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Batman Camera Angles

Decent Essays

Under unfathomable scrutiny, the unreliability and unpredictable nature of the Joker is a theme that is discovered extensively through the use of operational techniques of camera angles, movement and audio. This is explored in more detail especially during the scene where the Joker breaks into Bruce Wayne’s social event. Nolan’s use of tracking shot in the establishing scene, where a shaky camera with a small aperture focuses on the Joker, symbolically represents pure anarchy where a small scale man could do large scale damage. The lighting is artificially lit and transcends from above, painting the audience with a dulled glow; notifying the audience of the prestigious event that was commencing. The assertive but slightly schizophrenic nature …show more content…

The tenacity of Batman as opposed to the hidden side to Bruce Wayne is exposed throughout this scene especially through the influx of power. The use of eye-level shots, when Bruce Wayne is present, allows the viewers to form a connection with trust and hope with him, but ultimately, shows that he is just an individual with fewer means of power. Contrastingly, the Batman has higher angle shots and motion blurred shots show that the Batman has higher authority and power which makes him worthy of saving Gotham. But as the camera is shot higher, it poses a risk by identifying that the Batman is unstable to the audience and is not always in control. The use of action blur and shaky camera angles indicates that as opposed to calm and collected Bruce Wayne, the Batman has a hidden tenacity, a suppressed urge to perhaps doing what’s right and gaining control over events that he may not be able to stop. The quickly sliced transition cuts, fastly paced music, and quick panning indicates that the Batman is quick and steady but unpredictable which can also pose him like an oncoming threat if he chooses to go “bad”. Similarly, the use of dark lighting and matted costume signifies that the Batman is both dark in name and nature. The use of a lower angle near the end of the scene, however, indicates a shift in power and the reveals the Batman’s vulnerability to protect a city he cannot defend. In context, it can also be analysed as the beginning of the fall of the Batman, where his vulnerabilities expose him as what used to be a “white knight” similar to Dent, to the dark unpredictability, similar to the Joker’s, of “the dark knight.” These events metaphorically tie the Joker and the Batman as very similar figures, two people who are doing what they believe as necessary to Gotham. During zoomed in, eye-level shots of the Batman and the Joker, it is

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