The upcoming standalone Batman movie is still more theoretical than real, but that doesn't mean that director Matt Reeves doesn't have an idea of the sort of film he wants to make. The director of the upcoming War for the Planet of the Apes, says that his goal with the DC Extended Universe Batman film is to use the camera to connect the character and the audience in a way reminiscent of an Alfred Hitchcock noir movie. According to Reeves...
What I try to do, in an almost Hitchcockian sense, is use the camera and use the storytelling so that you become the character, and you emphasize with that point of view. And I think there's a chance to do an almost noir-driven detective version of Batman that is point-of-view driven in a very, very powerful way, that will hopefully connect you to what's going on inside of his head and inside of his heart.
Matt Reeves agreed to take over the director's chair for the standalone Batman movie that will be part of the DC Extended Universe after Ben Affleck decided he wanted to focus on acting in the role and writing the script. Reeves tells New Trailer Buzz that the reason he took the job was that he was as obsessed with Batman growing up as he was the original Planet of the Apes movies. To that end, he's planning to approach Batman in a similar way, by filming the movie from the perspective of the character, so that the audience can potentially feel the same things that the character himself is experiencing.
Alfred Hitchcock was known for finding many interesting ways to use a camera, but the POV shot became one of the techniques for which he is most recognized. Movies like Rear Window used this a lot. Rather than having the camera show you the character witnessing an event, it showed you the event as if you were viewing it as the character. This way, rather than feeling like one observing the action from the outside, you feel like you're in the middle of it. This results, when done well, in creating a deeper connection between the audience and the protagonist.
To a certain extent, Batman has always been a slightly more relatable superhero, if only for the fact that he's human (the fact that he's ridiculously rich notwithstanding). But Ben Affleck's version of the character introduced in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, due to the fact that he's an older, more experienced version of Batman, probably lends himself a little better to the noir style that Matt Reeves is talking about. Certainly, it's a very intriguing idea. Ben Affleck returns to the role of Batman in Justice League this November. Check out everything we know about the next DC movie to stay up to date.
