Analysis of the Opening to the Dark Knight

The film opens with a wide establishing shot of the skyscrapers, zooming in towards a seemingly unimportant point, the intense music in the background crescendoing, building the tension. The shot then changes to a mid shot using match on action, after the audience hears the sharp enhanced diegetic sound of the window breaking. The window is carefully placed just off to the left of the centre of the frame, which is known as being the side with more power.

The action then moves to outside the building with a mid shot of a different man, his face hidden from the audience, creating a sillouette effect. The man's all black clothes causes your attention to immediately be drawn to the clown mask he holds, linking him to the previous men who where wearing similar masks. The shot then crosscuts back to the other men, accompanied by a synchronous change in the sound. The camera follows the men out of the window and we see a high shot of the road, making the audience feel a part of the action themselves and conveying the danger of the situation. Several non diegetic bangs are then added to further build the tension as the camera pans across following the men on the zip line.

The idea of you becoming a part of the action is reinforced by the next shot, where the camera appears to be inside the car, making it appear as if you are there too. The story is then furthered through a series of mid shots following the mens progress through the bank. We then see a shot of two men in the frame, one carefully placed behind and to the left of the other, slightly out of focus, making them seem threatening. The audience then see for the first time how corrupt the mission is as the man behind shoots the front man. After this the music crescendos further until a man approaches the vault when it cuts out almost completely only leaving a quiet ticking hinting that the time is running out.

The opening ends with the two remaining men facing off through a series of shot reverse shot, close ups of each man building your emotional connection to them, this is then suddenly shattered along with the wall of the bank, as a bus drives straight through it crushing one of them, causing a loud enhanced crash, a contrast to the previous quiet audio.