Analysing The Action Film "The Dark Knight Rises":

Action Analysis:

(opening two minutes)

(The Dark Knight Rises)

 

The scene starts with a establishing shot of the city as the camera moves in. The city is very modern which may suggest that the film is a new release if the audience do not know the dates of when it came out and it may make them be encouraged to watch it as they don't want to be missing out. The music is very upbeat which may show that it is building up to something, this will make the audience think that something is going to happen that they don't expect or will make them jump so they will be more aware and on the edge of their chairs. The camera begins to take a close up of the building that it has been focusing on this may show that something is inside there. There is an explosion through the window and the window smashes, it then goes into a shot reverse shot by showing the inside of the building and who has done it. You get a close up of a man who has a clown mask on suggesting he is the character who is trying to hide his identity and can't be found out. The shot then goes to an over the shoulder shot from another man who is also wearing a clown mask but you only see the top of his head, this would make the audience wonder why they are both trying to hide themselves and why they are shooting out the window at the city.

 

The scene then goes down into the city and you get a long shot of a mans back and he is also holding a clown mask. He is slouched over and is waiting to cross the road, he is wearing dark, dull colours making him seem miserable and not enjoying life. In one hand he has his mask and on his shoulder he has a big bag which looks very full up, this suggests there is a gang of these men who are planning to do something which these masks or are on a mission to kill someone. The camera slowly moves going into a close shot of the mask giving the effect that this is going to be the main story of the film. The fans of the Batman films will already know that the joker is one of the main actors and is always doing something to make trouble, this may suggest that he has lots of people working for him and the audience will want to know what is going to happen which will make them drawn in. The sound becomes very intense which will bring tension to the scene and again will show that something is going to happen that is going to make the audience jump.

 

An unknown car pulls up on the corner of the road, the screeching of the wheels suggests that the car was driving very fast as if he was in a rush or is late for something. The man sees the car and straight away holds his mask to his face as if it he should have been wearing it to start with. As the man gets into the car the scene goes back to the men in the building, they are setting something  up on the ceiling and they are attaching their bags to it, they then attach themselves to it and push off from the window. You get a birds eye view of the town and them sliding down on a zip wire, the music again is very upbeat bringing more tension to the scene as the men are so high up and are over the road so if they fell they would die. They land on a roof at high speed the audience would know this because they stumble as they hit the roof, it then goes to the men in the car who all have their masks on. The one in the back is holding a gun up in the air showing that they are planning to kill someone. He loads up his gun whilst they talk but because they have the masks on you can't see them talking but the audience know who is because of the hand moments.

 

It goes to the men on the roof again and they are breaking into an electrical cupboard, one of them asks 'so why do they call him the joker?' this suggests that the people who are doing this aren't working for the joker they just want to be like him and put peoples lives at risk, steal and cause trouble. The jokers run into a bank and begin to shoot up in the hair, this causes disruption to the people in the building. One of the men grabs the security guard whilst the others go to rob the bank, you get a long shot of the whole of the down stairs and there is one man who doesn't look very scared he just looks concerned but it seems like this has happened to him before and it looks like he knows what to do. They are treating the people in the building like animals and you get a close up of a women who seems to be very scared and looks like she is going to cry. It then goes back to the top of the roof where the men are trying to disconnect the alarm and to make it go silent. One of the men on top of the roof doesn't do anything and waits for the other man to do it, when he finishes he says it was funny how instead of trying to call 911 it calls a private number. This suggests that someone else is in charge of the building and is obviously willing to fight. After the man says it the man behind him, who is meant to be working for him shots him in the back and kills him. This suggests that he was only being nice to him so that he could get away with the crime he was going to commit but now he doesn't need him.

 

The music becomes very upbeat again as the man begins to run down into the building again causing tension and making it more exciting. You then get a long shot of the man sitting in his office looking through the glass to see what is happening, he takes his glasses off which suggests he is getting ready to do something and if he wears them he is going to break them. In the background you hear non-diegetic sound of the people screaming and shouting, this gives the effect of how scared the people in the building actually are and it would make the audience think that if they were there what would they do.