Opening Sequence Analysis - The Dark Knight

Opening Sequence Analysis - The Dark Knight

The opening sequence of The Dark Knight (2008), directed by Christopher Nolan uses a mixture of micro features, which blend together to give the film a tense, suspenseful 'feel' to the film. Whilst the opening sequence may not actually introduce any of the characters of the film (being a sequel, it doesn't need to really do this anyway, the dialogue of the characters in the opening, the bank robbers, is used to try and add a ‘mystery’ vibe to this man, ‘The Joker’ they are constantly referring to. Even though The Joker never actually shows his face in this scene the audience soon begin to realize that he is among the bank robbers themselves. Even though the audience has never seen The Joker before, they know which one of the robbers he is, juts because of the way he is described by the bank robbers. The scene is tense because every is waiting for the big reveal, they want what The Joker is going to do- the audience know he is crazy, despite only being introduced to this character five minutes ago.

Even though many of the audience members would know that they are going to see a Batman film along the same lines as the first (Batman Begins), some audience members may go into the film not knowing anything about it. The Dark Knight is, ultimately, a film of the superhero but it is highly influenced by other genres of film such as gangster, thriller and action. One of the bank robbers mention that “only a crazy person would rob a mob bank”, which shows that this film isn't about the gangsters being the ones in control this time- they aren't the ones doing the robbing, they are the ones being robbed. This clearly shows how, while the film may explore some aspects of the gangster film genre, it is about something more this time, something “bigger” than the gangsters.

One micro feature which is used to create ‘mystery’ and ‘suspense’ is sound, and how it uses different forms of non-dietetic and dietetic sounds to gather a response from the audience. The non-dietetic buzzing sounds start as soon as the opening credits do and it builds up even more throughout the opening, mixing with traditional non-dietetic music, before eventually being ‘smashed’ at the same time the glass is broken. Whilst a traditional film opening may use a track song, this film blends the non-dietetic and dietetic sounds together, so they are ‘one’ with the film, which helps to stop and start the tension.  The sound used here is worked around the narrative of the film, almost done so that you do not notice it as it just feels natural in correlation with the scene.

Finally, another good micro-feature which is used to good effect here is mise-en-scene. The guns and suits are used to show the film borrows from the more ‘actiony’ genres, but the clown masks used for the robbery show how it remains quite separate and unique from the norm, whilst also helping to establish the narrative for the story and the character The Joker.

Matt Healey