Scene Analysis: The Dark Knight Rises Film Breakdown

[00:00:01]okay so I picked a scene here that is somewhat similar to a scene that I have in my film and this scene in particular is from The Dark Knight Rises who is directed by Chris Nolan and basically I'm going to break the scene down talk about what I like and how like his approach to the scene and how and at the end I'll give like a little relation on how it could relate to my film I need to see Bruce Wayne I'm sorry Mr Wayne doesn't take on schedule go even from a police officer and if I go get a warrant for the investigation of Harvey D's murder I still count as unscheduled what can I do for you officer commissioner Gordon's been shot he chased the gunman down into the sewers I pulled him out he was babbling about an underground Army a masked man called Bane why shouldn't you be telling your Superior officers about this they asked me if he saw any giant alligators he needs you he needs the Batman Commissioner Gordon think he doesn't know care you are okay first thing I want to talk about let's talk about the positioning of the actors we have Joseph Gord Lev's character Blake sitting down here in this chair and then we have Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne who's me who was standing off to the side over here like out by the window and if we can just go off performance and Body Language right now just Bruce is very dismissive and like leaning obviously because he's got the cane and whatnot and then Jose G 11's character if we go back to him leaning forward very engaged like he's seeking for help in this scenario and also something that we should take notice of as the conversation plays out just look at the production design as well just look at look at all the books and all the masks which is going to be very important for later on in the conversation if you've seen this movie before but yeah Bruce's tone and demeanor when he walks in very dismissive like not trying to engage in this conversation but he will hear him out because of what he said to Alfred in the doorway and yeah so let's continue called Bane why shouldn't you be telling your Superior officers about this they asked me if he saw any giant alligators he needs you he needs the Batman Commissioner Gordon than he doesn't know care you also like I'm sorry that I'm pausing a lot but I also like how as soon as he says Batman the M that's a Quee for the music the music starts to build up right there and as we're going to see but we' met as the music is rising we are starting on this very slow push in of Joseph gor L which is really good so it's all kind of working in various Unison which is very good but I think I like his approach to this because as we'll figure out later in the conversation like the more personal he gets into the conversation then we go tighter which is a natural progression as we're supposed to do with coverage it's supposed to go in tighter when the conversation gets more personal because it builds tension and it doesn't always have to build like aggressive tension or scary tension it could just build like the tension between the two characters like they're engaged in the conversation it was a long time ago I was a kid uh St swin used to be funed by the Wayne Foundation it's an orphanage my mom died when I was small car accident it's very slight but we have the same thing on uh Bruce's coverage as well I don't really remember it but uh my dad got shot a couple years later over a gambling debt and I remember that one just fine not a lot of people know what it feels like do they and Bruce's reaction there is cuz he's talking to someone who can relate to him so that wall that he's built up for the past eight years is getting retracted ra raed right now and we're having this slow push in so we're un as we're uncovering more about Blake we're also getting closer to Bruce as well because it's someone who we can relate to we're getting closer in in your bones I mean they understand the foster parents everybody understands for a while then they want the angry little kid to do something he knows he can't do move on and then we're going to stop camera wise we're going to stop right here and just maintain here because here we could see all his facial expressions they didn't go into a super tight closeup and so we're kind of just staying here it's very symmetrical cuz look at the uh look at the production design as well you have very straight lines very leading lines like from this left side of the screen it's coming over this way to the right so leading lines as in your attention is going to be here same thing with this doorway the door is open and so you have line here line here line here so if you're scaning the screen all your attention is going to be right here especially as well because of the Shadows of the window his very is very dark to his lighter skin tone so you're definitely going to be focused in here on what he's saying which is a good thing to do as a director and a good thing that they implemented this into the scene because you're definitely paying attention as an audence so after a while they stop okay we switched shots here and Bruce is now like I was saying before like lifting down that wall as he's looking out looking out the window standing they send the Angry Kid to a boy Zone I figured it out too late you got to learn to hide the anger practice smiling in a mirror it's like putting on a mask what did he let's go back to that line one more time in a mirror it's like putting on a mask it's like putting on a mask but just for context clues what do we have here all around the set mask mask mask face face mask we just have them lying all around the entire set all around the entire set over here we already counted those though if we go to his side Pro if we go to his profile coverage go to his profile what do we have over here mask like up here as well but we already talked about those so one down here so it's definitely we have some back here more faces stuff like that so what what is good is that what the dialogue is uh talking about is actually in unison with what you're seeing so subconsciously it's manipulating the audience to kind of create this atmosphere of the scene practice smiling in a mirror it's like putting on a mask so you and then that's also a cue because we get even tighter on Bruce there cuz you see we're away here this is kind of like a medium medium like from just a little bit below his chest but he's also kind of hunched over so we go from medium to we end up getting to a we got go from a medium to a medium closeup kind of the Angry Kid to a boy's home I figured one day and cool putting on a mask go to a medium closeup where it's just chest up and as like I was saying before as Blake is talking and he's realizing this is also someone that he can also relate to who's kind of gone through the gone through the same stuff that he has gone through which is the his whole reason for being Batman quote unquote for making sure that no one else has to go through what he went through he's kind of unveiling the mass so we are getting tighter in on his coverage and same thing with this scene all leading lines going this way going this way right here here here all these colors are so if you look at like the house it's all white but all but the most like um prominent colors are going to be his robe which is the brown the brownish gold and this gray is still right here so as you're scanning the room as a viewer it's all going to be leading to watching the emotion on Christian Bell's face in the scene so you showed up this one day a cool car pretty girl on your arm we were so excited Bruce Wayne billionaire orphan I we used to make up stories about you man Legend and then it's very subtle it's very subtle as Blake starts talking about what Batman means to people then Bruce turns around starts to give his attention back to Blake and this is where the start of like Bruce thinking okay yeah maybe I am still needed maybe I do need to get back out there this is what Batman really does mean to people so that's pretty much what I'm gathering from right here as well again leading lines boom boom boom all pointing to the performance and you know with the other kids that's all it was just stories but right when I saw but another thing I wanted to add my fault for pausing so much but another thing I want to add when you change a reason a reason for movement which I like what he did in what Nolan did in the scene Christopher Nolan is that when you change emotions when the T the actors change emotion then you change shots because every scene has to have a beginning middle and end yeah the characters have to Arc in every scene pretty much for the most part so as he's changing what he's thinking and how he's feeling then we change angles we used to make up stories about you man Legends and you know with the other kids that's all it was just stories but right when I saw you I knew who you really were I'd seen that look on your face before it's the same one I taught myself so now the looking at each other and he says it's the same one I taught myself so he's really seeing like a kindred spirit in this scenario being like okay yeah this is someone who can relate to the same things that I have gone through I don't know why you took the fall for then he kind of breaks there he kind of breaks there being like Oh well like he doesn't really know what to think of this like he doesn't really know what to do like he's kind of perplexed dense murder but I'm still a believer in the Batman took the fall for dense murder when he stands up same thing back to the leading lines again the doorway right around his head perfect for framing but I'm still a believer in the Batman even if you're not and then he turns away thinking that he can't do it why did you say that your boy's home used to be funded by the Wayne Foundation because the money stopped might be time to get some fresh air start paying attention to the details and then as he walks out of frame and goes over here got to go back we also do a slide we also do another slow push into him again after he mentions the boy home so we do a slide push in after that but now they're at two completely opposite sides of the room for the proxemics like they're closer so we can go over proxemic like they were definitely closer but still creating that distance between them because he doesn't really know Bruce doesn't really know him doesn't really know how he feels about him but then as Blake keeps unveiling in and as the audience we pushing tighter to him Bruce is also walking away from the doorway and getting closer to him when he turns his body so we're changing body language and getting closer he's starting to like let Blake in and whatever but then as he mentioned that last bit he turns back away and goes back to the window and Blake gets up and goes to the door creating that distance again cuz Bruce still wants to have that wall up to be funded by the Wayne Foundation because the money stopped might be time to get some fresh air start paying attention to the details some of those details might need your help you check that name ban he's so that's pretty much everything that we no however no names him and his men were behind a coup in West Africa that secured mining operations for our friend John dager joh Dag's brought them here so it seems well keep digging yeah Alfred why did the Wayne Foundation stop funding boy homes in the city the foundation is funded by the profets of Wayne Enterprises there have to be some time to talk to Mr Fox I think I'll get him on the phone no no no no no do we still have any cars around the place yes one or two I need an appointment at the hospital for my leg which hospital whichever one Jim Gordon's in boom cold so I was going to stop it a little earlier but that last bit kind of just just shows like I was talking about how the arcs so he came in very cold very dismissive and then when you get to the climax of the scene when Blake starts talking to him about what Batman meant to him like meant to people around the city and other boys and not even just Batman Bruce Wayne as like a billionaire orphan like what an inspiration he was because it made these boys feel like they could definitely go and do that for themselves as well and then we get to the end where he says I need to get my car I need to have an appointment at the hospital for my leg he uh it's not in here but in the scene after this he shaves like he goes and has appointment with the doctor which eventually leads him to getting back on the path of becoming Batman so that whole Arc for this scene is complete very very interesting a lot of stuff going on I love what Chris Nolan did with this scene like and that's just in one four minute scene that's just a one for scene which so much goes into it so it's just really really amazing just to see and I have such a respect for The Craft