How is the antagonist and protaginists represented in the film's die hard and the dark knight?

How is the antagonist and protaginists represented in the film's die hard and the dark knight?

The dark knight Interrogation scene how are the antagonist and protaginists represented?

The Dark knight is a crime superhero thriller directed by Christopher Nolan and was released in the USA on the 14th of July 2008 by the producton companies Warner Bros. Pictures, Legendary Picture,  Syncopy and Dc comics. The film has made $1,001,921,825 worldwide in terms of box office gross.

The films intended target audinece are comic book fans or fans of the batman brand. Overall from the research gathered from IMDB, the film has been met with positive reviews with its audiences claiming "The Dark Knight is visually stunning, powerful and moving. What else could anyone want."

During this analysis I will be exploring how are the antagonist and protaginists represented in the Interrogation scene

As the scene opens we are introduced to our antagonist The Joker with a mid-shot of The joker in a dark room.Majority of his face is concealed by the darkness however this dark lighting emphasises his disfigurement as we the audience are more likely to be drawn to the parts of his face that are lit. This dark lighting brings with it evil connotations based similarly to the Helmet nickel theory. Although The Joker isnt wearing black he is surrounded by it therefore audiences can easily establish the moral fidelity of this character. Moreover a form of disfigurement in an antagonist is a common convention of many film genre's which contain an antagonist and a protagonist and allow the audience to easly identify who is evil based on their physical appearance.

As the scene progresses we hear The joker speak, he is well spoken and has a clear voice which is a somewhat unconventional feature for a film villian as we have been trained to associate villians with deep and brutish voices. However one may argue that in fact The Joker is your common stock thriller villian; he is well spoken which indicates he is educated therefore he uses his intelligence to hurt others as a substitute for lacking phsyical strength. This trait eventally leads to the common "brain vs brawn" confrontation with the protaginist.

During the interrogation we hear a classic connventional derranged laugh from The Joker thus allowing the audience to identify him as the "psycho" villian. This is further explored when at the end of the scene The Joker is essentially asking Batman, protaginist to choose between two peoples lives to save. This connotes how The Joker lacks empathy for anyone or anything; he see's human life as something to play with.

The protagonist

Around the 1:34 we are introduced to our protaginst, The Batman. 1:34 and We see the Batman slam The Joker's head onto a table. This act of violence indicates to the viewer that this character may be the common "shoot first ask questions later" character seen in many film genres especially in the action genre, however this particular action is far too violent and brutish for the common hero archetype and connotes some antagonist like features. Additionally when we hear The Batman's voice, its deep and monster like which is also an unconventional feature for the protaginst but a conventional feature for an antagonist.

In additon Batman's costume is black which is a colour which is generally associated with antagonists due to its often evil connotations of death and fear. As a result of this these elements cause the verfremdungeffekt; Batman is presented as good, however his appearence and his deed can be considered as antagonistic. This may cause the audience to distance themselves from the character; questioning his motives. 

The verfremdungeffekt was coined by Victor Shklovsky in 1935 to describe characters who are presented as being good but do evil deeds for example the character Dexter Morgan who wears white and works for the police force however he is also a serial killer. This allows audiences to distance themselves and question the characters moral fidelity and motives.

This effect is further explored around 3:27 when The Batman violently picks up The Joker, the audience distance themselves even more and think about the protagonists true morality. This is repeated again around 4:17 when Batman smashes Jokers face against the wall, we distance ourselves again. Some may even start to align themselves with The Joker however previous The Jokers previous conversations with other characters make it clear that he is an antagonist but in this situation he is presented as a victim in someways as he is beaten by The Batman mercilessly and doesn't fight back. On the other hand he does fight back using his words to "get under The Batman's skin".

Overall the scene presents the protaginst in an unconventional manner by making him seem violent; a feature which is normally asscociated with an antagonist. However the antagonist has been presented with common connventions such as the evil laugh and calculating personality. This calculating villian archetype is shared in the film Die hard which I will be also analysing a scene to look at how its antagonist and protaginists are represented.

Die hard: Yippee Ki Yay scene how are the antagonist and protagonists represented?

 

Die hard is an action film with thriller elements directed by John McTierman and was released in the USA on the 15 of July 1988 by the production companies Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation, Gordon company, Lawrence Gordon Productions and Silver Productions. Because the film is an action title at most with some thriller elements, the film will follow many "hero vs villain" conventions like old cowboy films and may lack some of the features seen in modern thriller films.

In terms of box office gross the film has made $137,400,000 worldwide. The films intended auidence are action film fans. The film has been met with several positive reviews even becoming an iconic film in pop culture being cited as "one of the best action movies ever made, and it just might well be the perfect modern action film."

During this analysis I will be exploring how are the antagonist and protaginists represented in the Die hard,Yippee Ki Yay scene. 

As the scene opens we see a high angle shot of the antagonist Hans Grubber, around this moment in the film Grubber is losing control of the bulding and his pan is start to come apart. The shot emphasises his loss of control as its fairly high, not too high to suggest he is a small and weak person but still high enough to suggest the lack of control he has over his situation.

The scene progresses and we first hear him order his companions, "I thought I told all of you I want radio silence". This qoute conveys how Grubber is a man who gives orders and is in charge; he wants things done and he wants them done now. In addtion Grubber talks with a thick European accent. This is a connventional film villian trait linking to counties which were considered as America's enemies in the past i.e. Russia, Germany and England, it allows audiences to easily identify antagonist from protaginist.

Grubbers personality and traits are further presented though his clothing. In the scene he is wearing a black suit which allows the audience to identify him as an antagonist using the idea based on the helmet nickel theory.  The theory states that the moral fidelity of a character is depicted in terms of appearance, i.e. audiences can establish who is good and who is evil by looking at the colours of their costumes such as a villain would normally wear black to show death or fear whereas a hero may wear white to show purity


In additon the fact that he's wearing a suit connotes that he is intelligent and because he is an atagonist he uses his intelligence to hurt others rather than relying on physical strength similarly to The Joker.

Grubbers costume contrasts with John McClane's costume largely as Grubbers costume represents the "evil and corrupt" rich, McClane's represents the "All American" blue collar worker.


The protagonist

0:05 into the scene we are introduced to our protaginist John McClane, he is wearing a brown vest and jean which convey's a blue collar worker look. This Ordinary person look is a significant trait to a film protaginst as it connotes McClane as the "all american " stock type hero the audience can easily identify and root for. Futhermore this everyday worker look makes him easy to root for as he is, one of us the common person, we can relate to him easier than a character who is a billionare. Additonally this Blue collar look is connventional to film genres which feature an antagonist and protaginst eventally this leads up to the"upper class vs the everyday man"confrontation in the final act.
We when first hear McClane speak he replies to Grubber in a jokey manner, "ooh I'm sorry Hans I didnt get that message. These jokes connote how tough McClane is as he finds himself in a situation that would be awkward for any normal person but he remains calm and control as evidenced with the use of jokes.
In additon MclClanes costume is distressed further evidencing his tough guy role as he still goes on not worrying about his appearance or any injuries inficted upon him.

As the scene progresses Grubber references other "All American" action heroes such as John wayne and Rambo with McClane replying "I was always partial to Roy Rogers". Roy Rogers is one of the earliest cowboy action stars; by mentioning his name, the director is almost making comparisons with McClane and Rogers trying to depict him as the modern All American Cowboy hero we root for.

Finally McClane ends the transmission with the iconic line that will cement him as the action thriller tough guy "yippe Ki Yay mother f**ker". This qoute further presents him as the new modern cowboy we root for as well as the typical action thriller tough guy.

Overall in comparison to the Dark knight, Die hard follows very connventional rules to present its protaginsits and antagonists using the common everyday person versus the "establishment" to drive its characters further.