Yeah, those scenes outside of the Iceberg Lounge were really dark – as well as some of the interior scenes. And those scenes leading up to the beat down that was shown in the first teaser. All of that was really dark.
That lead up in those early scenes was when I first noticed it, like, “Wow, that was really dark.” And when it continued to be that way throughout the movie, then it was, “Okay, this is going to be a really dark, this is what he’s doing.”
Christopher Nolan with Tenet of course had the issue with some saying that it was hard to understand what was being said in some scenes.
It’s like, “Yeah, that’s Christopher Nolan.” (Tenet is my favorite movie of his… )
Anyway, one of his sound designers said:
"Chris is trying to create a visceral emotional experience for the audience, beyond merely an intellectual one. Like punk rock music, it’s a full-body experience, and dialogue is only one facet of the sonic palette. He wants to grab the audience by the lapels and pull them toward the screen, and not allow the watching of his films to be a passive experience. "
“If you can, my advice would be to let go of any preconceptions of what is appropriate and right and experience the film as it is, because a lot of hard intentional thought and work has gone into the mix.”
Christopher Nolan said this about Interstellar:
“I don’t agree with the idea that you can only achieve clarity through dialogue,” he continued. “Clarity of story, clarity of emotions – I try to achieve that in a very layered way using all the different things at my disposal – picture and sound. I’ve always loved films that approach sound in an impressionistic way and that is an unusual approach for a mainstream blockbuster, but I feel it’s the right approach for this experiential film.”
I’m guessing with Matt Reeves and The Batman it wasn’t so important that you saw everything in detail in those scenes. No, I assume it was more about creating the mood and the atmosphere.
Just guessing here of course because I haven’t read anything about him addressing it.
There’s an article about this though at Variety:
Interesting in that article is that, yeah, the Joker wasn’t as visually dark as The Batman, even though it dealt with a weightier subject matter. And it was a much darker in tone movie.
Quickly on Batgirl:
The inclusion of Michael Keaton really kills my interest in it. I hope it does well, though.
