Opening scene comparison

1. OPENING SCENE
COMPARISON
By Kareem Lyew-Sang

2. THEMES
• The opening scene of the dark knight shows that one of themes is violence as it
shows the joker harming others as steals from the bank. People who would assume
to be innocents but it also shows crime as the joker is committing the crime of
robbery in the scene. In Bruges opening it also has a theme of violence as the
narrator of the first part of the opening says that he killed someone but it then goes
on to seem more humorous while still having a dull tone.

4. CHARACTERS
• The characters shown in the opening scene of the dark knight it portrays the a
strange villain type character and a victim of the villains crime. In Bruges it shows a
older man with a young man who you can only assume is the one that was narrating
over the beginning who had committed a murder. The difference between the two
is that in the dark knight it's very clear what role the characters are playing
compared to In Bruges which has characters we don't really know about and are still
confused by.

6. DEVICES
• The devices used in the dark knight opening is the use of what seems to be a villain
driven plot and leaves the opening scene on a cliffhanger leaving the viewer to think
about what the joker may do next. In Bruges it uses a narrator in at the start and
multiple establishing shots which also leaves the viewer in a guessing situation in
the opening scene. The key difference being the dark knight leaves the guessing for
after the opening sequence which different to In Bruges making guess at the start of
the opening scene.

8. PROPS AND COSTUME
• In the dark knight the key props used are guns, a tear gas canister and a mask which
is used to cover the jokers face.The dark knight also has a kind disturbing clown
look for the joker using make up to give him dark eyes and a white face and red
smile over his scars to fit comic book persona the film is trying to portray. Also has
the owner wearing a suit to show that he is the owner and make it clear to the
audience. In Bruges there are not many props and the costume is a bit more plain
and bland using more generic clothing nothing that stands out too much. Which
helps fit with the dull tone it gives of. Also they are wearing matching clothes which
shows that they know each other they also both have bags by their waist.

10. LOCATION
• In the dark knight opening it uses city of Gotham which is shown in the day time
and the rest of the scene is in the bank which is also fairly bright. This could be a
way of showing that the joker has no regard for time of day he commits his crime.
Therefore the director has used the location to show more about the villain. In
Bruges it uses very dark setting at the beginning when the narrator is talking about
the murder and the situation but then moves onto Bruges which seems like a very
bland and boring place. One of the characters in the scene even goes on to say that
it's "a sh** hole" and the characters seem to put focus on the location rather than
themselves. This shows that they different as the dark knight uses its location to put
focus on villains character compared In Bruges which uses the characters to put
focus on the location.