'The Dark Knight' is a blockbuster, superhero film following the famous comic book characters of Batman (the hero) and the Joker (the villain). The film was directed by Christopher Nolan and had a budget of around $185 million, and was also distributed by Warner Bros Studios. The film falls within the action, crime genre and has a BBFC age rating of 12, despite it's violent tendencies. Due to this, and it's comic book source material, the target audience of the film is typically young men. The review I am using for analysis belongs to Empire magazine and thus advertises the movie to a predominantly British audience.
Images:
This review features three key images from the film. The most prominent of these images covers the upper half of the page. This picture displays Batman riding a high-tech motorcycle, through a dark tunnel. Parts of the picture are blurred, suggesting the image was captured at high speeds. This therefore suggests to the audience that the film is fast paced and exciting and thus locates the film within the action genre. This image also clearly displays the main protagonist of the film in his iconic superhero outfit. The iconic image of Batman is likely to resonate with fans of the comics, therefore intriguing these particular readers.
The second image presents another protagonist of the film; Gordon (played by Gary Oldman). In the image, Gordon is holding a vandalised newspaper article, with clown makeup painted onto one of the pictures. Fans of the comics may be able to decipher from this that this is the trademark of the Joker, and therefore will be intrigued as to how he is integrated into the narrative. Alongside this, the newspaper may be being used as evidence, therefore inferring the crime element of the narrative. Also, fans of Gary Oldman's previous work may be intrigued as to what role within the film may be.
The final image displays two further protagonist of the film; Harvey Dent and Rachel. Due to the proxemics between the two characters, the audience may determine that there is a romantic element within the narrative of the film. This therefore may intrigue people who enjoy the romance genre.
Mis En Scene:
The inclusion of the image of Batman in his full superhero costume, effectively intrigues the audience as Batman is an iconic superhero character. This may also be said for the high-tech motorcycle he is riding. The character of Batman is know for his famous gadgets, therefore the inclusion of this image suggests to the audience that this film will be a truthful adaptation of the Batman character everyone knows and loves. Guns can also be seen of the sides of this vehicle, therefore suggesting that the genre of the film is action and may also contain violence. In comparison, the costuming of the other characters in the two additional pictures appears to be quite formal. This may connote themes of wealth; something that is commonly associated with Bruce Wayne (Batman's alter-ego). Again, this suggests that the film will be a true adaptation of the original Batman comics.
The overall lighting of the three images appears to be largely artificial; therefore suggesting that the majority of the scenes take place at night. This coincides with the title 'The Dark Knight', and the artificial lighting may be a indication towards the traditional superhero narrative of 'light versus dark'. Also, the similar lighting throughout the three images creates a consistent marketing scheme for the page, as the images each conform to a similar colour scheme.
Use of Colour:
The colours used for the images on this page have a distinct warm tone. Therefore, the use of blue for the movie title and the article title at the top left of the page, successfully contrasts the warm tones and makes the text stand out more to the audience. Therefore, this information become clearer to the audience and the name of the film is made apparent to the reader. This is also true of the bold text beginning 'I'd be lying if I said'. The white font of the text stands out successfully against the dark background of the image.
However, the text boxes that display information about other contents within the magazine, are a red/ brown colour. This marries well with the warm tones of the pictures and thus ensures that the page continues to follow a consistent colour scheme.
Orthography and Graphology:
Orthography has been used at the beginning of the review to highlight the initial few words. This is a common convention within film magazine reviews, as it successfully draws the reader's attention to the text. However all of the text remains in a black, clear font. Therefore making it easy for the audience to read and thus process the information. The remaining text on the page is in a clear, white font. This has been used for key information as to make it stand out more to the reader.
Text:
There are two references to the vehicle Batman is riding, in bold, large text across the page. One of which being the white text on top of the image, referring to the vehicle as 'the batpod', and the other in a brown text box referring to it as a 'new toy'. The article below also begins talking about 'action sequences'. This clearly identifies the focus of the review; the action scenes within the film. Not only does this inform the reader of what the article will be about, but it also identifies and informs the audience of what the genre of the film is. This will therefore locate the target audience and interest fans of the action genre.
How Does This Advertise The Film?:
It is clear that both the images and text have successfully identified the genre of the film as action. Not only will this intrigue fans of the genre, but it will also suggest to fans of the original Batman material, that this will be an exciting film adaptation. The page also suggests to these fans that the film will be a truthful adaptation, due to the famous costuming and bat- gadgets and the inclusion of the infamous super villain; the Joker. Therefore, the page successfully entices the already, well established fanbase. Along with this, the consistent colour scheme of the page creates a review that is both eye catching and aesthetically appealing. Therefore intriguing a wider audience.
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