1. Aman Ali
Textual Analysis for AS blogs
Title: Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice
Year: 2016
Director: Zack Snyder
Introduction:
I have chosen to analyse this film opening because I am quite intrigued by the DC
Cinematic Universe because they bring a lot of excitement and thriller in their films.
The first ten minutes a lot of key scenes are happening which can creates an effect on
us as the audience because we feel sympathy for what happens to the boy’s (Bruce)
parents who get shot in the first 5 minutes and we also feel sad in the last five minutes
when a lot of people are dying from buildings collapsing because of aliens destroying
it.
Narrative context:
The film is About Bruce Wayne, Who happens to be a vigilante called Batman that is
taking on the man of steel in a fight because he blames him for the destruction of
Metropolis during an alien invasion. Also because of what happened in Metropolis
Bruce fears that the man of steel is a threat to humanity because of his God like
abilities which then make Bruce want to kill the man of steel, even if he is not an
enemy to humanity.
Enigma codes:
2. Aman Ali
-Why did his parents get murdered?
-who killed his parents?
-How did the destruction of Metropolis happen?
-What will the destruction lead to?
How are the characters established and represented?
The characters in the first part of the scene is a family but first we see a long shot of
people holding two caskets which indicates that a terrible tragedy has just happened
as we also see a little boy running away because he can’t bare the loss of his parents
death. Then the scene cuts to a bird’s eye view shot which shows the boy and his
parents walking down a dark and creepy road. The camera shots mostly focus on the
boy as there are close up shots of him to indicate that how happy he was with his
family and it tells us that this child is the main protagonist of the film because the
opening spends most amount of time with him. Then the next scene we see is still the
same character but all grown up now but this time he is fearless as he is not scared of
the alien attack that is happening because he is driving towards the danger and he is
trying to save people. This makes him a typical thriller character in this opening scene
because he has suffered from a tragedy when he was a kid and now that he is all
grown up he is helping one of his employees to get out from a rubble that is stuck on
his legs.
Locations:
The first location used in the opening sequence is a funeral which is typical of thriller
because it showcases death. The next shot we see is the location of a dark alleyway
which implies that the city is not safe as each camera shot is used effectively as if
3. Aman Ali
someone is watching over the family. The second location used is completely
different to the first location as it is in a big city which is surrounded by a spaceship
and god like beings fighting, this is typical of thriller because shows danger
happening. These two locations plays a significant role for our main character as it
has an emotional impact on him because whether it’s in an alleyway or a big city, he
is witnessing death all around him where ever he goes.
Camera and editing techniques:
The opening shot of the film is a long shot of the graveyard with people holding two
caskets which highlights that the film is going to have a lot of death in it. Then some
quick edits are used to show a boy running from his parent’s funeral which makes us
feel sympathy for him because he has suffered a loss. Then slow paced editing is used
in the next scene which shows how his parents died. This is in slow paced because it
shows every detail and action in how his parents get murdered and that it makes us
feel helpless for the boy because the boy is witnessing his parents getting murdered in
front of him. The next scene is completely different to the opening of the film because
it shows the destruction of metropolis and how it is affecting people’s lives. Fast
paced editing is used in this situation because it displays all the tricky situations that
people are in and it is typical of thriller because it’s showing action and death taking
place.
Use of sound:
The use of sound is very important in the opening of this film because we hear a piano
being played slowly which emphasises that tension is being build up. This is non
diegetic music being played which creates an effect on us as the audience because we
think that something bad might happen to the family. Then the use of diegetic sound
is used when we hear a gun being shot at the parents. This creates an effect on the
audience because it makes us feel frightened of the bullet of how powerful it is when
it’s shot from a gun and it makes us feel sympathy for the parents because they got
shot from close range which made us hear the bullet being shot even louder. Then the
next scene of the opening is the destruction of metropolis which has a lot of diegetic
and non-diegetic sound being played. Diegetic sound is used when we hear all the
building collapsing and we also hear people screaming from the destruction. This has
an effect on the audience because it makes us hear all the terror that is happening to
the people and it makes us feel sad because buildings are getting destroyed by God
like beings. Non diegetic sound is used when Bruce is driving his car threw a
dangerous road which he is trying to get to his work place. The sound that is used here
makes the audience feel excited and pumped up because Bruce is driving towards the
chaos and he can get hurt while driving there.
4. Aman Ali
Titles:
The titles that are used in the font are simple and thin, the colours that are used are
white and it is positioned to the bottom right. This is not typical of a thriller tittle
because of the font; it doesn’t have that much detail to it like other thriller films.
Intended target audience:
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice is most likely to target teenagers, adults and DC
comic book fans as its target audience because most thriller films have mature themes
and its audience’s age is ranging from 15-32 year olds. Also most people from that
target audience would want to watch these kind of films because these films have a lot
of action scenes in it and it has a significant story behind it which keeps the audience
entertained.
