The Dark Knight Analysis

                                                                         (Up to 2:50)

In the beginning of The Dark Knight, we see a medium-close up shot of a man in a clown styled mask smashing a window with a certain object. The camera then proceeds to track around the small room to a high angle shot of the man shooting a wire across to another building below. The camera then cuts to a low angle shot outside the building of a man on the road with a mask in one hand and a large bag in the other, the use of a low angle shot identifies this man as important and powerful, this will also leave the audience questioning what is happening and who this man is, we don't however see this mans face as the shot is from behind him. A car soon pulls up next to him and he immediately puts the mask on and gets in the car. As we know that the clowns are likely to be the antagonists for this part of the film and the audience will think that they are planning to pull off some kind of dangerous act like a bank robbery. As the man gets inside the car, a non diegetic sound of tense fast paced music is played, this will give the sense that something big is about to happen along with the audience thinking that this man may be the leader or have a more important role in this scene.

The music continues as the camera cuts to a birds eye view tracking the two people from the earlier scene zip line across onto the other building - this indicates that they are in 2 groups. The camera then cuts to a shot from the backseat of the car which makes the audience feel like they are there with them. There are a total of 3 people wearing clown masks in the car and at no point during this part do we see any of their faces. The two people in the front of the car are talking about a certain character known as "The Joker", the two people who were originally in the car (the two in the front) are the only people speaking in this scene whereas the man in the back remains silent but is still in shot reminding the audience that is he also in the car with them. This adds to the mystery of the character as his voice is still unheard.

The group on the roof pick up where the last scene left off with the conversation about "The Joker" and this helps us learn a bit more about him. The camera then cuts back to the group in the car and they are seen exiting the car and running up the stairs to the bank. No music plays in the background for this scene which makes the audience focus more on the characters than the scene, this also helps create tension and mystery due to the diegetic sounds being heard only - the camera then proceeds to follow the group inside the bank.

Once inside the bank the camera shows the bank manager to signal that he is going to be of some importance during this scene and may have an effect on how the heist plays out. The camera tracks around the bank and rarely stays still to keep up the speed of what is happening this use of fast camera shots creates a lot of speed and suspense giving the audience a hint of excitement. The music begins to pick back up as it again cross-cuts back to the group on the roof who are checking the alarm system and then the camera cuts back to the clowns who have seized control of the bank - we then see the mysterious character going around unpinning grenades and making the hostages hold them in their hands so they don't explode, this character is still yet to speak. We then go back to the roof and after one clown deals with the alarm system, the other clown shoots him. This comes as a surprise to the audience and tell the audience that these clowns are not to be trusted and are slowly killing each other to get a bigger payday. The man then runs down the stair and enter a room to which the camera pans round to reveal a large vault, as this is a bank robbery, we know that this vault will be very important in the heist.

After this we see a medium shot of one of the clowns who is shouting telling everyone to "stay down", we then almost immediately see the clown get shot in the back and we see the banks manager sat there with a shotgun. This links back to the first shot we see of him when the clowns enter the bank, this will leave the audience will a feeling like they knew he would have some sort of importance and would cause a halt to the heist. We then see the other clowns run in panic and are seen hiding behind a desk, to which one of the two asks "He's out right?" and in response the other clown nods, still not using any dialogue. The clown who asked the question then proceeds to stand up and fire, only to be shot by the bank manager - the other clown rises up and shoots the bank manager. The camera then slowly tracks in to the clown to then possibly suggest that he is in fact the leader of the group. The music becomes gradually silent and then kicks in with the tone used previously to suggest that there is no more danger for the robbers.