The Dark Knight Rises opening analysis

The Dark Knight Rises is an action thriller by director Christopher Nolan, the films protagonist Batman is threatened by a stronger more powerful antagonist Bane who terrorizes Batman’s mental and physical state by attacking the things most precious to the Protagonist.

Conventions of the thriller genre are complied with in this opening scene. The first 35 seconds used a variety of shots such as an establishing shot at the beginning of the scene that sets the theme of isolation, the audience knows that if something is to happen no one is around to help. This shows the danger of the situation and so builds suspense keeping the viewer interested. Different angles are also used that results in different effects, for example at 2:01 and 3:40 the camera angle is low and pointing up at Bane, this gives him a more predominant and powerful role especially as the camera shakes at 3:40 this makes it seem like Bane is in complete control overpowering everyone, by doing this the audience become more fascinated by his character because he was initially portrayed as weak when hidden underneath the bag. These shots give a lasting impression of Bane that foreshadows his power over the weak that is portrayed later on in the film.

The music used is non-diagetic and synchronous to the scene, the music makes use of orchestral instruments with a pounding drumbeat that creates a dark sounding theme, it also gives off a military feel that shows the conflict that is predominate in the film. The suspense is created from the pounding drumbeat that coincides with the intense action happening on scene, the audience is left to anticipate the next shot.

The editing used is fast paced to correspond to the music used, Nolan uses invisible editing to keep the flow of the scene, invisible editing is when the action on the scene is more predominant and draws away attention from the editing, and this helps to keep the audience engaged to the scene. Fast cuts are used to help keep the tempo of the scene, it also gives the audience a wider view of the action that is taking place, by doing this the audience is given a deeper understanding of the situation that is shown in the scene, therefore interest is triggered.

Mise en scene is used in various ways throughout the opening title, costume can be used to portray different emotions or meanings and attracts the audience’s attention. An example is the Government agent who is seen wearing the color blue, this can represent the agent as a weaker and more vulnerable character. However, Bane wears a black attire with his signature mask, black can represent evil or darkness and the fact that Bane wears black shows that he is the embodiment of evil. The most important prop in these scenes is Bane’s mask, the mask makes Bane who he is it strikes fear within other characters and even the audience due to the secret of the mask that is not revealed, he is often referred to as the “masked man”, this creates a sense of mystery surrounding Bane and interests the audience to watch on and find out just what makes this masked man so dangerous. Movement on the scene shown by Bane is rapid and steady with confidence, this conflicts with the agent’s movement, this is shown particularly at 1:48 when the government agent slowly crouches and removes the bag over the man’s head revealing Bane, the fact that the agent slowly crouches shows the gravity of the situation and shows the fear that the agent is feeling. This movement creates tension as the audience is eagerly anticipating what will happen next.