The Dark Knight Opening Scene

The Dark Night

Use of Camera: The scene starts with a medium shot of a 'goon' pointing a gun out the window, this shows the audience that there is going to be some sort of action sequence which follows. The camera then cuts to a medium shot of a man in the middle of the town, it then zooms in onto the mask he is carrying. This creates an image of the clown masks face which will last and linger in the audience's mind which will generate fear from the disturbed image. The scene continues and the camera changes to a Birdseye view shot of two of the men zip lining across buildings, this increases the thrill as the audience are uncertain of what is going to happen next. Also this shot shows the setting giving the audience an understanding of what sort of heist is taking place. As the men are making their way into the bank, the camera is a low medium shot showing that these thugs are powerful and quite dangerous. The camera is focused on one of the men which is the same guy from earlier, we can tell this by his mask which shows that he is an important character or has a crucial roll in this job. The men then start taking hostages, the camera is of a medium shot showing the a man putting grenades in the hostage's hands this enhances the tenseness and creates uneasiness within the audience. The next scene the camera is a medium shot of the last thug walking towards the helpless hostage on the floor this then changes to a close up of the hostages face showing terror and creating a foreboding sense. The camera then cuts back to the thug where he takes of his mask and reveals himself to the audience. The audience then realise that this is the joker who was not supposed to be there. The way the camera is zoomed in on his face shows the unpleasant and the disturbing make up which makes him the more fearful and empathises the danger of the character.

Sound: The scene opens with the use of non diegetic music to set a dramatic tone to the scene, this gives the audience an understanding of what it might be about. Gun shots and smashed windows emphasis the use of violence and which implies that the men are criminals and the 'baddies' of the film. Swiftly moving on to a shot with the most important character of the scene who has most prevalence in the whole scene, we hear dietetic sounds of  local commuting cut off by screeching tires, this increases the thrill and just adds to the layer of apprehension of the scene. The guys then climb out the window and zip lines across, this is where the non diegetic music becomes louder and is more obvious. This changes the mood and increases the intensity as it is building up to what is going to happen. More gunshots are used however this time it is used to scare the people and alert them of the baddies presence, this keeps the audience on the edge of their seat as the suspense builds. Diegetic dialogue is used to create horror, the men's voices are very comic like and cliche relating to the idea that it is based on the comics. Moving onto to the vault, more diegetic sound is used to show the high tech machinery they have, suggesting they are intelligent as it is all planned out. Also the locking mechanisms on the vault itself show the high level of security of the bank and it takes professionals who know what they are doing to unlock it. The last two guys are left and a comedic aspect is introduced as the guy says "what bus driver" and ironically the bus crashes through the building crushing him. The last part of the scene uses non diegetic sound to create a dramatic reveal to the audience, which makes the audience shocked as they didn't expect it.

Narrative: The scene starts with masked men setting up equipment for what looks like a big heist, this gives the audience an idea of what is going to happen. The camera mainly focuses on one man, making the audience realise that this is an important character, he is later revealed to be the joker, the master mind behind the bank job. Usually a film of the action genre would start with the protagonist in a chase or gun fight however this features the 'baddies' with the hero no where to be seen. The men then start to steal money from the bank and once each of their particular job is done, their buddy shoots them until we are left with one man, the joker. This shows that these are dangerous men and are not phased by killing, this is quite selfish and brutal and portrays the joker as a ruthless, violent character that he is. The scene finishes with the joker leaving the bank alone, giving the audience an idea of who the joker is and the danger that comes with his name. As this is a the second in the dark night trilogy it would already have an established audience who know the Batman story therefore the director didn't feel that there was need for the protagonist being in the opening scene.

Genre: The film opens and throws the audience into a fast paced heist which excites them and creates tension, this is a typical type of opening for an action film to do. There are many of aspects of the opening that hint that this is an action film such as the non diegetic fast pace music which is used to create suspense, this music makes it feel like it is building up to something. Much of the mise on scene also indicates that it is an action film such as the guns which connote death and pain which could foreshadow future events. The masks that the men are wearing create a disturbing image for the audience and increases the thrill factor. From this scene the audience get an understanding of the main villain who will be the main focus for Batman. However still leaves the audience asking lots of questions such as why is the joker so ruthless? and where is batman?, all which will be answered in the remainder of the film,
hooking the audience and making them watch more.