Thriller research - The Dark Knight

Editing

The first shot of the company logo is very dark and they use a shadow effect which is a typical convention of a superhero as they are normally portrayed at the beginning of the film with a shadow of them in a wall or house. There is also something which seems to look like an explosion but they have used a dark blue and black instead of orange which creates a sense of darkness which relates to the film title. Throughout the opening sequence there are many different cuts which feels as though there is lots of things happening at once, the cuts are very quick just like the storyline is.

Camera shots

Camera shots are a very important part of building tension for a film and within The Dark Knight there are lots of different shots which are used to create tension. The first shot is an establishing shot of a large building which we believe to think is going to be significant to the film. This lets us as an audience know the setting is going to be set in the city/built up area. A zoom shot is then used on a large building which makes the audience wonder what is happening inside the building. Suddenly a window breaks on the building which makes the audience think that something that something unexpected is happening inside the building. Next is a pan shot which pans across towards the left and shows two men who are wearing masks and this shows the audience that there is a crime going on. Due to the masks there is a sense of mystery and we wonder how many other people are involved in the crime. The equipment which is being used is very technical and because the men are using them it seems as though they are experienced with the equipment which means its not the first time that they have committed a crime. Next there is a cut shot to a man stood in the street who is holding a mask and holdall bag. This creates more mystery for the audience because we do not know what he is doing in the street or what is happening. We also do not know what is in the bag which is another reason to be curious. The mask shows that he is part of the crime as it links him with the other people who were in the building. There is also an example of a mid shot when the two men are breaking into the electrical system. We do not know what the building has inside of it and what they want to change or break the electric system for but we know that they must want to steal something otherwise they would not have to go into the wiring systems.

Mise en Scene

The main mise en scene which is used within the opening sequence is the masks that the men are wearing. We know that they must be doing something wrong because they do not want their faces to be seen. This automatically makes the audience believe that they are committing a crime. The fact that they are also wearing gloves makes the audience feel as though they are part of a crime because it stops your fingerprints from being put onto the objects you are touching which would be found through DNA tests. The people that we believed are involved in a crime are all wearing black which is also common of a crime.