I'm assuming that almost everyone has either seen or at least heard about The Dark Knight, released in 2008 featuring Christian Bale, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Aaron Eckhart, Gary Oldman, and Heath Ledger. Aside from being highly anticipated and therefore heavily promoted, the movie drew in even more attention after the death of Heath Ledger following the completion of the movie. He died from a drug overdose, and many people believe his death was at least partially related to his work on the movie.
There had been a large marketing campaign for the movie, and after Ledger's death they changed the marketing to focus very heavily on the Joker character. This trailer is a very good example of how much stress was put on this character:
For the first half of the video, the entire focus is on the Joker. Aside from the company logos, the first thing we encounter is a voice over of the Joker's very distinct voice. Although other images are shown, the focus is really on the voice over. I thought it was especially interesting that he says "You've changed things, there's no going back." This seems like it could be drawing a parallel to the fact that Ledger had passed away, and there is clearly no going back from that. Then, although there is a quick flash of the character about 30 seconds in, it's a long shot and you can't make out much. You don't actually see the Joker up close until almost a minute into the trailer when there is a close shot of the character, and then his infamous line "Why so serious?" By not showing him until that point and not really showing much of the movie at all until then, it builds up the suspense and really draws your attention to this character and the fact that without him, there really is no movie.
If you knew nothing about Batman and only saw this trailer, you would surely think that the main character is the Joker, and this was definitely done on purpose. Since people were so shocked by Ledger's death, the intrigue of the movie was even higher, and highlighting his performance would make them even more inclined to see it. I think they could have also used this as an almost exploitative way to get people to see the movie, almost like saying "Hey, look at this guy! He died, it would be wrong not to see his last movie." By showing him so much it is impossible to ignore the fact that he's a big part of the movie. The emphasis on the character was undoubtedly a good way to promote the movie through sympathy, intrigue, and sheer fascination with the character.
I'd say that Ledger's death certainly adds an important element of the macabre to the Joker's already disturbing presence in the film. The designers of the trailer certainly thought of this and used it to draw in the audience. The disembodied voice at the start is also to voice of a dead man.
ReplyDeleteI must have watched this trailer at least 15 times in unbridled anticipation for this movie. When Ledger died, I originally thought they were going to cancel the movie. Upon hearing that they weren't, my desire to the movie increased because Ledger's last performance was hyped up to be incredible. The trailer, much like you said, magnifies this anticipation, and I could hardly wait for July of 2008.
ReplyDeleteI agree completely about the way the producers chose to promote the movie. Rumors were swriling around how Ledger's death was influenced by the fact that he became so involved in his character. It probed everybody to go see what kind of character would push a man to such limits. It's a very interesting tactic.
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