dark knight film poster analysis

The cover of this film, “The Dark Knight Rises” is a very powerful film cover in terms of the colours used and the way that the main image is conveyed. The fact that there is a dramatic silhouette of a tall figure in the background makes the viewer wonder who this could be as there is no sign of batman; the main character of the film; in the film cover. The figure is dark and we are not able to see their face thus creating a sense of evilness. The fact that we’re not able to see the persons face may lead to viewers thinking that this person is evil or has an evil role in the film. The audience cannot make out the setting from this poster which therefore could leave them wanting to know the setting and perhaps looking further into the film on the internet or watching a trailer.

On the top of the poster, there is a tagline which reads “THE LEGEND ENDS” which conveys a thought in the audience’s mind which is could batman be beaten?  This therefore is a good technique which the poster creator has used as it influences people looking at the cover to go and watch the film as they want to see whether the batman legacy is ending or not. The word “LEGEND” in the phrase; placed on the top of the poster; emphasises the fact that people love batman and that he’s a hero (protagonist). “LEGEND” also can lead to the thought that he will never be forgotten, therefore connoting that his legacy may be coming to an end. Another word which also has this affect that the batman saga could be coming to an end is the word “ENDS”. Both the words “LEGEND ENDS” goes together well in order to imply that this could be the last film and people will be more interested in seeing how the saga ends.

Another image in the poster which confirms this point is batman’s helmet smashed to pieces on the floor. The brokenness of the hero’s helmet could symbolise the destructive power of the villain and confirms the fact that the batman saga is ending. The shattered remains of his helmet backs up this theory and the audience therefore become more interested in the film. The helmet is closer to the viewer and therefore emphasises its importance in terms of the movie. There is light gleaming down on the helmet which could suggest that the hero may overcome the situation but in order for the viewer to find out, they would have to watch the film.

The mood which the film poster sends out is very dark which is because of the lighting. There’s not any colour used at all in the cover. The lack of light connotes evilness to a certain degree as the image shows batman’s helmet with darkness around it. The low key lighting can also be interpreted as batman being beaten and the villain(s) possibly conquering over him.  The poster designer has also chosen to use a technique known as pathetic fallacy which is the idea that the weather reflects the mood of the situation. This mood therefore could represent an ending to the legacy. Due to the way that the film cover is set out, we are able to tell that the genre of the film is a hybrid; action and sci-fi. We are also able to gather enough information to know that mainly boys would watch and be interested in this film rather than girls.

   

The composition of the film poster “The Dark Knight Rises” is quite centred in terms of the images used. The creator of the poster has tried to keep all of the pictures in the center of the poster in order to imply that they are important. The darkness around the images could connote that there is evil all around them and possibly more than just one villain. The universal batman logo is a sign placed on the film poster as it represents batman and everyone knows what it is. It’s a trademark which people have grown fond of. 

LEVI-STRAUSS is the belief or theory that there is binary opposition in the film/movie. In the film poster; "The Dark Knight Rises"; the images shown suggest binary opposition (conflict) between the main character; batman; and the villain: who we do not know. This therefore suggests that the theory of LEVI-STRAUSS is present in the movie and that there may be conflict during the film, between the protagonist and the antagonist. People know that there will be some sort of binary opposition in this film due to the fact that the "Batman" films are big budget Hollywood movies and therefore more or less everyone has heard of it. This in other words means that most people have seen at least one of the "Batman" films in the past or have heard about it and connotes that the audience know what the typical iconography in "Batman" is. The film produces would not change a huge, world wide movie from a hybrid: action thriller film to a comedy.

However, despite the theory that batman may not succeed and beat the villain, there's also the theory named the "Todorov theory" which is the belief that the hero(protagonist) or the situation of the film/movie is always resolved no matter the situation. "Todorov's" theory can be backed up by the fact that despite batman's helmet is broken up, it's got a beam of light over it which could therefore connote that even though he is defeated in the beginning, the situation will be resolved and he will prosper.