“Thursday, October 31st. The city streets are crowded for the holiday. Even with the rain. Hidden in the chaos is the element, waiting to strike like snakes. And I’m there too. Watching. 2 years of nights have turned me into a nocturnal animal. I must choose my targets carefully. It’s a big city. I can’t be everywhere. But they don’t know where I am. We have a signal now, for when I’m needed. When that light hits the sky, it’s not just a call- it’s a warning. To them. Fear is a tool. They think I’m hiding in the shadows. But I AM the shadows. I wish I could say I’m making a difference, but I don’t know. Murder, robberies, assault - 2 years later, they’re all up. And now this. This city’s eating itself. Maybe it can’t be saved, but I have to try. PUSH MYSELF. These nights all roll together in a rush, Behind the mask. Sometimes in the morning i have to force myself to remember everything that happened.”

When the last part of Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy released 10 years ago in 2012, I was in Jamshedpur and I had to take a train to Kolkata to watch it because no theatre was showing it in the Tata city. I still remember the feeling of watching the saga to end on a bigger screen. And I watched it alone. I don’t remember how many times have I watched the Nolan’s trilogy but for the last 10 years these movies have been the gold standard of superheroes movies. But the latest movie “the Batman” by Matt Reeves feels so much personal to me which was absent during Nolan’s trilogy.

Compared to Nolan, Reeves used much darker, grittier tones that really elevated “The Batman” from just another batman movie to one of the best personalized visual style humanizing Bruce Wayne. In Nolan’s trilogy trypically there is a foreground filled with characters who are all in focus and the background is a bit blurry whereas in Reeves only a sliver is in focus and everything else is very blurry showcasing how narrow the depth of field actually is the decision to shoot the movie this way makes it feel more personal as firstly it’s how our eyes work. For eg., if you look around you’ll realize that your eyes focuses on one thing at a time and everything else is little blurry. This way Revees, firstly, can prioritize what he wants you to focus on whether it be a character or an object and secondly, it unlocks the emotional experience of the character when everything is in focus our character is just a moving part of the plot whereas when we focus intensely on just them the set becomes secondary and the personal lived experience of the character is enabled. This is how we all experience reality, how we’re feeling alters our perception of our surroundings and by using a shallow depth of field the audience intensely focus on the character and how they feel internally about what’s happening more than just what’s happening. This is an important distinction, in Nolan’s movies he made us spectators and there’s an emotional distance between us and Bruce Wayne. We’re just watching the story unofring and interpreting Bruce as a character whereas Reeves puts is in the passenger seat with Bruce Wayne/Batman, filled up with close-ups and interesting point of view angles so we literally see the world through his eyes. We are not spectating anything from a safer distance or via wide angled shot.

“Wednesday, November 6th. The city is under the water. The national guard is coming. Martial law is in effect, but the criminal element never sleeps. Looting and lawlessness will be rampant… in the parts of the city, no one can get to. I can already see things will get worse… before they get better. And some will seize the chance to grab everything they can. I’m starting to see now I have had an effect here… But not the one I intended. Vengeance, won’t change the past. Mine… or anyone else’s. I have to become more. People need hope. To know someone’s out there for them. This city’s angry, scarred. Like me. Our scars can destroy us. even after the physical wounds have healed. But if we can survive them… They can transform us. They can give us the power. To Endure… And the strength to fight.”