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The Dark Knight - How does a Camera tell a story?

A short breakdown of how camera angle and height shift between Batman, Harvey Dent and the Joker to track the balance of power scene to scene.

Nicholas Dobbie · 8 min · Beginner · CIN · Cinematography · 2018

What you take away

Try tying camera height changes to a specific character's shifting control over a scene.

Watch it

Filed under

The films in this lesson

The Dark Knight (2008)

Oscar winners for cinematography

Books on cinematography

Cameras and glass

Sony FE 50mm F1.2 GM — A stop and a half past normal
Sony FE 24-70mm F2.8 GM II — The standard zoom most FX bodies wear
Sony FE 16-35mm F2.8 GM II — The wide end of the same set
Canon RF 50mm F1.2 L USM — The portrait-adjacent normal
Canon EOS R6 Mark II — The affordable full-frame RF hybrid
Nikon Z6 III — Partially stacked sensor, N-RAW internal

More Cinematography

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The Pros & Cons Of Film Vs Digital: Featuring Robert Yeoman — In Depth Cine · 15m · Advanced
Mother (2009) - The Telephoto Profile Shot — Every Frame a Painting · 4m · Advanced
How Cinematographers Set Their Exposure — In Depth Cine · 13m · Intermediate
Making THE ROYAL TENENBAUMS (with Wes Anderson & Robert Yeoman) — Cinematographers on cinematography · 27m · Advanced
Cinematic Film Composition — Roger Deakins on Blocking, Staging & Composition in Cinematography — StudioBinder · 7m · Intermediate
Depth of field | Virtual Cameras | Computer animation | Khan Academy — Khan Academy Labs · 3m · Intermediate
Roger Deakins on "Learning to Light" — Cinematography Techniques Ep. 1 — StudioBinder · 9m · Intermediate
Shooting “Moonrise Kingdom" (with Wes Anderson & Robert Yeoman) — Cinematographers on cinematography · 17m · Advanced
Ultimate Guide to Camera Lenses — Every Type of Camera Lens Explained [Shot List Ep. 7] — StudioBinder · 20m · Beginner
Depth of Field Explained: Ultimate Guide to Camera Focus [Shot List Ep. 4] — StudioBinder · 15m · Beginner

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