Mis-en-Scene The Dark Knight-Costume Design

Costume Design by: Lindy Hemming

 

This is the scene where the Joker is with his gangsters friends, they were discussing their current situation and after some conversation the Joker says “how about a magic trick? I am going to make this pencil disappear.”  He then stuck the pencil in the table and as one of the gangster thugs approached the table he slammed the gangsters head down on the pencil, through the gangster’s eye, which killed him instantly. It was a dark and disturbing scene from the movie. In this dark scene, you have the Joker in his trademark clown face and purple suit which adds to the psychopathic chaotic character and makes him appear to be a crazy man that has no empathy towards others including the gangsters in his group.

 

The Dark Knight Costume designer’s intent was to make the Joker seem dirty, evil and Villainous. The joker was hell bent on taking over Gotham City and sending it into anarchy. The Joker’s only desire is to cause chaos and could care less about the image he shows to everyone around him. The costume design made the Joker appear filthy and grungy to give us the impression that he is corrupt and doesn’t care about himself or others. The clown face and dark purple suit and purple gloves gives the Joker (played by Heath Ledger) a darker image that that fits with the darker theme of the movie. This fits the scene when the pencil vanishes; a ruthless man showing he only cares about one thing. It is a very simple designed costume but does stand out against the other gangsters in the movie. The other members in the scene were dressed as regular citizens of Gotham and did not distract from the ruthless Joker.

Other costume design work by Lindy Hemming:

The two Dark Knight movies Casino Royale, Die Another Day, The World Is Not Enough, and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.

My Frame

I chose to use this picture that I took of Hansen Stadium here at Dixie State. I spend many hours here training for football during the spring and fall. I decided to make the stadium the focal point of my picture. I ensured that it took up more than the two-thirds of the picture to ensure that it follows the rule of three. The yardage lines present on the football field are the vector's that help draw your eye to the main focal point of my picture. The linear aspects of my photo are how the seats and the railings flow horizontal rather than vertical.

I feel that the vertical yardage lines create a contrast to the horizontal railings and seat rows that intersect right where the stadium starts. By doing this, I feel that my central focus of the photo is the stadium like I had intended. Another aspect that I hadn't planned on was having the stadium back lit by the sun; I feel like this had an important impact to the photo also.

Axioms of Web Design

Nike.com

Business Objectives: Landing on Nike.com you know right away what kind of business they are in. Their website has everything sports related to see and to purchase.  If a person has never visited this site before, they would know right away what products they have to offer.

Nike.com has used a very simple header for their site, it gives the required info of what they offer in their products and a place to search for anything the user might want to find. There is a very strong grid that is used in their site. Everything is laid out straight up and down and placed into separate boxes when possible. 

There isn’t an image present in the lower right on this page, there are quite a few pictures present illustrating Nike’s products and anything new that is coming out.  Nike’s website is very easy to navigate and anything the viewer needs is easy to find. The main point of interest of the site contrasts against the background of the rest of the site. 

There is a black section that changes to illustrate new additions of products against the white background. This section stands out against the rest of the site and draws the viewer’s eye right towards it. I find it is very pleasing to the eye with the simple colors being used. Black, grey, white, and a few instances of orange help the site flow and isn’t distracting to the eye.  I tried to view this page in other aspects and found that it is still easy to navigate and simple to use.

Font Combinations

I found this picture that is promoting historic 25th street in my home town of Ogden, Utah. This picture represents everything available on 25th street. There are art galleries that are very elegant and the font that the word 'Art' is represented with is very classy and elegant.. The 'nightlife' word is represented with a blocked out font that reminds me of a starry, moonlit night. 'Dining' has a font that is very rustic and western designed, harking back to the time when 25th Street was a very popular spot where there were many wonderful restaurants that are now returning. 'Shopping' is also very elegant looking reflecting the type of shops that are present down on 25th Street. There are some great stores that have some very expensive items to purchase, and this reflects in this picture. 'Entertainment' is also a blocked font that looks like it was pulled from a playbill promoting a play or other event at a theater. I see it and I immediately start thinking of what is taking place on stage.

Design Evaluation Good vs. Bad

 

The Good 

 

I have chosen to compare two Air Jordan shoe boxes. They are similar in size and similar in color.  They are both black and have the jump man logo on the top of the box, but one of the boxes stands out and is much more eye catching than the other. The contrast in the good shoe box is the black colored box with the small white dots and connecting lines that change colors depending on how the light that shines on the box. The colors that are apparent in this picture are blue, green, yellow and red and they blend together well. The black color of the box accentuates the design and makes the white logo and design stand out.

The principles of Gestalt in this design are:
The law of similarity is in this design because the dots and lines are similar in shapes and size and are grouped together into triangles. If you take away the lines and concentrate on the dots you will see that they are all similar in size and in color, and then if you take away the dots and see only the lines the lines are also similar in size and color. The unique design tricks your mind and makes it feel like your seeing stars in the sky at night.

The Law of Continuity is also in this design because the patterns and lines continue around the entire box and makes your eye follow the unique design. 

The Law of Pragnanz is also in this design because the design is very simple and is organized in a series of triangles that connect to each other. 

The law of proximity in this design is the dots and lines that group together to make triangles which creates unity in the design. I did not find the law of closure in this design. Because I do not perceive any incomplete objects, all triangles in this design are complete with none left open.

The Bad








The bad design is boring black shoe box that is not exciting to look at all. It’s almost identical to the good design except for the fact that the bold white jump man is a little bigger on the tope of the box. It is a practical design but is a little to simple for my taste. it fine that they use black and white as the colors of the box but I think they should come up with more of a design that will help make the box more interesting to look at.  It needs some color or some kind of design to make it I pop.  Plain black is a good base color but not really much of a design color unless you add more color or a design to it.

Contrast, Balance, and Harmony

This is a picture that was taken at the Coca-Cola headquarters in Atlanta. These are sculptures made in an image of a large bottle of coke with different works and mosaics on their surfaces. The balance is how these are almost exactly the same shape and size; but they all have different items on their surfaces. The harmony of this picture is the way the bottles are positioned together, the ability to see certain aspects of each bottle allows the colors to flow well together, but allow enough separation to show that they are unique. The contrasting radial white ceiling lights move down the red background which allows the bottles to stand out in the picture which contrasts with the different sized pedestals and brown wooden floor. The bottles are centered in the photo for symmetry which makes them the main focus of the picture.

Visceral Response

I choose this picture for visceral response from my recent trip to the Southern Caribbean Island of Dominica. Dominica is an amazing island that was created by volcanic eruptions. This picture is of one of the many waterfalls in the rain forest on the island. The colors, plants, and foliage in the rain forest are breathtaking, and you will never see anything like it anywhere else in the world. This picture reminds me of the beauty and simplicity of the island. Dominica is a poor island and is nothing like the United States. It was humbling to meet the friendly happy people of the island, they live with only a few of the modern conveniences that we have here in the U.S. but were still happy to share their island with me. The people on of this country made and impact on me and my family. I have many fond memories of my visit and hope I get the opportunity to visit Dominica again.

The picture below is of me standing behind the waterfall, the pounding force of clear cold water rushing over me was refreshing and something I have never experienced before. I like this picture because I like the fact that I can see myself behind the powerful rushing water.