse, e.g. not caring about other people. This shows the viewer’s another sign of the Joker’s madness. The patient/victim is just wearing a normal patients gown showing that he is sick. This could show that he is weaker than the Joker, physically as well as emotionally. The Joker’s make-up is very strange/different to what u would usually see in movies. His make-up is kind of like a clown’s face, hense the name ‘The Joker’. Although, not a normal clown u would see at a children’s birthday party. His face is painted white, with black all around his eyes and on his eyelids. His lips are painted big and red, although the lips are not painted in a smile (like a normal party clown), they are painted in a straight thick line. His hair is greesy/oily, adding more effect to the Joker’s crazy character.

Music – The music in this scene starts off tense and building suspense for the viewers. This shows the viewers that something big/terrible is going to happen. The music builds up a lot as the policeman/security guard is shot by the Joker (who is posing as a nurse). It then decreases in volume and the bass (drums) slow down and get softer. The music is now high pitch with a regular soft anf also fast bass. The music stops slowly as the patient/victim realises that he is in trouble and he starts to groan frantically and try to get away. The bass of the music is there throughout most of the scene while in the hospital room; always builind tention.

Editing Pace/Rythm – This scene wasn’t edited very quickly, there were a lot of shots that needed to be quite long so the viewers got the full effect of the character’s facial expressions. Some shots however were cut quite quickly. For example when the policemen/security guard is shot by the Joker. It cuts quickly from the policemen/security guard to the Joker and back again, causing the viewers to really get into the scene, as they need to pay more attention to catch what is happening. This scene also cuts quickly to and from a number of different characters, showing the audience how many people are involved.
Q9. What other element of film language not used in this scene could have been used to create suspense?
I think they could have used more editing. E.g cut the shots more quickly. I think this would create more suspense because the viewers would have to pay more attention to what is going on, so that they don’t miss anything.