The Dark Knight- Opening analysis

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0OYBEquZ_j0

From the opening of this film we can see that the genre is action/crime. This is shown by using guns, masks, weapons and a bankraid to reinforce the genre. The fact that two of the characters high wire across the city shows the adrenaline rush normally given by a sterotypical action genre. The bankraid gives the crime aspect of the film. The narrative shown from the opening is a bankraid and doesn't really give away as to what is to happen in the rest of the film. However, it could show that this is the beginning of the antagonists bad behaviour and what the protagonist is going to have to deal with throughout the rest of the film. In the opening of the film we are only exposed to one main character which is the antagonist and some sub characters who appear to be apart of his alliance. We can tell who the antagonist is because he is the only one who survives the raid showing he is the leader.

The atmosphere is intense and can be quite worrying for the audience as the alliance appears to be against eachother. The opening contains quite a few charcaters death which is unusual to have at the start of the opening adding to the intesity of what is going to happen throughout the rest of the film. Some themes which can come across to the audience from the opening are crime, death, weapons and violence. these all reinforce the films genre and are sterotypical themes of an action film. The setting of the film appears to be in a big city, this is shown through the use of long shots to show big sky scraper type buildings and a city bank. This could hint that the city the film is set in is going to tbe the target for the antagonists actions. Throughout the opening there is some background music which uses staccato and big drum chords to build tension. It begins quiet and builds up as the opening gets more intense.