The location is the first thing that is presented to the audience in the opening sequence, as the camera swoops down over the city targeting a certain glass building. This is one of the main aspects of an opening sequence, to create the location, as this it gives the audience a sense of where the film will take place, and even the genre of the film. It can create this through our understanding of films; for example if the first location shot is of a built up city (like in The Dark Knight) then the genre would probably be either action or thriller, and probably not western or comedy. Also due to the sun shining at the beginning of the film, a structure of time is given, therefore sequences containing horror will probably not be found at this part of the film, as they are usually set at night. During this location shot tensional music is played which straight away entices the audience, as we know something is about to happen.
Immediate action is created at the start of this film, as a gun is fired out of the building the camera was focusing on, smashing the window. Therefore this is probably the first disruption in the film, meaning that there was no equilibrium. This is probably because the director of the film wanted to instantly create action to get the audience motivated, instead of setting an equilibrium, as the audience probably knows what the equilibrium would be.
The characters that are included in the opening sequence are then introduced. These are the villains in the film, and are instantly recognisable as are all wearing masks intending to be the Joker, including the real Joker who is one of the protagonist characters in the film. All of the villains are disguised in this sequence, by the masks they wear. Keeping the villains anonymous at the start of the film is common in many films, as it makes them more mysterious, this is usually achieved by there face not being shown or being disguised as someone else. All five of the Jokers then enter a bank suspiciously, also indicating they are the villains, and begin to fire guns. Here tension is created to again entice the viewers as the mockery Jokers begin to threaten and kill each other, as well as the civilians in the bank. As well as the villains a false hero is created in the opening sequence who attempts to fight back at the Jokers, however fails when is killed by the real Joker.
The most important thing an opening sequence should do is create enigmas, which are to be answered throughout the film. Enigmas are what keeps the audience motivated through the film, as questions that are created need to be answered. Such enigmas are created in the opening sequence like:
- Who are the villains under the masks?
- Why do they need all of this money from the bank?
- Will they succeed in stealing the money?
- Wheres the Batman?
From researching this opening sequence for The Dark Knight, I have learnt that immediately grabbing the attention and imagination of the audience is key. This is because if the Batman film had not instantly drawn the audience into a sequence involving action then the opening sequence would have been poor. This is as, we as an audience, expect to see action in a film like The Dark Knight. However it just depends on the genre of the film, as when making our film we may not entice the audience through action, but we still need to successfully grab their attention.
No comments:
Post a Comment