Analysing Opening Sequences-The Dark Knight (2008)

Opening part 1
Opening part 2

As the company logos appear, dramatic, tension building sound effects can be heard. The subtle yet dark symbol of Batman appears through the smoke, immediately setting the mood of the film and engages the audience's attention. A straight cut takes us to the first scene; Gotham City. The non-diegetic instrumental music gets louder as a zoom in camera movement takes us closer and closer to one building window. There are no credits appearing anywhere which tells the audience that they want us to concentrate only on what is happening. Although the audience know that this is a super-hero film that is going to include unrealistic events, the lighting and setting makes it look like a everyday scene making the super-natural seem realistic, almost automatically bringing the audience simply into another city rather than a whole new way of life. The window then explodes so the audience get their first taste of action. However, the music does not change which is a sign to the audience that this is not the main focus of the opening sequence, that there is still more to come which keeps the audience hooked and wanting more.

The first characters in the story are then shown to the audience. Instead of having normal, everyday robbers in balaclavas, the audience are introduced to criminals who are all wearing different clown masks. The clown masks are a symbolism of fear; although clowns are supposed to be people that make you laugh, there are many who have a great phobia of them. Therefore, when there is a focus on one robber and another zoom in shot takes us closer to his mask, the audience suspect that there is possibly more to this robber than meets the eye and so we are wanting answers already from this opening sequence; who are these clowns and why is this one (shown above) the main focus?
As a car pulls in the scene to pick up a robber, the non-dietetic music then changes to an even louder sound that is more dramatic, creating a constant build of tension with the music. Once the currently unknown character is in the car, the audience receive a small amount of information about the narrative: "So why do they call him the Joker?". The joker has been one of the most famous villains in comic book history, so the audience already have a brief idea of what this character is going to be like and we also know that he has organised this robbery. The robbers in the story, however, have only heard rumours about him: "I heard he wears make-up!"



The audience then get what they have been looking for as the action begins. As the robbers enter the bank, there are strong on-screen diegetic shot guns and screams of the bank's customers sound effects which gives them a dramatic entrance. This particular part of the opening sequence has a tracking shot; this allows the audience to follow their every move which makes them feel more involved in the film. This also adds excitement to the opening sequence.


Action then turns into danger as the people in Gotham City Bank's lives are literally in their own hands. A bank worker than appears and misleads the audience into thinking he is going to stop the robbers and save everyone. Another twist then occurs as the clown shoots him (this is done again with powerful and dramatic diegetic sound effects). 

The narrative then becomes more clearer to the audience as each robber kills the one who did the last job (like disable the alarm or open the safe). We discover how clever and manipulative the Joker is by how he has organised this bank robbery. To make the opening sequence even more entertaining, comedy is added as one robber thinks he has sussed out what is going on but is too late as he is hit by a bus: "no no no no... I kill the bus driver" Yet there is still the hook for the audience as we do not know where or who the Joker is.

The opening sequence comes to a heavily dramatic and yet massively entertaining end. The Joker finally reveals himself to the audience with a memorable, dark line "I believe that whatever doesn't kill you simply makes you...stranger" and a creepy evil grin.