Film 2: Batman Begins

Media Research, Film 2: Batman Begins
GENERAL STATISTICS
Director:
Christopher Nolan
Film Studio:
Warner Bros.
Syncopy
DC Comics
Box Office Figures:
$205,343,774 or £125,377,774.81
Budget:
$150 Million Estimated
Distributor(s):
Warner Brothers Entertainment
Age Rating:
12A- Contains strong fantasy horror and moderate violence

International Trailer

Batman Begins - International Trailer from Industry Creative on Vimeo.

In terms of the Production team, Warner Bros. Studios is well know to have made some stellar classics in the past, as for Syncopy, their name usually appears alongside a large number of fantasy style films, most of which either hold Christopher Nolan's name:

-Following
-Batman Begins
-The Prestige
-The Dark Knight
-Inception
-The Dark Knight Rises

And Occasionally a Zack Snyder film such as 'Man of Steel', however dreadful it may have been. Because of this I know not to include it in our films accreditation, given that it doesn't suit the genre were looking for. DC Comics of course is synonymous with most DC Superhero Films, including the ever detestable 'Man of Steel' and we would not need nor want this credit on our film credits.

Crediting with my budget theory, Skyfall and the Dark Knight share a similar budget 150-200 million dollars appears to the be norm for films with the Thriller classification. Interestingly the Box office figures for this film are nowhere near the effect of 007: Skyfall, I would think that one possible reason for this, is the gained respect over time that the Bond series has achieved and given that it is the third film of the new series (Starring Daniel Craig) they have been given the time to amass some sense of popularity, whereas Batman Begins is merely starting out what is now a Trilogy.

In terms of the rating we can once again see 12A just like we saw in Skyfall, with a similar warning, moderate violence. The fantasy element comes from the specific title so one of the things that must be in most thrillers is obviously the moderate aspect of violence. I would assume most likely that this was done intentionally to bring in the largest range of audiences and would restrict them the least. Given the popularity of 'Batman' as a character for younger audiences, it would be crucial to allow younger audiences to witness this film. On a side note however, the Christopher Nolan take on Batman is unbelievably gritty at times, for example in 'The Dark Knight' Heath Ledgers character 'The Joker' manages to kill a man rather gruesomely by slamming his head onto a pencil.

Moving on, here is the Analysis of the Opening Sequence.

In terms of the Approach this film has taken to starting out it has started separate from Skyfall’s style of throwing the viewer straight into the action as the story begins with a short flashback in the form of Bruce Wayne, Playing as a child in the garden, this could possibly signify a stronger need for character development in retelling Bruce Wayne’s Tragic story and pushing the limits of how tragic it can be made and conveyed to the audience. I think that this is the first indication of the crime aspect coming through, It may be important to consider the use of a flashback in my piece or a similar method as it could be useful in builder a stronger main character.

Comparing the Flashback and the present time in this film is interesting, the tone changes instantly yet on a deeper scale there is some sense of significance to it. Given that the flashback ends while he is still trapped in the cave, in an area that is dark. It could be a signifier that Bruce Wayne is still trapped in darkness to some degree, this could also be said about how the use of mud in the fight scene shows us a lot of dead plant life, another aspect of his child life that has been sullied. In this sense I would say that contrast is a rather interesting tool and I hope to make good use of it in my piece.

In terms of sound the film keeps the whole thing on a diegetic focus as far as I can tell there may be the occasional beat or clash yet it is kept to a minimum, most likely to build tension in the bat cave for what is potentially the equivalent of a jump scare. The Scare itself could just be the lead up to the adrenaline filled fist fight but once again this may be a part of the Action genre.

The diologue spoken in the piece is interesting aswell, Bruce Wayne seems to be a very serious monotone character, a quality that is shown to differ greatly from his childlike self, something that is shown rather clearly between the flashback and the prison, his choice to lie is also interesting, it tells the audience that he is so dissasociated from his cheery childlike-self that in a way, it potentially sickens him.

In terms of the sets and props in this film it is quite clearly evident that Bruce Wayne is a wealthy individual, even as a child the scene clearly shows that his parent’s estate is one of an enormous size, this is a good example of using props to reinforce the characters elements and I hope to use this similar method to help build the character with items like clothes and demeanour while also incorporating smart background choices

Given what I said in my Skyfall analysis, that foes are usually outmatched by the main character in feats like strength and that the only means of enemy succession in a fight is skill or luck, we can quite clearly see that Bruce Wayne is a much superior force than the thugs of the prison. This in a sense comes from the Action influence of the film, but I think that the interesting portions of the film are the flashback sequences, both here but also later on outside the theatre where his mother and father are shot. I think that the crime aspect of the genre is essentially what caused this given the deeper focus on characters that crime gives as a genre.

In Conclusion I think that this film is actually a strange example to use, while there is certainly an action focus some key aspects of the crime genre poke their way through, most notably of this is the forced feeling I'm getting with the character development, it seems like they're trying to do everything possible to build him into a realistic character, all be it a superhuman millionaire based one.