The Dark Knight Opening Analysis

By Connor Cummings

The first shot is an establishing shot of a large building within a city. The way in which the camera

zooms in on this one particular building suggests that it will play a significant role in the films

gradual development. The sudden breaking of the glass with a cut to a mid shot of a clown holding

a weapon indicates to the audience that we are viewing the action from the antagonists (the

clowns) perspectives.

he mask and this helps to emphasise the clowns authority. The mise-en-scene is effective in this opening as clowns are usually seen as scary, monster like creatures that are designed to frighten people. A classic example of this is Stephen king’s ‘It’.

to immerse the audience and this helps to create a thrilling moment. The birds eye view shot gives the audience a sense of how d

The over the shoulder shot of the clown in the back reveals a gun. Guns are connotations of death and this shows to the audience what is on the clowns agenda. The fact that he never speaks along with the diegetic click of the gun suggests that he has n

eps the audience focused on this character and hints that this clown will be an important individual for the entirety of the film. The director is constantly giving the audience clues through the use of editing and camera shots to leave us anticipating

e can be distinctly heard by the audience as she shouts ‘No!’ and this suggests that she is in possible danger. The heist is constantly being shown from different locations to ensure that the scenes in the bank are not prolonged. This can be seen as the

he ground and holds a gun at her head. This mid shot shows the clowns dominance over the female and has a much deeper meaning that evil can corrupt people’s minds into harming innocent people. We also see from this shot the fear that the clowns have put

renade to symbolise its destruction. The diegetic click of the grenade pin being pulled and this closeup helps to show how dangerous the situation has become. One clown says ‘holding on for dear life’ which grips the audience as we don’t know if a grena

ic with the noise of the cutting into the metal creates a very distorted, creepy sound that makes the audience feel uncomfortable. The colour of the set is very similar to that of the car scene as it intended to represent the coldness of the evil clowns

presses his dominance in this scene. The way in which the main clown reacts to hearing the shotgun suggests that the clowns are now in danger. The editing of each clip is very precise and lasts no longer than 5 seconds. As the manager gets closer to the

The mid shot of the main clown is very effective as when he shoots the manager, he tilts his head as if inquisitively looking down at who his victim is. The music becomes very quiet and changes dramatically to imply that he is lost in the moment. This a

teract, the use of eye line match shots are effective as this helps to build tension between them as if they are having a showdo

e been describing his appearance this whole time and this helped to create the mystery of the character. The close-up on the jokers face reveal the scars and white skin. What makes this character so terrifying is that even when he is not wearing a mask,