Sound- Image and Image-Image Relationships

For this blog post, I chose to examine the edited Joker vs. Batman prison interrogation scene within Christopher Nolan's, The Dark Knight.  As the interrogation begins, a close up is taken of the Joker as he is sitting down at the interrogation table in a dimly lit room, after speaking with Sgt. James Gordon. As the lights turn on, it is revealed that Batman has been standing quietly behind the Joker the entire time, waiting for his turn at the interrogation. The shot however, remains on the Jokers face, while the mid section of Batman's body is exposed in the background, stunning the viewers. To add to this sudden change of events, once the prison cell door closes and is followed by the sound of fluorescent lights turning on, Batman wastes no time, violently bashing the Joker's head into the interrogation table, making a loud bang.  The scene then cuts to Batman for a split second, as he is now facing the Joker, looking at him as he whines in pain and shock. The scene in then cut to the Joker for a few seconds, once the Joker begins to speak to Batman. An establishing shot is then cut to Batman raising his fist to bash down on the Jokers hand, causing him more pain, and ultimately kicking off the intense interrogation that is about to occur. Loud beats begin to play in the background noise, increasing the anxiety of the audience.  Batman then sits down to talk to the Joker, and a mid-shot of him is taken over the shoulder of the Joker. Once this occurs, the scene is cut to a shot of the police men and women on duty witnessing this interrogation in the control room at the Gotham Police Station, establishing that the conversation is about to get very serious. Batman and the Joker begin to exchange in conversation, the cuts following each character as they say their portion of the dialogue, occasionally cutting to the opposite character to capture their facial reactions as the other character is speaking. However, once the Joker begins his monologue, soft, thought provoking music begins to play in the background, drawing the viewer to carefully listen to his words. That is all abruptly ended when the scene takes a violent turn, as Batman reaches over the table and grabs the joker by the collar of his shirt, cuing the loud beats to return within the scene. These loud beats serve to increase anxiety and suspense as Batman forcefully interrogates the Joker, pinning him against the wall. A cut is made to the Police men and women in the control rooms as they watch the action unfold, in shock. More forceful exchange is made between Batman and the Joker, as the scene cuts back and forth to follow each character again as they speak their lines of dialogue. As the scene increases in violence and suspense, an increasingly loud sound is added to the scene in order to maintain an anxious, nervous feeling among the audience. Overall, the shots used in this scene are organized in terms of pacing of dialogue between the Joker and Batman. The length of each shot is dependent on the length of each character's line delivery as well, making for very smooth and seamless editing.