The Dark Knight
Working title:
To what extent are on screen Hollywood villains, such as The Dark Knights 'Joker', having an impact on audience members?
Angle:
Can create a sense of moral panics to parents, who's children are growing up watching these types of superhero movies, due to the iconic character like Batman.
Hypothesis:
Film characters, especially the villains are becoming ever more realistic and scary, and audiences have become more accepted to this new change in cinema and attitude to other people.
Linked production piece:
Production piece will be a short 4-5 minute film. The link between this text and the film is that they are both film texts. I want to dedicate a film from the villains point of view as my investigation is to do with a villain. There are beginning to be more villain lead films since Suicide Squad and Deadpool have had their theatrical debut.
MIGRAIN:
Media Language-
Sound; the main form of sound heard within the film is the diegetic and non-diegetic sounds. These include, sounds of punching, police sirens, actors voices. As for non-diegetic sound, there is voice overs, as well as Film score being played over the scenes.
Editing; the editing of the film is non-linear as flashbacks occur for characters. The editing has also featured a montage edit of multiple actions taking place.
Mise-en-scene: The visual style of the film is part of the reason why it is critically acclaimed as one of 'the best' trilogies ever. Everything to the cape&cowl to the batmobile, have been a homage to the comic adaptation with their own turn of modern aesthetics.
Institution- The institution that owns The Dark Knight and the rest of the DC property is Warner Bros. They hired Christopher Nolan to helm the trilogy for the films. The film had a budget of $250 million, and received over $433 million in profit from the release of the film. Although those are impressive, the previous film in the trilogy 'The Dark Knight' gained over $533 million in profit, giving it the upper hand.
Genre- The genre of the film is action/thriller superhero. The film is based off of the comic adaptation from the Batman comics produced by DC. The genre is mainly aimed to target at younger generation as they are the ones more familiar to the characters, however the film suggests otherwise. Since we have now seen the addition of Man of Steel (2013), we have seen the birth of the DCEU which is the cinematic universe of the DC characters. However, the events and the time-line of this film is not associated with the DCEU.
Representation- The representation of male's is heavily subjected in this film. The use of male dominance from both Batman and Bane over female characters follow the representation of Damsel in Distress as well as patriarchal men. In addition, the representation of a woman has been put in the light. Catwoman makes her first appearance in this trilogy where she doesn't play the 'typical' damsel in distress role that comic book films commonly have. Instead it gives an alternative portrayal of a woman to be the hero along side batman.
Audience- The stereotype of superhero movies being aimed at a youth dominated audience is proven to be false with the birth of Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy. The film had shown a new form of superhero films, a dark and gritty tone. All three of Nolan's films have shown the success of the DC characters to take a more dark approach to fans rather than the light hearted tone that Marvel films are known for.
Ideologies- people's perception of this dark tone was relatively positive. This was a unique approach to a child-themed franchise, and delivered something new and fresh to the audience. However, there were some people who dislike the dark gritty tone of the superhero genre and demand a much more light tone that of the Marvel franchise do.
Narrative- The narrative of the film is multi-strand as all the narratives of the characters past all come together to the main plot. In addition, the narrative is also a non-linear narrative as flash-backs occur, disrupting the linear story. The disequilibrium begins when we (the audience) learn the motive and introduction of Bane who will be the protagonists main antagonist.
SHEP:
Social-
Social-
- the story of when Heath Ledger died during the first few days of the release of The Dark Knight had rose some suspicion
- media creating controversy over the man's death had rose suspicion of cinema content
- the gun shooting had taken place when the final instalment of Nolan's batman film- The Dark Knight Rises
- claimed as one of the best comic movie adaptation ever
- the actor who played the Joker had died during the theatrical release of the second instalment
- the director (Christopher Nolan) wanted to do a dark tone for his trilogy
- the film had made $1.085 billion at the box office
- the film had a $250 million budget
- TDK is the most successful DC movie thus far (both financially as well narrative wise)
- Warner Bros believed that dark tone is what will make their superhero products stand out from Marvels
- the film had also shown a different side to American society, with corrupt police officers, creating suspicion over the current police force and the law
- the shooting had, yet again, proved the president right, that there should be a ban in gun laws. And, was one of many events to be listed as one of the reasons for banning guns in America
Issues/Debates:
- Media effects- The controversy that the shootings had didn't negatively affect the media to a large extent as they were the ones reporting the news and delivering any information relevant for viewers.
- Regulation and censorship- after the shootings had taken place, there was nothing put in place to regulate the character portrayal when it would finally be released on to the broadcast platform. This could be the fact that the institution didn't believe that the characters realistic portrayal didn't have any effect on audiences. People who did believe that the character 'Joker' did have some form of impact, would demand censorship when being broadcasted.
- Moral panics- as films progress, they become ever more realistic and tap into the audiences reality. Parents in particular may be worried of the outcome of the superhero genre revealing such characters to their children. As the Joker is seen in the animated series as well as the stand alone Lego Batman movie (2017).
- Ownership and control- institutions like Warner Bro's should have some control when green lighting characters for feature films. Due to the outcome of the event, many institutions like Warner Bro's carefully select the right characters to be placed on the big screen, instead of the original way of the director choosing.
- News values- one reason why I would link news values to this critical investigation is because the news had created parts of the conspiracy around the actor's death, forcing it into many peoples mind to believe that the Joker character was having an impact on his daily lives. Families and friends of the actor may be dis-heartened to see that the news can go to any extent in order to gain viewers interest.
Theories:
- Hypodermic needle model theory- it is the media that had begun stiring up controversy that the character 'Joker' (played by Heath Ledger) was having an impact on the actor's real life. Stating that he had become the Joker and couldn't tell between fantasy and reality, which resulted in his death.
- Audience theories- audience who view this content of such realistic character, are they likely to be influenced by the actions seen on screen, and behave like them?
- Genre theories- should the superhero genre, who have been proclaimed as the king of films (to this day) be allowed to show content like this? Especially, at times where younger audiences are now visiting the cinema more frequently.
- Dyer's lines of appeal- the appeal of dreams and fantasy very much links in with the context, if audiences can tell the difference between the real life and what's not.
- Propp- The representation of the villain. Propp had stated that it is the villain who causes the dis-equilibrium in the hero's life. I want to see, if Propp's theory is limited in any way, as the villain has more than just cause dis-equilibrium, or can they also impact on audiences mind?
Research plan-
Media texts: The Dark Knight
Other texts, Goodfellas, Star Wars (light saber ban), Scarface and Straight Outta Compton, Child's Play, IT (re-make) and Clockwork Orange, Black Mass...more
TV Documentary:
- Information of the batman shootings- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012_Aurora_shooting
- Documenaary- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UeQgz9uDhqY
- Barrie Gunter: The effects of video games on children: the myth unmasked (1998)
- Kirsh Olczak- https://www.geneseo.edu/~kirsh/vita/kirsh%20olczak.pdf (2002)
- Looper staff- http://www.looper.com/13883/joker-haunted-every-actor-played-role/
- Maximillien de Lafayette- Hollywood's Earth Shattering Scandals: The infamous, villains, nymphomaniacs and shady character in motion pictures. 8th Edition. Book/Part 3
- Gina Misiroglu- The Supervillain Book : The Evil Side of Comics and Hollywood
- Thalia R. Goldstein- Do fictional characters on screen have an impact on audience members?
- Karin Beeler- Children's Film in the Digital Age: Essays on Audience, Adaptation and Consumer Culture
- News links:
- http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-18937513
- http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-18981769
- http://www.hindustantimes.com/hollywood/what-killed-heath-ledger-documentary-reveals-chilling-details/story-INYcak19qwQOeYeLuuwyGN.html
- http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-3193027/Documentary-Heath-Ledger-s-father-reveals-journal-actor-kept-prepared-role-Joker-resurfaces.html
- http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-18949783
- Melvyn Stokes- Hollywood Abroad: Audiences and Cultural Exchange
- Timothy McGlinchey- Audience and Empathy. Film as a Uniquely Evocative Medium
- Thalia R. Goldstein- Do Fictional Characters Affect Our Real Life?
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