The 9 shot film analysis summarizes the opening scene of "The Dark Knight". It begins with an establishing shot showing wealthy city buildings and zooming into a window to build tension. Subsequent shots analyze characters and their interactions, including an over-the-shoulder shot of a masked antagonist holding a gun near a smashed window. Later shots show three masked men in a car discussing their plans, then an antagonist threatening a civilian. The sequence climaxes with a betrayal captured in a POV shot and a long shot showing a bus crashing into an antagonist. Non-diegetic music builds tension throughout while diegetic sounds like dialogue and screams are also used.

1. 9 shot film Analysis

2. The dark knight
In this presentation my aim is to produce a nine shot analysis on a
similar film to our media assessment. To do this I will need to analyse a
thriller opening scene. In this case, the opening sequence is from the
dark knight.
The Dark Knight is a British-American superhero
film directed, produced by Christopher Nolan. The dark knight was
released in the year of 2008 and is based on the DC Comics super hero
known as Batman which was originally a comic which was written by
Bob Cane. The movie is the sequel to Christopher Nolan’s previous film
“ Batman Begins”. The narrative of the film centres around crime
between the protagonist; Batman/Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) and
the antagonist; The Joker (Heath Ledger). The genre of the film is a
crime thriller as it has many generic conventions which connote to the
audience that it is of a crime thriller genre.

3. Establishing shot
The establishing shot in this sequence
shows the location of the opening scene.
In this case, we can see large buildings
which connote to the audience that it is
being set in a wealthy environment. The
shot shows a city landscape on a sunny day
which is used to show that it is a normal
day. During this shot, non diegetic music is
being played in the background. Non
diegetic music means that the music is not
being heard by the world of the film. The
ambient music is very tense which signifies
to the audience that something is about to
happen. During the establishing shot a
camera technique is used. The technique
used is the zoom. The zoom is used to
make the audience focus on particular bit
in the establishing shot. In this case, it is
used to be zoomed into one of the
windows. This also builds up tension and
suspense.

4. Over the shoulder shot
In this shot we see a high angle, over the
shoulder – medium long shot which allows
the audience to look down on the characters
to focus on to someone who appears to be
the villain. This is supported by the props
being used by the antagonist. In this
case, the props being used are the gun, the
mask and in the setting there is a smashed
window. The mask is also used to hide the
antagonists face. This is a narrative enigma
in the genre of a thriller as we do not know
who he is and why he has broken the
window. The mask is also a generic
convention as it is used in many different
thrillers to hide the identity of the
antagonist. The music is still very tense and
is also very much non diegetic. Compared to
the first scene, diegetic sound was used
when the antagonist broke the window.
Diegetic sound is when the sound can be
heard by the characters in the world of the
film.

5. Long shot
This shot used is a medium long shot which
is transferred into a close up of the mask
using the editing technique of the zoom.
This shot is used to show the body
language and clothing of one of the
antagonists. The antagonist appears to be
fairly out of place as he is wearing very
dark clothing and is holding a mask on a
bright sunny day. As you can see, his body
posture is very normal and still which
shows that nothing really is going on. This
zoom is mainly used to focus on the mask
to show that he is an antagonist. The mask
is also used to hide the identity of the
character. This is generic convention and
also a narrative enigma. The mask is used
as a connotation for horror which
foreshadows later events in the film.
Another narrative enigma in this shot is the
prop of the bag. By seeing this shot we do
not know what's in the bag which makes
the audience wonder why he is holding it.
The music is the same. This is very tense
and is used to signify to the audience that
something is going to happen.

6. Over the shoulder
In this shot an over the shoulder
shot is used. The shot shows
the audience, three antagonists
wearing a clown mask. The
masks are used to illustrate that
they are the antagonists. The
shot is used to signify to the
audience that these antagonists
are about to do something evil
as they are driving to a specific
location. This is also illustrated
by prop of the gun which is held
by the antagonist in the back
seat. Dialogue is used in this
scene. Dialogue is also another
form of diegetic sound. The
background music is once again
non diegetic. During this
scene, the music is gradually
increasing in tempo to denote
suspense and tension.

7. Over the shoulder shot
This shot shows an over the shoulder
shot of the antagonist speaking to a
civilian. The shot is used to show the
facial expression of the civilian. As we
can see she is very scared due to the
fact that her workplace is about to get
robbed. The shot also shows that the
camera is at a slight low angle shot.
This is used to show that the civilian is
the vulnerable person in the scene. The
clothing of the women shows her
working class. As we can see she is
dressed very smart. This shows the
audience that she has a good job and is
of high class. The clothing of the
women also shows the audience that
the antagonists are about to rob a
business atmosphere as everyone
apart from the antagonists are all in
suits. The music is still non diegetic.
This builds up tension. Diegetic sound is
also used as the civilians in the scene
are screaming. This means that the
characters can hear this in the world of
the film. Masks are still being used to
hide the face of the antagonists.

8. POV shot / Over the shoulder shot
This shot is a medium close up, it
shows a clown in the background
about to kill the one in front. The
shot is blurred at the back
(shallow focus) to connote the
clown at the front is the main
focus in the shot. The music is
non diegetic and the dialogue is
diegetic. The props used are a
gun and this is to show how he
betrays his fellow antagonist.
During this scene, the music is
gradually building up in tempo to
add tension and suspense. This
forecasts an incident later in the
scene.

9. Close up shot
This close up shot is
showing the calm facial
expressions on the
actors face and the
Mise-en-scene which is
the suit he is wearing
which connotes the
high class person which
he is. While the shot
shows the man to be
calm and high class, the
non-diagetic music in
the background is
building up in the
background to foresee
an action shot which is
lead to engage the
audience later on.

10. Over the shoulder shot
The over the shoulder shot
shows his fellow antagonist
to be under threat from the
gun that is being pointed at
him. The over the shoulder
shot is used to show what
the antagonist is pointing
at. Also, this shot shows the
frame reference in the shot.
The diegetic dialogue tells
us about the betrayal that
he is doing and how the
other antagonist is in an
dangerous situation. The
music in the background is
therefore low and allows
the audience to still feel
that an action shot is to
take place as the man
under threat is still not
shot.

11. Long shot
The long shot shows
the bus crashing into
the antagonist by
another antagonist.
The man with the
suitcase full of money
is shown to be run
over therefor the
money is now in
jeopardy. The camera
angle is looking up at
the bus to show that
the bus is superior
than anything else in
the scene.