The Dark Knight Rises opening sequence The Dark Knight is
thriller/action film directed, produced by Christopher Nolan. Based
on the DC Comics character Batman, the film is the sequel of Batman
film 2005's Batman Begins. Christian Bale plays the lead role of
Bruce Wayne/Batman, with a returning cast of Michael Caine as
Alfred Pennyworth, Gary Oldman as James Gordon and Morgan Freeman
as Lucius Fox joins Batman and the police in combating the new
rising threat of a criminal mastermind calling himself the "Joker"
Heath Ledger.
Slide 2
Setting and location The first shot in the dark knight, it
straight away shows the location, the establishing shot shows the
viewer that there in a big city, typical to the thriller genre.
This shot is an extreme long shot. Most batman fans would know this
city as Gotham city. The text location you get shown is a large
bank, which you know from the establishing shot is in the busy city
of Gotham. This shot helps contribute to the representation as it
suggests the characters shown are attempting to rob the bank, which
make them the antagonists of the scene
Slide 3
Mise en scene-Props The props in the opening scene play a big
role in portraying the characters, as you never get to see the
faces of any of the antagonists, so you cannot see any emotion on
there faces. Guns are shown through out and are used in killing an
intimidating the bank workers, so the guns show us how the robbers
our ruthless and sinister. Close up of the mask to show its
importance, massively contrasts against the black clothing of the
person holding the mask. The mask is typical to the film as the
main protagonist is a man with clown make up, this mask foreshadows
his involvement Used to create fear as clowns are perceived as good
and happy while this mask is being used for evil, so big contrast
Suggestive intentions robbery. The shot is not just focused on the
mask but also the bag showing they both have importance
Slide 4
Mise en scene -props Guns, implying the robbers intentions of
violence. Implying robber may be an experienced criminal helps
shape the character Everything's black, jacket, gloves and guns,
firstly contrasts against the lighting making him out as sinister
and an antagonist. and also portrays him as evil and the bank
workers good Mask stands out against the black which suggests its
importance in the scene. Mask intimidates the viewer as
Slide 5
Lighting and colour In the opening title sequence, there is
only one protagonist, the bank worker which tries to rebel against
the robbers, in all the shots the protagonist is always in some
form of light, natural light through the window, or under the
lights on the wall, the lighting is subtly conveying him as being
the good guy and highlighting his good intentions the men is this
scene are in a building with no light, while its light outside,
this conveys to the viewers that these two men are antagonists as
they are in the dark and darkness suggests evil and sinister
feelings Finally when the protagonists is trying to shoot the
robbers they are always in the dark and a shot reverse shot shows
the protagonist in the light, then the antagonist is the dark,
which is also subtly showing the fight of good vs. evil through the
colour of the lighting, what is also significant is evil wins and
the protagonist gets shot, which gives the viewer an idea of what
kind of film this is; a sinister dark one.
Slide 6
Camera In the dark knights opening scene the Establishing shot
tells the viewer of the current location which is a big city, and
gives us an idea of how big it is. Big city's setting are typical
to the thriller genre as it conveys realism and the feeling no
where is safe Apov shot of the masked men driving off in a car,
used to show the viewer props, the gun which connotes violence and
the masks which covey evil and the unknown Low angled shot makes
the robbers looks less dominant and weak, also connotes they are in
trouble and in imminent danger Close up of a man holding a bag and
a mask, a close up us used so the viewer can see the importance of
the mask and bag.
Slide 7
Panning, tracking and zooming In the dark knight opening
sequence panning, tracking and zooming are used a lot for conveying
some of the films main themes, firstly tracking and zooming are
used in the opening establishing shot, they allow the viewer to see
a full view of all the buildings for it then to zoom in on a single
window to show the robbers. The next use of these shots is when the
camera zooms in on a man holding a clown mask and a large bag,
showing the viewer that the man in the shot is a antagonist. When
the camera zooms in to the mask it tells the viewer its
importance.
