"The Dark Knight Rises" Special Effects

"The Dark Knight Rises"

Blog #3

“The Dark Knight Rises” is a thrilling sequel and action packed movie. There are many special effects that convey arguments of ethos, pathos, and logos that overall serve a pretty good job of enhancing the movie.

Special effects can enhance the film by adding multiple elements to it. One special effect in particular within “The Dark Knight Rises” that comes to my mind is the football explosion scene. The scene was filled with chaos. There were explosions, fire, crashing, and commotion everywhere. The scene starts by portraying a patriotic mood, as a little boy is singing the national anthem at a football game (Doesn’t get much more American than that). Then, this patriotic scene goes up in flames when Bane, the bad guy, arrives and sets off explosives. There is immediately evidence of pathos in the scene, as the special effects cause one to feel panic and worry from the tremendous destruction occurring. The explosions, glass breaking, flames, and smoke all make loud noises that sound very realistic. The scene is “full of sound and fury,”(Giannetti 35) carefully crafted and made to fit this scene are again a pathos argument.

In addition, the director’s use of logos is clearly seen in his well thought out details of the scene. From the cars crashing to the fires engulfing into flames, the scene is played out to look believable to the audience. It is so detailed it seems to be a world where “magic is the commonplace”(Giannetti 33). By giving Bane, the character responsible for the chaos, a weird contraption on his face, there is an element of inhumanness contributed. This inhuman like quality gives off an evil vibe, which makes the scene more dramatic. However, there are a couple elements within the scene that look a little unrealistic. When the football field explodes directly following the football player who’s running to the end zone, it doesn’t seem super believable. The field probably wouldn’t just explode at the exact pace of a player running, especially conveniently right at the end zone. Even with this logos appeal not seeming completely believable at this exact point, it offers an element of humor in the midst of the hectic scene.

Within the special effects, there is also some evidence of an ethos appeal. When special effects are used it’s very common for acting to be effected, “though not usually in a positive way”(Giannetti 33). However, with “The Dark Knight Rises” the acting does not seem to be effected. The scene is very dramatic and despite all of the special effects used, the actors and actresses reactions still seem very genuine and realistic. All of the members of the town seem to be in complete panic, while Bane looks very pleased with himself. The special effects enhance the overall scene, while keeping the acting believable.

Overall, the special effects in “The Dark Knight Rises” serve to enhance the action and chaos of the film. The film was enhanced by the use of these special effects, as they seemed very believable for the most part. However, there were a couple parts that failed to seem 100% believable and there seemed to be a limited amount of ethos appeal used within the special effects. Despite those couple small drawbacks, the special effects definitely helped to enrich the overall film, and therefore I would give it a four slurpee rating! 

VIDEO OF SPECIAL EFFECTS FOOTBALL SCENE: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UsoYwysCdfY