Opening Sequence (The Dark Knight)

Released in 2008, The dark Knight was the middle film in Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy; this also included 'Batman Begins' and 'The Dark Knight Rises'. This film is critically acclaimed and viewers have and still think very highly of the film due to its dark and gritty approach of portraying Batman in comparison to other films that have been made around this character. The actor who played the most iconic Joker to date, Heath Ledger, died soon after production which may have further generated interest for comic book hero film.

The Dark Knight follows mainly the action/crime/thriller genre; we know this because the film starts with a bank robbery which gives us a huge hint regarding the genre because there are guns, death and violence straight away, this draws the audience straight in and keeps them interested. There are no opening credits which builds verisimilitude and immerses the audience into the film.

Throughout the film, various cinematic techniques are used; one of these is camerawork. Nolan uses lots of different camera shots and movements throughout the opening of The Dark Knight. Before the film starts we are introduced to the film companies/studios that created and produced the film; from this, we know that Warner Bros and Legendary pictures produced the film alongside DC Comics and this is very conventional to see before nearly every film. The film starts with an establishing shot of a city (Chicago), this tells us the location of the film and the fact it is a city is quite conventional for major blockbuster releases. As the scene opens the establishing shot becomes a zoom; it slowly focuses on a specific building thus giving it some importance.  In this film the director wanted the joker to be introduced to us almost straight away. We are given a small clue to who the joker is when there was supposedly one of joker’s men in the street holding a mask; the camera zoomed in at a low angle showing its significance and possibly hinting that maybe that was the joker. At the time we don’t actually know that it is him because we do not see his face throughout this little section possibly showing he’s a secretive character and doesn’t want anybody to know his real identity. We then go back to the mask men in the building; there is a drop shot as they zip-line form the buildings window which displays the magnitude of the height of their daredevil shot; this is then reinforced with an arial shot soon after.

The opening scene starts by zooming into a skyscraper where we are introduced to two of joker henchmen. We shortly after are introduced to three more henchmen and we find out that the joker has planned the whole robbery but didn't take a lead role in it. However we do find out that the joker was actually pretending to be a henchmen and double-crossed all of his men. This shows the antagonists ruthless nature. When the bank manager stood up he was shooting at Jokers men with his shotgun whilst he was moving closer to them the camera was tracking backwards. One of Jokers men asked "he's out right" meaning he doesn't have any bullets left, the Joker responds by nodding his head; it turns out the manager still had a bullet left - this displays Jokers total disregard for other people and how he will betray and do anything he needs to ensure he achieves his goals. When the bus arrives, the driver has no idea for what Joker really had planned; thus reinforcing the Jokers devious nature.