A-Level Case Study for 2012 DKR film

1. THE DARK KNIGHT
RISES

2. Distribution
■ Warner Bros – both the distributor and producer lowers costs (vertical integration).As a multinational companyTimeWarner can produce and market the
film in other countries at a lower cost.
■ AsWarner owns DC, this is an opportunity for synergy as both can be used to market eachother’s products such as the film of DC comic books.
■ Produced by Legendary Pictures and Syncopy.
■ Release Date: 16th June 2012
■ $250,000,000 budget
■ Directed byChristopher Nolan
■ Score by Hans Zimmer
■ 12A Action thriller
■ Starring:Christian Bale, Anne Hathaway,Tom Hardy, Michael Caine, GaryOldman, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Marion Cotillard and Morgan Freeman.
■ Nolan used IMAX cameras to film as he doesn’t believe in £D yet still wanted the film to be of the best quality.
■ On July 6th 2012, a special screening ofThe Dark Knight Rises for more than 100 critics and reporters was planned, but had to be delayed for one day due
to technical problems.The film later premiered on July 16th 2012 at the AMC Lincoln SquareTheatre in NewYork City, NewYork, followed by a European
premiere on July 18th 2012 at Leicester Square in London, England.The film was released in Australia and New Zealand on July 19th 2012, and was later
released in NorthAmerica and the United Kingdom on July 20th 2012.The Dark Knight Rises was released on November 28th 2012 in Hong Kong and New
Zealand, on December 3rd 2012 in the UK and on December 4th 2012 in the United States. It was available for purchase on DVD, Blu-Ray, as well as on a
digital download.Websites and programmes such as Netflix were also releasing the film to the public for viewing.A box set showcasing the trilogy ofThe
Dark Knight films was also released, coinciding with the release ofThe Dark Knight Rises.

3. Genre
■ Nicole Ponsford
DC founded in 1934
■ Conventions:
Superhuman Ability – Batman’s suit and gadgets
Backstory – His Parent’s death
Settings – fictional e.g. Gotham
AWeakness
Wealth
Secret Base
MoralCode
Iconic Costume
Motif – Batman looks like a bat when in his cape
Enemies
Supportive recurring characters – Add to the internal weakness who support or threaten his identity
City Setting – Many people to save and more opportunity for new characters
■ Themes:
Use of highly populated areas allows narrative to have both social and political messages (BruceWayne often meets with politiicans).
Superheroes also get away from the city to fight internal battles and regroup. Many have a secret place to retreat when not being the public face of the hero.
American locations help the film appeal to a Global Market.
Lack of father figure or acquisition of a mentor can be a pivotal emotional point for the hero.
Negative representation of disability comes in the form of theVillains e.g.The Joker,The Penguin and Bane, illustrating the fear and suspicion the mutated are
treated with.
The ideology we learn is that we can overcome evil by working together and that heroes must sacrifice their past, friends and personal desires to protect the public.
Ideologies – Good vs Evil, Sacrifice and Responsibility, Loneliness and Isolation,Accepting the past.

4. Narrative
■ Levis Strauss
Good vs Evil
Us vsThem (Said)
Chaos vs Establishment
Terrorism vs State
■ Todorov:
Equilibrium: Eight years after the death of DistrictAttorney Harvey Dent, Batman has disappeared and organized crime has been eradicated
in Gotham City. James Gordon has kept secret Dent's murderous rampage and allowed blame for his crimes to fall on Batman.
Disruption: Bane emerges as the villain and attacks the Stock Exchange.
Recognition: Bane lures Batman into a trap and reveals his plan. Batman is then put into an underground prison,The Pit.
Repair:Wayne escapes from the prison and it is revealed that Miranda, Bruce’s love is actuallyTalia al Ghul who is the mastermind behind the evil
plan. Batman and Catwoman work together to defeat the villains. Batman flies the bomb into the ocean where it explodes, leaving him
presumed dead.
New Equilibrium: Batman and Catwoman are spotted alive and well byAlfred. Blake resigns from the police force, imnherits the Batcave and is
revealed to actually be called ‘Robin;.
■ Barthes:
Cultural – Middle Eastern locations (The Pit)
Action – clear uses of weapons such as bombs, guns etc. suggests action and fighting.
Symbolic – Use of darker colours and filters suggests somber, darker tone.
Enigma – Who is Bane?Will Batman resurface?
■ Propp:
Hero – Batman
False Hero – Miranda/Talia
Helper – Alfred,Catwoman, Robin
Villain – Bane
Donor– Gordon, Fox
■ Syd Field:
Act 1 – Meet the characters, introduced to Bane and his ideas. Plot Point 1 – Stock market incident.
Act 2– Batman in the pit, makes clear the challenges he must overcome. Plot Point 2- Miranda revealed asTalia
Act 3 – Getting rid of the bomb and saving the people of Gotham.

5. Marketing
■ The official website launched in May 2011 introducing a viral marketing campaign similar to the one used to promote The Dark Knight. The website
streamed an encrypted audio file which was then decrypted to reveal the Twitter hash tag, "#TheFireRises". Warner Bros. removed a pixel from the
webpage for every tweet using the hash tag. The website revealed the first official image of Bane.
■ July 2011, the teaser trailer was leaked online and then released 3 days later where it gained 12.5m views in 24 hours.
■ The opening of the film was shown at screenings of Mission Impossible – Ghost Protocol, seven moths before its release.
■ Empire and Wired magazine received CIA documents about the nuclear physicist, Dr. Leonid Pavel. The Twitter page then released a censored file
concerning ‘Operation Earlybird,’ leading the fans to a website with a countdown timer. When the timer went off, the website revealed a map detailing
which cinemas would be showing the prologue to the film before its actual release. The official website updated with a wanted poster of Batman. The
site also included a list of graffiti related to support of the ‘vigilante’s return’. For each tweet of a location marked on the list, a frame of the 2nd trailer
was released.
■ In January, 6 months before the release, tickets for IMAX midnight showings sold out immediately, with some tickets resurfacing online for $100
(original price was $17.50).
■ Mattel released figures of Batman, Bane and Catwoman.
■ Warner Bros partnered with Mountain Dew to use cars promoting Batman in NASCAR and F1.
■ Tom Hardy on Jonathan Ross 2012:
2-step flow as Ross says that the film is ‘incredible’. Lead to more people seeing the film and more profit.
Audience – behind the scenes, Hardy seems genuine and casual (likeable) appealing to the audience
and giving the sense of exclusive information.
Appeals to both Tom Hardy fans and casual viewers.

6. Audience
■ TargetAudience: Fans of the previous 2 films, males 15-30 as the main representations are male and has darker themes.The film will also appeal to
older male viewers who were fans of the original comic books,TV series or assorted other Batman films.
■ DKR appeals to both superhero fans and casual viewers as it incorporates generic conventions of superhero films so will suit a larger audience as the
main aim ofWarner Bros is to make profit.
■ There are many examples of user-generated content like memes, parodies and fanart.This demonstrates the popularity and appeal of the film.
■ The company used digital means to attract the audience as theirTA would be in the bracket which regularly uses technology.They produced Digital
Comics (exclusively for Nokia – synergy),Apps for iOS and Android giving exclusive wallpapers and trivia and making the film available for digital
download 6 months after the release.

7. Responses
■ RottenTomatoes: 87%
However, in reaction to fan backlash, RT disabled user commentary in the lead up to the film’s release.
■ Telegraph: 5 Stars – argues that Nolan pulls off this high- stakes film despite the first act being somewhat muddled.
■ The Daily Mail: 2 Stars – argues that the film is too long and that the villain is pale in comparison to the Joker in the previous film.
■ Aidan Gillen’s character became a meme known as ‘Baneposting’
■ The Dark Knight Rises the Musical: LUGHUENY
10m views
Shows that prosumer products of the film can attract large audiences and that viewers like the film so much that they generate content based
around it.
■ HISHE is a very popularYouTube Channel, indicating that DKR is a film that will draw a wide audience in as the aim of the channel is to get views.

8. Destruction in
shape of a bat.
Enigma - Did
Batman cause
this?
Batman is the
central focus –
suggests
internal
struggles too.
Mask hiding
identity,
mysterious.
Low angle-
demonstrates
power.
Muscular,
sculpted
body in tight
suit.
Ominous
tagline,
what does
the fire
reference?
Action
code –
explosion
suggests
violence.
Sans-serif white
typography, not
flashy but
solemn and
serious looking.
Only colour comes from explosion, suggests that
narrative carries on from previous film as Batman
is in hiding and suggests that some sort of issue
will force Batman to return.
Feminine
influence – high
heel and makeup
(stereotypical.
Enigma
code – who
is she? An
unseen
character
as the love
interest
died in the
last film.
Sexual
appeal –
red lipstick
suggests
sexuality
and
passion.
Bat motif shows
strong brand
identity.
Dark colours
links with other
posters,
showing
harmony
throughout
marketing and
promotes
strong image of
the film.
Rain has connotation of misery.
Pathetic fallacy indicates a sadder
tone to the film.

9. Tight
catsuit
shows
body –
sexualising
Tight suit shows defined
muscled and is a
demonstration of strength.
Iconic
outfits.
Masks hide
identities –
convention of
superhero films.
Action code –
gun, indicates
purpose is more
to be just the
love interest or a
sexual object.
Sexuaslised
pose, shows
both bum and
boobs in the
same shot
(issue raised by
BlackWidow)
High heels,
stereotypic
ally
feminine
but
impractical
for a
superhero.
Beauty myth –
white, thin
wears makeup
(red lipstick)
Shots (such
as her on
the
motorbike)
are
extremely
sexualised
Thief –
untypical
to have a
female
criminal
Dark
colours
indicate
conflicted
hero – not
always
good
Hegemonic male
– strong, tough,
good looking and
holds a lot of
power and
responsibility.
Has both internal
struggles and physical
struggles to
overcome, indicating
that he is a tortured
soul and is typical of
male characters.
He is an altruistic
person, he. Holds
compassion for those
less able than himself
and feels a duty to
protect them, perhaps
less typical for a male
character.

10. Success
■ $1.084 billion at the Box Office
■ 495% Return Investment
■ No. 66 on IMDbTop 250 films
■ BAFTA Nominated 2013 Best Special Effects
■ 16th Highest-grossing film of all time and 3rd highest-grossing film of 2012
■ The film does have a social message due to the themes of terrorism,
the economy and green energy.