The Dark Knight Opening

The first thing that the audience sees in the opening of The Dark Knight is the institution logo. The main institution associated with this film is Warner Bros. Their name and logo is extremely recognisable. The screen is very dark which suggests to the audience that the film is going to be dark as well. There are some rolls of thunder in the background which again add the element of darkness and fear.

The audience then sees the next institution associated with the film - Legendary Pictures. This institution isn't as well known as Warner Bros is however it is still a reasonably recognisable institution. There is a very low, barely audible sound which creates discomfort and unease for the audience.

As the third institution logo appears a drum beat starts in the background. The drum beat resembles a heart beat and could be used to again create unease and discomfort for the audience, slowly starting to build the tension.

There are then what look like explosions which separate to show the batman logo. The explosions tell the audience immediately that this film is going to be full of action. The batman logo is very easily recognisable by most people. The drum beat stops as this shot starts and a sustained string starts. A sustained string sounds eerie and sets a tone for the opening shot which is going to follow.

The very first shot of the movie is an establishing shot of a city, this immediately sets the scene for the audience. The sustained string is still playing. The drum beat starts again.

The camera slowly then zooms in to one of the buildings. Then suddenly one of the windows smashes. Already this is telling the audience that the movie is going to be quite fast pace as we're only just over a minute in and the action has already started. The sustained string is still playing until the window smashes. The sound of the window smashing is louder and makes the audience jump, putting them on the edge of their seat.

There is then a close up of somebody wearing a clown's mask holding a gun. The gun adds fear and is a stereotypical prop in action films. The clown mask keeps us detached from character as we don't know who they are. However it immediately engages the audience as they will want to know who he is and why is he wearing a mask.

The camera then pans round to a high angle shot. This creates an element of mystery. In the corner there is another person with a clown mask on, raising more questions with the audience. Who are they? Why are they both wearing masks? What are they doing? There are some fast pizzicato strings playing in the background. The music hear reflects the pace of the film.

There is then a long shot of a man at a crossing. The camera zooms in to a close up of the mask he is holding. The mask is similar to those of the ones being worn by the people in the building therefore the audience will link these three people together. The music then starts to crescendo to help create suspense. At the end of this shot a car pulls up and the man climbs in, putting the mask on his face.

We're then back to a mid-shot of the men in the building, however the camera is from behind and the lighting has been done in a way so that their figures are black. These helps to keep the element of mystery previously created by the high angle shot. The music is gradually getting louder and faster to add to the tension and suspense.


The two people from the building them jump out the window and slide across the wire to another building. There is a crane shot that follows them across showing the danger, suggesting that this film is going to include people doing risky things that create adrenaline. Drums are also used hear to create a gun shot sound, foreshadowing later events.

The camera then jumps back to the car where there are three men with the clown masks on. We then get the first piece of dialogue, one of them says "three of a kind. Lets do this." It then becomes apparent to the audience that all these men are working together and are on some kind of mission. The guy in the backseat then loads a gun suggesting that the action is going to happen fairly soon.

The men then start to discuss their 'shares' they they are going to gain from what they are about to do. This allows the audience to presume that they are going to rob something. There is then the first mention of 'The Joker' who is going to be a key character in this film.

The camera then jumps back to the two men on the roof. They too are talking about The Joker, suggesting to the audience that he is going to be an important character to the storyline. However they have a joke at his expense over the fact he wears make-up showing that there's going to be a comedy element to the film. All of the men are dressed in black to suggest evil and mystery.

There is then a low angle shot of the men climbing out the van. The low angle shot is used to make the audience feel dominated by the characters. In this instance they are dominated by them as the audience are still not fully aware of what they are doing. They then look around the street before running up some steps in a building.

Once they have entered the building, one of the men fires off a gun. This indicates to the audience that the action is about to start. Screaming starts which will help to reinforce the element of fear for the audience.

This is followed by a long shot of the men running through the building and it becomes apparent to the audience that they are in a bank which means that we can assume they stealing money. The men start shouting at the workers telling them to put their "hands up and heads down".

One of the men then pulls a worker over the desk and onto the floor. This shows that there is going to be frequent violence throughout the film. There comedy element also returns when he refers to the worker as 'pal'.

Next is a close up of some kind of gadget that the men are using the help break into the bank. The close up shot tells us that it's going something important.

We are then taken back to inside the bank where there is chaos and panic. Having the shots quickly jump between the two scenes helps the pace of the film.

On the roof the men appear to be having a problem with the gadget, however it becomes clear to the audience that this is all part of the plan when one of the men kills the other. This makes the audience wonder why all of a sudden they're turning on each other.