Batman: The Dark Knight directed by Christopher Nolan

I have decided (finally) to study the opening from Batman: The Dark Knight. The Dark Knight is the second film in Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy, which is a reinvention of the classic comic book character by DC Comics. I really like the idea of a 'revival' - to take something that has been considered campy by many and reincarnate it into a darker, gritty, more realistic series is quite a fun idea. In this film, Christopher Nolan and his team have reinvented a couple of essential characters - The Joker and Harvey Dent (Two Face).

The opening of this film does not use a title sequence. Instead, we are put right into the action - a bank robbery, in this case. The opening starts off silent as music slowly fades in, dialogue becoming more and more common as the scene progresses. The music during this scene is a variation of "Why So Serious?", the Joker's unofficial 'theme' in this film. Lighting and sound effects remain constant throughout the film, and help to convey a sense of moodiness and violence, which is important in a crime-fighting series.

The setting of the film is Gotham City, a metropolis overrun by criminals and gangs. Most law enforcers and officials are also corrupt, to add to things. Because Batman only comes out at night (he is a billionaire businessman by day) the setting is usually night-time, hence the city is very dark. In scenes shot at day, there is a considerable amount of dirt everywhere, very few places can be considered clean (or pure).

The Dark Knight is an action film with dark themes and supporting visuals. It uses a lot of special effects (and an incredible performance from the late Heath Ledger) so I presume its target audience are mostly males between their late teens and early thirties.

As I have said, I am a big fan of reinventions and gritty adaptions. I absolutely love this film, and I think Heath's performance as the Joker was outstanding (and in some parts chilling). I believe the opening has a lot of links to later in the film (metaphorically, only aspects rather than plot) and so I hope it is the appropriate choice for my film study.