Final research analysis

Opening of choice: The Batman

How many titles are displayed during the opening sequences to the film? What credits are being shown? Analyze the typography (font style).

The title of the film is showed once, Warner-bros. logo is shown once. The title is capitalized completely in red with a scratchy texture that shows the Batman logo. This follows the theme of the film which creates an impactful first impression and sets the dark tone for the film .

What images are prioritized in the opening sequence? What CONNOTATIONS do the images carry?

1. Gotham’s darkness and isolation

Firstly, the detail that stood out the most was the abundant shadows and dark areas The cityscape of Gotham is dark, rainy, and overwhelming, reflecting its current state of corruption and crime.

2. Contrast between light and dark

Light sources through out the film are less abundant but bright and impactful, often highlighting key elements within the film's overwhelming darkness.

This represents the idea that even glimpses of hope like Batman are completely engulfed in Gotham's inherent decay and corruption.

3. The Riddler's unique actions

The focus on the Riddler’s victim is combined with eerie shots of the Riddler in the shadows. His use of duct tape and unusual murder weapon tools encodes his strange and cryptic approach to his crime. Riddler's hidden identity and enigmatic actions (i.e. Heavy, constant breathing) establishes him as an unpredictable and disturbing criminal mastermind and an mysterious dark force.

4. The connection of fear and crime

Scenes of ordinary, joyful Gotham citizens juxtaposes with the violent crimes committed on streets, reflecting the constant tension and criminal activity looming within the city. These moments highlights Gotham’s deep-rooted social issues and broken government.

5. Batman’s introduction

Batman’s first appearance emphasizes him as the symbol of fear. His entrance is preceded by shots of criminals looking into dark alleys, imagining the potential of his presence, the mere thoughts of Batman strike fear into each criminal. The loud sounds of his footsteps and the rain water splashing as he slowly emerges from the shadows emphasizes on his intimidating and menacing style.

6. Rain (like, a LOT of rain)

Rain is a constant visual motif, adding ambience and texture to the dominant dark atmosphere, create a sense of uniqueness, loneliness, and sadness to the environment, playing into the theme, tone and plot of the movie.

How is GENRE reinforced through SYMBOLIC and TECHNICAL CODES from the outset?

Symbolic Codes:

1. Setting

In this film Gotham is depicted as a corrupt, crime-infested city, set up the dark and thriller theme. The damp, rainy and dimly lit streets create a sense of fear and mystery which is the norm for detective narratives.

2. Costumes

This version of Batman’s suit is much more practical and armored, fitting for his blunt and down-to-earth fighting style. The Riddler’s outfit looks DIY and hand-made which refers to his backstory and current poor living condition in Gotham. The way that his suit was made by hand and is made of simple materials can tell the audience about his ordinary background and symbolizes his looming presence in the public, hiding in plain sight.

3. Iconography

At the start of the film, the extremely glaring Bat-signal was shown to the audience. The extreme brightness of the bat-signal contrast with the inherent darkness used in the movie and can symbolize hope or justice but the sheer brightness can also encode disturbance and danger. This then tie to how Batman strikes fear into criminals through his form of vigilante justice.

The Riddler uses a carpet tucker and duct tape as his primary murder weapons. This can symbolize his ordinary background or his unique views of the world and how to carry out justice his own way which is similar to many serial killers with their unique expression of their ideologies.

Technical codes:

1. Cinematography

High Angles and Overhead Shots: These shots from above shows a wide view of the setting, highlights the vulnerability of the first victim, showed his isolation and prepare the audience for his imminent doom. Low angles are used mainly to frame Batman, making him appear bigger and helps encode his iconic intimidating and menacing style seen in many Batman films. Point of view shots (POV) are used in the opening scene of the Riddler spying on Gotham's mayor through what seemed like binoculars. The audience was put into the perspective of the antagonist and in combination with heavy breathing and contrasting calm music create an extremely disturbing experience. Close-Ups and Extreme Close-Ups are used to direct the audience's focus on important objects like blood stains or the victim’s mutilated face enhances the disturbing and crucial details, conventional of the crime thriller genre.

2. Lighting

The film uses extremely contrasting lighting between scenes, some scene uses extremely bright lights while others are very dark which is conventional of the genre to encode contrast or binary opposition which is fitting for the film based around justice and crime. Rain and reflective surfaces are also used throughout the film. The constant rain and wet streets add a unique aesthetic twist to the lighting as well as encode sadness and sorrow feeling roaming the streets of Gotham city.

3. Sound Design

Diegetic Sounds: The film opens with many disturbing  diegetic sounds such as the Riddler’s heavy breathing, duct tape tearing, muffled cries. Putting the audience in fear and psychological tension.

Non-Diegetic Music: The movie starts with a church choir, which completely contrast the genre of the film which creates unease and disturbance. The Batman main theme revolves around a slow and ominous melody. The melody is then repeated many times throughout the film which really helped to amplify the emotions of many scenes where characters realize or reflect on something. The song "Something in the Way" by the rock band Nirvana is also a very dark and depressing song, it was used in the film to reflects Batman's struggles and fit with the film’s depressing and disturbing themes and settings. Ambient Noises like rainfall, police sirens, and the city sounds immerse the audience into Gotham city's criminal tension and liveliness.

4. Editing

Even though the film doesn't use any unique editing techniques, it was deliberately paced to amplify emotions of different situations The film is edited with slow-paced cuts during key moments, allowing the tension to build and drawing the audience into the investigation as well as give them moments to comprehend each piece of cryptic information laid out by the Riddler.

5. Color and Post-Processing

The desaturated palette of black, gray, and dark red used in the film reinforces the grim tone and the dark theme. The film has a slightly grainy, cinematic texture gives the film a vintage, gothic aesthetic. Setting the stage for the film's complex exploration of fear, justice, and corruption.

How does the film establish ENIGMA from the outset? What narrative theories can you apply?

1. Opening Scene with the Riddler

The film begins with a shot from the Riddler’s perspective as he spies on the mayor through binoculars. The audience is immediately placed in an unsettling and ambiguous perspective, the audience will ask questions like:

- Who does this point of view belong to?

- Who is the man being stalked?

- Why is this person watching the man?

The sequence is followed by a gruesome attack that raises these following questions:

- Why was the man targeted?

- Why is the murderer breathing so heavily?

- Why does the murderer used a carpet tucker as a murder weapon?

- What does the duct tape and cryptic note mean?

2. Batman’s Introduction

Batman as a character symbolizes fear and the unknown. Gotham criminals react nervously to shadows, fearing the infamous "Vengeance" (Batman's original nickname). The audience shares this uncertainty, questioning how Batman will manage Gotham’s constant crimes and chaos in every corner. Using the theory of Levi-Strauss Binary Oppositions, we can deduce that the film is based on the opposition of Order and Chaos. The constant fight between crimes in Gotham and Batman (and police) trying to pursue justice. Light and dark is also a form of literal binary opposition shown throughout the film. Gotham city's darkness contrasting with small, highlight sources. As well as symbolizing the corruption an justice.

• What strategies are used to ensure the film appeals to its TARGET AUDIENCE? Consider what representations are present and how they help to target the audience.

1. Dark and Complex Themes

Different compared to other superhero movies, The Batman leans more into psychological thriller and detective elements. The plot revolves around corruption, fear and justice which prompt the audience to piece together the evidence with the characters in the film for a more engaging, remarkable and entertaining experience.

2. Representation of Gotham City

The city of Gotham is depicted as a decaying, broken metropolis. Infested by crime and corruption. Gotham city represents a systematically corrupted  and mismanaged government, this resonates with the audiences awareness of real-world issue, creating a deep, relatable and convincing narrative.

3. A Relatable and Vulnerable Batman

This film was set in the past to the famous Dark Knight movies. Batman is a younger, more tempered and down-to-earth version and still went by the name "Vengeance", referring to his motive to avenge his parents after they were killed. As stated in the film, he is still suffering from the trauma of said event. This is portrayed through is down-to-earth fighting style, every punch is filled with rage, his emotions and expressions during fights and his rudimentary equipment and experience. This version of Batman appeals to fans of the character that is looking for something fresh or is interested in the character's past.

4. A Complex Villain

The main antagonist of the film - The Riddler is not a typical supervillain but a psychologically disturbed anti-hero with a twisted and violent view on justice. His unique approach to exposing corruption as well as his mysterious and deranged personality appeals to audiences intrigued by anti-heroism, social issues and criminal psychology.

5. Representation of Social Issues

The Batman explores many themes including systematic corruption, wealth inequality, and normalization of crime, reflecting on problems of an urban metropolis.

Cat woman's storyline and past also shine a light on issues like exploitation and marginalization.

How has TECHNOLOGY been used effectively? Consider camerawork, editing, sound design, lighting, mise-en-scene (Media language analysis).

1. Camerawork

High angles and overhead shots - these shots from above shows a wide view of the setting, highlights the vulnerability of the first victim, showed his isolation and prepare the audience for his imminent doom. Low angles are used mainly to frame Batman, making him appear bigger and helps encode his iconic intimidating and menacing style seen in many Batman films. Point of view shots (POV) are used in the opening scene of the Riddler spying on Gotham's mayor through what seemed like binoculars. The audience was put into the perspective of the antagonist and in combination with heavy breathing and contrasting calm music create an extremely disturbing experience. Close-Ups and Extreme Close-Ups are used to direct the audience's focus on important objects like blood stains or the victim’s mutilated face enhances the disturbing and crucial details, conventional of the crime thriller genre.

2. Editing

Even though the film doesn't use any unique editing techniques, it was deliberately paced to amplify emotions of different situations The film is edited with slow-paced cuts during key moments, allowing the tension to build and drawing the audience into the investigation as well as give them moments to comprehend each piece of cryptic information laid out by the Riddler. Parallel editing is also used to show both Batman's action, progress and Riddler's continue his killing spree. Juxtaposes Batman’s actions with Riddler's, increasing tension and emphasizing their rivalry.

3. Sound Design

Diegetic sounds:

Realistic diegetic city noises like sirens, rain, and footsteps immerse the audience in Gotham’s grimy and depressing environment. The heavy stomping sounds of Batman’s footsteps in combination with splashing of rainwater not only immerse the audience like they were that close to the foot of the man but also put more tension on his first appearance, make him more intimidating and menacing.

Non-diegetic sounds:

The movie starts with a church choir, which completely contrast the genre of the film which creates unease and disturbance. The Batman main theme revolves around a slow and ominous melody. The constant loud repetition of the theme is great at maintaining suspense and enhances the film's emotional scenes. The song "Something in the Way" by Nirvana is also a very dark and depressing song, it was featured in the film to reflects Bruce Wayne’s struggles and aligns with the film’s depressing and disturbing themes and settings.

Ambience:

The Riddler’s heavy breathing and the scratchy sound of duct tape evoke unease and disturbance in the audience which is the psychological thriller aspect of this film.

4. Lighting

Low-key lighting:

Shadows dominate the frame, consistent with noir/crime film conventions and emphasizing Gotham’s state and literal darkness.

Obnoxiously bright lights:

Bright advertisements signs and streetlights contrast the inherent darkness, add unique lighting to create a distinct look as well as symbolize hope and justice, fighting the darkness which symbolizes crime.

Other light sources:

Flashlights, headlights, and flickering light bulbs are used within scenes to illuminate specific areas, drawing attention to something or once again, being very bright as an artistic choice and follow the style of the film.

5. Mise-en-scene

Set design:

The city of Gotham - the main setting of the film is represented as an dirty, rainy, unmaintained, crowded gothic city with graffiti-covered exteriors with bright and glaring lights that contrast the overwhelming darkness. Which can encodes its abundant criminal activities and dark history. Bruce Wayne's base of operation - The Batcave is a synergy of gothic/vampire inspired architecture and high-tech equipment, symbolizing Batman’s iconic bat/vampire aesthetic as well as tying back to Gotham's gothic architecture styles.

Costume and props:

Batman’s crude but practical suit represents his early days as a vigilante before he takes on the name of The Batman. The Riddler's DIY suit represents the state of the city's crime control as anyone can commit crimes under simple covers. The use of rudimentary and practical gadgets like the foldable Batarangs and an untested gliding suit shows his inexperience and down-to-earth nature as well as representing his danger and the avenging spirit.

Symbolic details:

The Riddler’s use of duct tape and ciphers establishes his cryptic nature. The Bat-Signal’s haunting glow in the cloudy sky symbolizes this version of Batman's main power - the element of fear.