The Dark Knight Opening

The film opens with a wide, establishing, aerial shot of a building in a big city. Match on action with window smashing ensures that the audience follows the scene as it progresses. The high angle inside the building gives an overview of the scene, and also gives the feeling of a small room. The camera follows the robbers out of the building, then looking down, giving the idea of being a third robber, and makes the audience feel 'with' these robbers, as if they are the characters we are meant to follow in this sequence. Slowly building music creates a build-up, creating suspense and tension. There is a beat in the music, and the scene synchronously cuts to the audience's introduction to Heath Ledger's character, The Joker.

This shot is very carefully composed, giving a closed framing. The suit is very dark, silhouetting him, forcing the audience to focus on his mask and the bag. There is a buildup of music as we track into him, which then cuts back when the car pulls up. This helps the audience to know that this particular robber is important. All the while, the smooth motion of the camera shows how carefully the heist was planned, and introduces us to the style of the Joker's crimes.

In the car, one of the robbers says "I know why they call him the Joker." We then cut to one of the rooftop robbers saying "So why do they call him the Joker?" This content matching shows that all the robbers are thinking about exactly the same things. The "he wears makeup. To scare people" line creates suspense - we've seen the trailers, we know exactly who he is. This first mention of him is

Upon exiting the car and entering the building, the camera follows the robbers and uses a low angle, giving them power in the scene. Upon entering the building, the camera particularly follows Heath Ledger's character, further emphasising his importance in the film as a whole.

Inside the bank, the music begins to build, as the shotgun man shoots one of the robbers. Simultaneously, another one of the robbers is electrocuted whilst attempting to break into the bank vault; this is the proverbial 'volta' of the scene. This is where the little guy makes a comeback; or so it seems. This creates a huge moment of drama in this scene.