Pre-Production - The Dark Knight

Typical Conventions Of A Thriller

Flashback/forward - A fade is used to show the two differences in time. It is used in the beginnings of thrillers to show what happens at the end, where questions are raised then during the film these questions are then answered.

Foreshadowing - This is where hints are used throughout the film to tell the audience what may be coming. Music may be used to build up the atmosphere which leads to action in the narrative.

Summary

Batman, Lieutenant James Gordon, and Harvey Dent start to round up the criminals that are in Gotham City until the Joker appears in Gotham, creating much more chaos. Batman's struggle against the Joker becomes deeply personal, forcing him to confront everything he believes and improve his technology to stop him. A love triangle develops between Bruce Wayne, Dent and Rachel Dawes.

Opening Sequence

The film opens showing the creators, Warner Bros. Then music is played which builds up, going louder until a window is smashed. Fast music is then played which leads up to three men breaking into a bank. They talk about a man known as "The Joker". Questions are immediately raised. Who is he? What involvement does he have in the film? Is he bad? One of the robbers standing on the roof is then shot by another robber. More questions are asked. Why did he kill him? Who are they? A man sitting at his desk then reaches for a shotgun and starts to open fire at a robber. He then says "You don't know who you're stealing from!" This makes the audience want to keep watching the film to find out who they are stealing from.

Conventions And Codes Used In The Film

Twist - This is used when The Joker is in the hospital and he walks out and then blows it up. From what The Joker has done previously in the film you would expect him to shoot Harvey Dent, or even slice his face, but he blows up the hospital.



Red herrings/McGuffins - A wrong lead is used when Lieutenant Gordon is believed to be killed, but when The Joker thinks he has killed Batman Gordon comes out and saves him.

Dramatic Irony - This is used in the film when Harvey Dent confesses to be Batman, but the audience know he is not. The audience and Rachel Dawes know that Batman is really Bruce Wayne.

Does it fit into typical thriller conventions?

There are some examples of typical thriller conventions in this film which make it more enjoyable. I think that they are used well to create the atmosphere for the audience. Although there are some hints of the antagonist at the beginning but you are uncertain until The Joker is seen in person wreaking havoc.

Chaz Analysis

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