Comparison Of 'Bullitt' And 'The Dark Knight'

The start of ‘Bullitt’ opens with low key lighting to prepare the audience for the oncoming challenge ahead. This is because this is a thriller movie thus the audience will find it more intellectually challenging therefore the producers aim the movie at an ABC1 type category. The titles which fade in and out leave shadows on the characters faces and this portrays Todorov’s theory of binary opposites, representing good and evil characters.

This also means that Propp’s theory of characters is used, as there is a good character a bad character and a sidekick. The non-diegetic soundtrack in the background which is used is very typical of a crime genre. It is very mysterious which links to the opening scene of the film. The music stays at a steady pace the whole way through the opening scene, until it gets to the end and the music becomes amplified when the car pulls out of the car park which shows that there is some conflict happening in that particular moment of the scene. The lighting is very low key throughout the opening scene which creates shadows on the characters faces; however high key lighting is produced when the window is smashed and this highlights and emphasises the conflict going on in this part of the opening scene. The title and credits of the film move across the screen, come towards the audience and then disappear which could suggest the storyline of the film, a person going missing, as the way the credits are animated is very mysterious.

‘The Dark Knight’ opening scene similar to Bullitt in some ways. The robbers have masks over their faces which links with Bullitt as the men in Bullitt had shadows over their faces. This is still hiding each of their identities and giving a mysterious feel to the audience as we want to find out who they are. As this opening scene is set in the day, there is high key lighting outside as it is sunny. However, inside the bank which the robbers are robbing is a different story and the lighting is more low key, especially in the safe and this could be because the acts that the robbers are committing in the safe, stealing the money, are very wrong and solemn, therefore the low key lighting emphasises this. The outfits which the robbers are wearing are very dark, and this links to the men’s clothing in Bullitt. The dark colours are very conventional to the genre of film that they are. One major difference between these two films is the use of CGI. This is because The Dark Knight is a much more recent film, and therefore the film companies are more able to use modern day technology and special effects, whereas when Bullitt was made, they were much less able to make their films more technical.