Difference between these two shots?

[sonofaresiii]

...right

Cameras just don't matter that much - a handycam in the hands of a good DP can still look great, and a 5D/7D/GH2/RED/ALEXA can all look terrible in the hands of a bad DP.

What you are shooting and how you design your shot (and I'm not ruling out the proper, controlled use of shallow dof under the right circumstances) is way more important than what camera you shoot it on. Content always rules.The OP does need technical help but that's not the biggest problem here and shallow DOF is not the answer to all of life's problems nor the magic-bullet for making a movie look like a movie...whereas good direction (and all that entails: good dp, good art director and properly cast talent) is. I'm constantly amused by how much folks are willing to disregard these elements since they are not strictly speaking "technical."



Sorry, fully disagree here because you are throwing out shot-design entirely, and that stuff is usually shot fairly carelessly and is further missing exposure and a color grade that matches the end-result shot on the A-Cam, if you lined up both the handycam alongside the main shooting camera so that they had as close to identical shots as possible and graded them similarly, they'd look damn similar aside from the handycam's greater DOF and limited dynamic-range/resolution. Hell, when you watch deleted scenes on DVDs that haven't had a proper grade/correction they often look just about as crummy.

The fact that the OPs actor is also looking in a strange direction doesn't help matters either - we're not connecting with the actor in part due to this reason.

Now this comp is BEYOND imperfect -- and Ledger wouldn't have looked quite like this given the OPs original shooting angle, but still my point stands that the Ledger + Art Direction + Lighting is the biggest difference here and when you combine the OP's shot, then insert Ledger, and grade it so that it's similar to the shot the TDK had, well...anyways it's a lot closer:

Original:
.View attachment 40603
TDK:
View attachment 40604
Combined + Grade + Reframing to more closely match TDK:
View attachment 40602

besides pasting ledger's face onto the actor's, care to share what your grading process was? I'm super interested in grading, but don't know much about it (yet)

 

[Inprogress]

The mock Joker seems to me like he is sad...dejected....sitting against a wall and staring into the distance, not looking at anything particular and busy thinking about something. The composition of tells me it is an important moment for the Joker and we will find out in the next sequence or two or possibly act why he is feeling this way and what made him feel this way - considering the lighting and the way the clothes looks rented and not worn often, the clean wall in the background that seems almost governmental I'd say, if I'd had to suggest a story based on this scene: He just realized that his girlfriend is actually leaving town for Europe and no matter how hard they try, there relationship is over and it seems like this is infact the end, it also seems like he hasn't quite accepted it yet although his now ex-girlfriend has.

Looking at just the scene and what I see (Ledger): He is angry and he is planning. He is possibly looking at someone walking away from him after that person just told them something which give them the one up over Ledger. Ledger is watching this person walking away, seriously p***ed off at him, however, given the persona he portrays with this mask, he is a smart villain who knows when he was beat in a battle, and hence he is planning to win the war. You could say Ledger is watching his adversary walking away, however to keep his evolving plan secret he keeps his mouth shut cause he wants to say in an almost victorious voice: Savor this moment. The composition gives him enough looking room, plus its a bit flat which does create a bit of tension suggesting I could almost expect him to get up and start fighting. The dirty tiled wall in the background suggests a subway station possibly, maybe some abandoned place where cleanliness use to be an important factor - a butchery or veterinary hospital maybe. His clothes also suggests that this isn't a one time thing - he goes about looking like this.

My feeling about the two shots.

 

[Fukurou]

I don't understand how some persons here are fighting about what matters the most.
Sure, maybe we could sort them in some order, but in the end, every point makes the whole thing.
It's like saying, in a rock band, the guitarist makes the whole thing. Sure people pay more attention to him. But it doesn't work like that. It combines with the bass grooves, drums and such, it's the arrangement of the whole thing that makes it work.
Now, I have to admit the actor, and particularly Ledger, could make a scene work, if the team is not totally messing anything else.
But in the end everything helps setting the mood.
When people that are not interested in the production say something "looks like a movie", they don't analyze why (aside from the obvious like someone who really can't play) but every detail gives them this "movie feel". I mean, substract any of them, and sure it could work in a way but someone would say it doesn't look professional. Record the sound with some bad, non-directionnal mic ? No color correction, no grading ? Bad use of the music, cheesy music ?...etc

But actually this thread is very interesting.
Comparing pro and amateur stills/vids is very worthwile.

besides pasting ledger's face onto the actor's, care to share what your grading process was? I'm super interested in grading, but don't know much about it (yet)

I couldn't say much but obviously, there are some color wheels at work here, and they are pointing toward green.
...
Yeah, I'm Captain Obvious.
(maybe some kind of S-curve too but I'm not really sure, I'm a real beginner at this)