RESEARCH: TRAILER ANALYSIS 2: BATMAN-THE DARK KNIGHT

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This title is simple but very effective as it has a strong black background and the focus is purely on “The Dark Knight”. The blue suggests that the film isn’t about blood and guts and your typical hero-villain battle but your more mysterious comic book scenario. It also a neutral colour to represent that Batman wants to bring peace to the city and it isn’t in direct contrast with the black but it has a fitting tone. The title also has a double meaning in the word ‘Knight’ as it can be a reference to his strong, masculine character or the fact that we associate bats with the night-time as that is when they appear. The font type is also sans serif to keep it mature which also relates to the other batman films as they all use this idea, therefore it follows the trend. A bat logo also appears behind the titles after a very short time period and this reassures the audience that the dark knight is a direct reference to batman himself. It also appeals to all audience in its simplicity as anyone can read it, understand it, and most people could interpret the double meaning. The theme of the film is also present in the word dark, as the action parts of the film take place at night. The blue also relates to the blue filter used on the camera during the filming process as we see buildings and skylines highlighted blue.


The non-diegetic sounds used in the trailer are heavily edited and re-dubbed with intense effects to bring it to life and inject the true feel of action. Sound effects make the trailer exciting, they also help the audience to piece it together, for example we hear an intensified sound of a blade being drawn from a flick-knife which is very loud, we would normally not hear this at all but as we wouldn’t normally take notice of it, it diverts our attention to it so we know what the Joker is plotting. Other diegetic sounds include the explosion of the lorry as it flips over and Batmans wings as he swoops past. The orchestral music in the background of the trailer is also very powerful as it can control the emotion of the piece. It makes the piece epic as there are crescendos used to build up the tension as it develops. A particularly cinematic part is when the title appears and the music plays behind it, it makes Batman seem powerful and it draws you in.

As the Batman and Joker characters are big in the comic industry, it appeals to this audience by showing the logo of DC comics. This will draw in that fan-base as well as others who are interested in the genre of film. Another way of widening the fan-base is including the actor Heath Ledger as many know this was his last film and he won an Oscar for it, something very uncommon with an action film. This is also a unique selling point and helps the after sales of the film. For example, people today dress up as the Joker for fancy dress occasions so memorabilia is a key part of the batman films.