The opening scene of The Dark Knight establishes the antagonists as a group of armed clowns robbing a bank. Through the use of camerawork and editing, one clown in particular is singled out and his identity remains ambiguous until the end. During the tense bank heist, power shifts between the clowns and a bank manager who fights back, escalating the danger. The scene climaxes when the lead clown is revealed to be the Joker through a close-up of his scarred face, establishing him as the main threat and source of insanity.

1. The Dark Knight Opening Analysis
By Connor Cummings

2. The first shot is an establishing shot of a large building within a city. The way in which the camera
zooms in on this one particular building suggests that it will play a significant role in the films
gradual development. The sudden breaking of the glass with a cut to a mid shot of a clown
holding a weapon indicates to the audience that we are viewing the action from the antagonists
(the clowns) perspectives.

3. The scene then cuts to a mid shot of an anonymous individual who is the only clown so far that is on his
own. The way in which the camera zooms in on his mask and the fact that he is alone gives this clown its
own entity. The zoom in on the mask lasts for nearly ten seconds to make the audience aware of this clowns
importance. The non-diegetic background music increases as we see the mask and this helps to
emphasise the clowns authority. The mise-en-scene is effective in this opening as clowns are usually seen
as scary, monster like creatures that are designed to frighten people. A classic example of this is Stephen
king’s ‘It’. The director chose the members of the heist to wear clown masks to highlight the ruthless
attributes that the clowns show. This clown never speaks and this also helps maintain audience curiosity
and keeps them hooked. When the car pulls up in the next shot, the music becomes fast again to show the
continuation of the heist

4. The next shot is a tracking shot that follows the two clowns out of the building. The music
increases to a loud ‘boom’ sound to immerse the audience and this helps to create a thrilling
moment. The birds eye view shot gives the audience a sense of how driven these clowns are to
achieving their goal and also hints that they are approaching their target.

5. The use of montage editing is very effective in this opening scene as it helps show different stages/
perspectives of the heist. Inside the car, the use of lighting helps to build to the dark atmosphere as it is
dimly lit to show the evilness of the clowns. The over the shoulder shot of the clown in the back reveals a
gun. Guns are connotations of death and this shows to the audience what is on the clowns agenda. The
fact that he never speaks along with the diegetic click of the gun suggests that he has no emotions towards
others and that he is more of an animal. The masks are effective as they disrupt the audience from seeing
any of the characters emotions and helps to build to their profiles.

6. When the clowns exit the car, the low angled camera tracks along with the anonymous clown
who was originally on his own. This keeps the audience focused on this character and hints
that this clown will be an important individual for the entirety of the film. The director is
constantly giving the audience clues through the use of editing and camera shots to leave us
anticipating how the scene will unfold. This is useful as it creates an enigma based around the
identity of this character

7. When inside the bank, the camera continues to track with the action to allow the audience to see every different
perspective to persist in involving them with the action. The opening is very tense right from the start and this is
due to the fast action and crisp editing involved to do this. When one of the main clowns goes over to the woman,
an over the shoulder shot is used to show the audience how relentless the clowns are. The pure shock on her
face helps to emphasise this. The diegetic sound of her voice can be distinctly heard by the audience as she
shouts ‘No!’ and this suggests that she is in possible danger. The heist is constantly being shown from different
locations to ensure that the scenes in the bank are not prolonged. This can be seen as the first half of the
opening, each scene is no longer than ten seconds each. The fast pace of action with the editing helps create
suspense as the audience are left guessing how the opening will end. The next scene is the clowns on the roof
and the masks are very effective as we see a closeup of the nearest clown. This close-up really shows the lack of
emotion that the clowns have and it is hard to think that there is a human behind them.

8. Our suspicions of the female being in trouble in the previous scene, have now been clarified when we see the
clown pull her to the ground and holds a gun at her head. This mid shot shows the clowns dominance over the
female and has a much deeper meaning that evil can corrupt people’s minds into harming innocent people. We
also see from this shot the fear that the clowns have put into people as they are all sat on the floor with their
hands above their head, begging for mercy

9. The opening advances to reveal the main clown attaching grenades to the civilian’s hands. The
camera cuts to a close-up on the grenade to symbolise its destruction. The diegetic click of the
grenade pin being pulled and this closeup helps to show how dangerous the situation has
become. One clown says ‘holding on for dear life’ which grips the audience as we don’t know if a
grenade will go off. The suspense is increased when we see the male above shaking as he holds
the grenade because don't know if he will let go under pressure.

10. The action then cuts to a clown from the roof using a tool that will supposedly get him into the
bank’s vault . This is a tense moment for the audience as we are curious to see if they will be
successful in robbing the bank. The non-diegetic background music with the noise of the cutting
into the metal creates a very distorted, creepy sound that makes the audience feel uncomfortable.
The colour of the set is very similar to that of the car scene as it intended to represent the
coldness of the evil clowns. The shot then cuts to banker shooting one of the clowns through his
office window. We now witness a sudden change of power and this represents the good fighting
back against evil

11. The main point in these 3 images is that there has been a reverse in power as the mid shot of the manager
holding the shotgun expresses his dominance in this scene. The way in which the main clown reacts to
hearing the shotgun suggests that the clowns are now in danger. The editing of each clip is very precise
and lasts no longer than 5 seconds. As the manager gets closer to the clowns, the camera quickly changes
from each perspective to excite the audience. The length of each clip becomes very short, no longer than 3
seconds and this could possibly represent the quickness of death

12. The mid shot of the main clown is very effective as when he shoots the manager, he tilts his head
as if inquisitively looking down at who his victim is. The music becomes very quiet and changes
dramatically to imply that he is lost in the moment. This all adds to the mystery of this character as
his identity is still yet to be revealed

13. After taking the money, the audience instantly tell that the main clown is in more danger as we can
tell just by hearing the diegetic click of another clowns gun. The music continues to slow down to
entice the audience in the moment. When the two clowns interact, the use of eye line match shots
are effective as this helps to build tension between them as if they are having a showdown. The
camera never breaks the 180 degree rule and this is vital in any film during dialogue as it limits
audience confusion. We hear the main clowns voice for the first time and immediately this makes
us question whether he is the main antagonist in the film (i.e the joker)

14. When the clown finally reveals his true identity, the audience confirm that this is the joker.
The other clowns in the heist have been describing his appearance this whole time and
this helped to create the mystery of the character. The close-up on the jokers face reveal
the scars and white skin. What makes this character so terrifying is that even when he is
not wearing a mask, he is still a clown. This shows his sheer insanity in which the manager
reacts to in sheer horror. The joker leaves the bank undetected as to which point, the
opening ends