Dark Knight Genre Specific Opening Scene Analysis

The Dark Knight (2008) is an action-thriller movie produced by Warner Bros. It follows the story of Batman protecting Gotham City from organized crime and criminals, especially the Joker. I decided to research and analyse this film opening because it is specific to our genre of action thriller and it will give us inspiration for producing our film opening based around the same genre. 

Camera

The first significant shot in this scene is a contra zoom shot of a window breaking in a glass building block. This infers that shot a grappling hook to get over to the opposite building, suggesting that an organized crime such as a bank robbery is going to happen. This follows the conventions of action thriller because it keeps the audience intrigued.

The next shot that is also significant is the mid shot of the Joker with his back turned and facing the street while the camera zooms in onto the clown mask that he is holding. Because the camera zoomed in on to the clown mask, it suggests that it will become important later on in the scene. It also suggests that he wishes to conceal his identity before performing a bank robbery along with some of his henchmen.

This two shot of a henchman with a clown mask stood behind another is quite significant. It suggests that the person behind is going to kill or stab him in the back in order to suggest that he wants to bigger cut. Therefore, he kills him once his job is done in the hope that he himself can take a larger section of pay from the bank robbery. 

The final significant shot in this opening is this contra zoom mid shot of the Joker looking down on the bank manager that he just shot. It suggests that he asserted dominance over the bank manager by nearly killing him with his sub machine gun. This creates an archetypal villain by showing him look down on the manager, a position of power, with higher superiority and probably disgust at him. 

Editing

The effective use of editing really makes the narrative in this film opening very clear. This scene doesn't have any flashbacks but does have some cuts and makes good use of parallel editing throughout the scene. Therefore, it makes the story line extremely clear.

Parallel editing is used throughout this scene to show different narratives happening simultaneously. For example, this is first clear when the part with two henchmen disabling the bank alarm cuts to a part when the Joker enters a car with two other different henchmen. Once the Joker and his other henchmen enter the bank, it cross cuts back to the two henchmen on the roof. It then shows that henchman killing the one disarming the alarm. Once that happens, that henchman runs down into the bank and starts drilling a hole in the safe. It then cuts back to the Joker and his main henchman performing crowd control until they are confronted by the bank manager, who shoots the other henchman performing crowd control with a shot gun. 

Once the Joker finishes confronting the bank manager, the camera cuts back to the first shown henchman trying to open the safe. This time, Joker's main henchman comes to assist him but once the other henchman finishes opening the safe, the main henchman kills him and starts stealing all the money in the safe by spilling it into multiple duffel bags. It then cuts back to the Joker standing with the main henchman that just brought over the duffel bags filled with money. A confrontation between the Joker and his main henchman then occurs but it then ends by the main henchman getting run over by a bus. Another henchman then comes out of the bus and starts putting all the money filled duffel bags into the back of the bus. Once he finishes doing that, the Joker shoots him dead as he is of no use to him anymore. This further reinforces the Joker as a powerful villain because it shows he can dispose of any henchman he wants to at any given time.

Sound

The sound used in this film opening is extremely effective in helping create a very important and captivating opening. It ranges from music and various different parts of dialogue to help shape a truly intriguing and great way to open a movie.

First of all, the atmospheric and fast paced music at the start slowly speeds up and creates tension right before important parts of the scene happen. This helps the audience feel the tension of the opening as it is a delicate operation of a bank robbery right at the start of the movie. The tense music conveys the tension felt by each of the henchmen in order to perform their jobs well and efficiently to ensure that the bank robbery is a successful operation. 

The first piece of dialogue is between two main henchman at the front of the car debating the cut each person gets while also talking about who they think the Joker is. The next dialogue starts when it cut to two other henchman on a roof, one of them asks the other why the person they are working for is called the Joker. The other responds by saying the Joker wears make up or war paint to scare people. This is significant because all of this is happening while each of the henchmen perform their designated tasks. 

The next piece of diegetic noise is when Joker's two main henchmen start shooting the roof of the bank to alert the tellers and crowd that they are going to be robbed. He tells them not to put their hands in the air and instead gives them all grenades to hold on to and them telling them that their lives are in their own hands. 

After that, it cuts back to the two henchmen on the roof disabling the alarm. The one disabling the alarm says :"That's funny, it didn't dial 911 it dialed a private number. The henchman behind him responds by saying "Is that a problem?" and the other henchman says "No I'm done here" before the one behind him shoots him in the back. 

The music then becomes deeper with sudden thudding noises suggesting that the tension is building up during the course of the robbery and that it is going lead to a dramatic climax. This keeps the audience engaged and informs them that something is going to happen. 

The next significant diegetic noise is when the bank manager shoots one of the henchmen on crowd control in the back with a shot gun. This becomes relevant because it scares the Joker and the other main henchman into hiding from the bank manager so that they don't get shot as well. 

The next significant dialogue is when the main henchman comes over to the guy opening the safe. The henchman opening the safe says "The Joker said when the guy was done I can take him out". The main henchman then replies by saying "Funny, he told me something similar" before shooting the other henchman dead. 

The penultimate peice of dialogue is between the Joker and the main henchman. The main henchman says "I bet the Joker told you to kill me once I finished loading the cash. The Joker says "No no I killed the bus driver". The henchman then says "Bus Driver?" before getting run over by a bus crashing through the bank.

Mise-en-scene

The use of mise-en-scene is extremely effective in this opening scene. The fact that the setting is a bank and probably a real bank shows that the directors tried to make the film opening as realistic as it could possibly be. It is also filmed in a metropolitan setting giving the impression that a similar bank robbery could happen in a real life setting. 

The use of clown masks for the Joker and the henchmen to conceal their identity shows the juxtaposition of a comical clown with a tough group of thugs robbing a bank. However, the clown masks are also used to be intimidating to the crowd as some people do have a pshycological fear of clowns and the fact that they are performing a bank robbery makes it even worse for those people. 

Scream Non-Genre Opening Scene Analysis

Camera

The first shot of the opening scene is a close up of a phone ringing. This is really significant because it is foreshadowing that the phone will become important later on in the scene. Furthemore, it suggests that there will be a conversation on the phone between two characters that are important in the film.

The next significant shot is a crane shot moving down from focusing on a tree branch all the way down to a swing attached to it. This shot suggests that the tree and the swing will become more significant later on in the opening scene, possibly inferring that someone or something will be hung from the tree branch.

Another shot that becomes significant is a mid shot of the girl next to knives in a kitchen. This is again foreshadowing that one of the knives will be used to kill someone or that the killer on the phone will use them to kill her or somebody else.

The most significant shot after that is when the camera contra-zooms from a mid shot to the girl's face after the guy she is talking to on the phone says :"I want to know who I'm looking at." This is significant because it captures the emotion of fear and confusion on her face at the moment in the film opening. It also shows the sudden realization that she is being watched by the person that she is talking to.

Editing

The editing in this opening scene from scream is quite effective because the lack of transitions used allows the film opening to flow and the narrative is easier to understand as it is linear without the use of flashbacks.

It does have a slight cut from the woman being in the house to a shot of a tree outside the house. The other significant editing in this opening is the graphic match between the woman staring out of the window and a quick pan shot of the outside of the house. This is important because it gives the impression that she is looking around the area for the killer that she is on the phone to. It also suggests that something important will happen later on outside of the house.

Sound

This opening scene from Scream uses sound very effectively to build tension straight away. For example, the non-diegetic sound of a person screaming before the start of the scene instantly suggests that the film is of horror genre and that there will probably be many killings during the course of the film.

The next significant use of sound the diegetic noise of the phone ringing at the start of the opening scene. This infers that someone is trying to get hold of the girl in the house and engage in a conversation with her over the phone. It also infers that the phone is key to the effectiveness of this opening scene.

The most significant use of sound in this opening scene is the dialogue between the woman and the killer over the phone because most of the diegetic sound in this scene is on the phone through a conversation. The most intriguing piece of dialogue is when the killer says "You never told me your name" and then the woman responds by saying "Why do you want to know my name?". After that the killer replies by saying "because I want to know who I'm looking at". This possibly the most significant part of this conversation because it becomes clear that the person the woman is talking to is outside her house.

A further effective use of sound is when the swing on the tree is creaking. This suggests that a hanging may happen from a tree branch later on in the scene and that it may be the girl or somebody else that is killed and then hung up on the branch.

Mise-en-scene

The use of mise-en-scene is also key in keeping with the codes and conventions of the horror genre during the course of this opening scene from Scream. For example, the foreshadowing of the image of the knives in the kitchen suggests that something significant in will happen later on in the scene that will involve the knives.

The next significant use of mise-en-scene in this film opening is when the girl's boyfriend is revealed strapped to a chair with duct tape around his mouth. In addition, he also has some blood on his clothes. All of this conforms to the conventions of horror because some one's loved one is trapped and nothing can be done and also the significance of the blood on the boy's clothes suggests that he will be killed the man with the scream mask.

Force Awakens Non-Genre Opening Scene Analysis

                                                                                                                                                               

Camera Shots

The first camera angle that is used the long shot. This used to show the vast size of the star destroyer and also suggest the grandeur of the first order and space behind it. After that, a tracking shot is used to focus on a smaller space ship that just flew out of the large star destroyer. This suggests that it is foreshadowing that the ship will become important later on in the scene. The next camera angle that is used is a close up of a stormtrooper's helmet which suggests that that stormtrooper will become more important later on in the scene. After that a long shot is used to show all of the stormtroopers in a small single spaceship which shows the power of the Empire as they have many more troops. The camera shot used next is the establishing shot; it firstly focuses on a dark sky to suggest it is nighttime and then the camera moves downwards to show that the scene is in a desert. Consequently, the shot used straight after is another establishing shot to show that it is set in a small village on desert terrain.

The next shot that is used is an extreme close up of a man's hand placing a small pouch into another person's hand which suggests that what is in the bag could be the main focus of the film. In the next part of the scene, a close up of an old man's is used to suggest that he is a character of some importance and is also the donor that sends one of the protagonists on their journey. The next shot that is used is a dirty shot because the camera is focusing on the old man's face; however, it is obstructed by the protagonist's head. Following that shot, a two shot is used to display the 2 characters having a conversation inside a hut. An over-the-shoulder shot is used following the previous one to focus on the protagonist's face suggesting they are an important character in the film.

The following shot that is used is a dolly zoom close up shot to show that the droid is of importance. The next shot is also a close up zoom but of the protagonist. After that, a wide shot is used to show the protagonist running out of the hut. Consequently, the next shot used is a POV shot through the binoculars of the character which then focuses onto a small ship. Following that, a two shot is used to show the two characters that were previously having a conversation. The camera shot that is consequently used is a wide shot to display a ship landing. It immediately switches to a fast pan to show the amount of ships that have landed. A wide shot is then used to focus on one of the small ships opening and stormtroopers coming out of it. An arc shot is consequently used to show the amount of troops invading the village. After that a birds eye view shot is used to show the extent of the army of stormtroopers. A wide shot then focuses on the stormtroopers coming out of a small space ship that was earlier focused on in the scene. A series of low shots is consequently used to show people trying to fight off the troops getting shot. Another low shot is used to show more stormtroopers coming out of  a ship. Consequently, a wide shot is used to show the protagonist running from the village; this quickly switches to a tracking shot as it is focusing on the movement of the character. The next shot that is used is a close up of Poe's head inside his X-wing, followed by an extreme close up of the controls inside his ship. The next shot used is a dutch tilt which quickly steadies into a close up of the cockpit of the ship. Following that, two close ups are used: one of the BB-8 droid and one of Poe inside ship. In consequence, a close up shot shows the gun at the bottom of his ship but this quickly switches to an arc shot to show the perspective of the gun.

A wide shot is then used to show 2 stormtroopers coming from a distance, which is quickly followed by a close up of Poe's face and then a close up of the gun firing a laser. After that, a two change shot is used to show 2 different perspectives of the troopers dying. A tracking shot is then used to show Poe jumping out of his ship. A mid shot then focuses on the old man Poe was talking to. An extreme close up is used to show Poe's hand removing a device from a pouch. After that, an over-the-shoulder shot is used to show Poe giving the device to his droid. A close up shot of the droid is used after that. A low shot is used to show Poe talking to his droid. Consequently, a match-on-action close up is used to show Poe leaning against a boulder with his boulder. The next shot that is used is a close up of a dying stormtrooper. An over-the-shoulder shot is used to show the dying stormtrooper wiping blood onto another trooper's helmet. This shows that he is different to everybody else as he now has a blood stain on his helmet. The camera then focuses onto the trooper suggesting that he is an important character. A series of close up and mid shots then focus onto that trooper. The next shot is a wide tracking shot showing another starship landing while also focusing on the storm troopers capturing villagers.

Another wide shot is used to show troops moving villagers but then the camera pans onto two troopers and what appears to be a stormtrooper commander walking with the trooper with the blood stained helmet. The camera again focuses onto that trooper with a medium shot. A wide shot is used after that to show two troopers capturing the old man.  The camera again focuses onto that trooper with another medium shot. An establishing shot is consequently used to show the top of a ship while then moving downwards to focus on the doors of it opening. It then focuses onto Kylo Ren once he walks out of it. An over-the-shoulder shot is used to focus on the old man with Kylo Ren obstructing the camera. Another over-the-shoulder shot is used, this time focusing on Kylo Ren. A low angle two shot is then used to display Kylo Ren and the old man conversing. Another over-the-shoulder shot is used, again focusing on Kylo Ren. An arc shot is then used to focus on Kylo Ren walking away. After that, a two change shot is used to show the different perspectives of Kylo Ren removing his lightsaber. Another two change shot is used straight after to show Kylo Ren striking the old man down with his lightsaber. A medium shot is then used to show Poe aiming his blaster. This is then followed by a close up of Kylo Ren using the force to block Poe's blaster laser. A mid shot of Poe is consequently used. A wide shot then shows Poe struggling against the force. A tracking shot is then used to show Poe getting captured by two stormtroopers. An over-the-shoulder shot is consequently used to show Kylo Ren talking to Poe. A dirty shot is then used to focus on Poe's face.

This is followed by a mid shot of Poe being held up by two stormtroopers and then another dirty shot but of Kylo Ren. A tracking shot is used to follow the guards escorting Poe to the ship. The camera then pans onto a silver storm troopers suggesting they are of high importance. It then switches to a wide shot of 3 stormtroopers but the camera slowly zooms in on the middle one which is the one the one with the blood stained helmet seen earlier in the scene. This is significant because he is the only trooper that is not shooting which suggest he doesn't want to kill innocent people for the first order. A tracking shot is used to show Kylo Ren walking but it then shows him turning around and looking at the stormtrooper that didn't shoot anyone. A two change shot is then used to show Kylo Ren and the trooper looking at each other suggesting that they will meet later on in the movie. A close up of BB-8 is then used while showing the reflection of explosions in his camera eye. A wide shot is used to show BB-8 looking at the explosion. The camera then focuses close up of BB-8 looking upset suggesting that he thinks his master is in danger. A low angle shot is then used to show BB-8 moving into the distance, however, another droid with red eyes turns pops out of the sand suggesting that he is a droid being used by the First Order to look for BB-8. The droid also makes a strange noise suggesting that he is possibly communicating to someone about BB-8.

Editing

The editing in this scene was quite effective but some parts of the scene were cut as the person that uploaded the video wanted to make the scene fit into a 5 minute video whereas the actual scene in the film was considerably longer than that. I feel like this slightly ruined the flow of the scene as it felt quite jumpy. Apart from that, the way the camera angles combine to create different perspectives on a part from the scene; for example, when Kylo Ren kills the old man with his lightsaber, different camera angles are used to provide different perspectives on that part of the scene. Despite all of this, it is still clear that the death of the old man is a major part of the scene. Moreover, this emphasises the bloodshed that Ren wishes to cause until he finds the details of the map to Luke Skywalker.

The lack of basic transitions in this scene allows it to flow continuously without the interruption of commonly used ones such as fades and wipes. Therefore, it is clear to recognise that the scene looks professionally edited in order to allow the audience to understand the narrative of the entire film (forces of good and evil battling to find Luke Skywalker).

On the other hand, the use of parallel editing clearly illustrates the narrative of the film, especially through the use of cross-cutting at the beginning of the scene.  In this part of the scene, the stormtroopers are inside a small ship; the use of low-level lighting inside it suggests that they are working for an evil force.

  This juxtaposes the other part of the scene when Poe receives the map from the old man through the use of warmer colours and lighting in comparison to the part of the scene happening simultaneously in which the use of dark colour portrays the characters in it as evil. In this part of the scene, the old man and Poe are inside a small hut which seems more peaceful than the regimentation of the stormtroopers inside a small space ship. Therefore, it is clear that these groups of characters are in opposition with each other due to the juxtaposition of colours and typical conventions of good and evil in these different scenes.

The two parts of the scene collide once BB-8 rushes in to the hut to alert Poe about the impending threat of the stormtroopers arriving. Poe then rushes out of the hut, and looks through his high-tech binoculars to see multiple land-ships of stormtroopers advancing towards the village. As soon as all of the stormtroopers exit the landships and open fire onto the village, Poe rushes to his X-wing and enters it. He then uses the blasters on his ship to defend the village from the stormtroopers. This clearly shows parallel editing as the two parts of the scene culminate in a conflict at the exact same location; that location obviously being the village.

Sound

At the start of the scene, when the landships from the superstar destroyer fly out, orchestral music is used which then speeds up when a series of camera shots focuses on the inside of a stormtrooper landship. Furthermore, the increased speed of the music suggests that the landships are closer to approaching the planet despite the audience only seeing shots of the stormtroopers inside of a landship. This also foreshadows that a disruption in the equilibrium of a peaceful village on a desert planet is about happen.

Much more peaceful and softer music is used when Poe is talking to the old man which further emphasises that it is a mutual and peaceful encounter between the two characters. However, the music increases in speed and becomes more dramatic when BB-8 tells Poe that the First Order are about to attack the village. This also heightens and emphasises the tension within the audience so that they know for certain that the disruption of an equilibrium, which was created through the slower and softer music, is about to happen.

When the stormtroopers do attack the village, the soundtrack becomes more dramatic to mirror the conflict and bloodshed that they are causing. This also makes it easier for the audience to understand that this a tense moment in the film and to emphasise that the majority of the action will be battles between forces of good and evil.

The majority of the diegetic sound that is used in the opening scene is dialogue between the old man and Poe Dameron. However, this conversation is cut short by BB-8 communicating through a whirring noise to Poe that an attack on the village is imminent. After that, only simple lines of dialogue are exchanged: Poe says:"You need to hide" and then the old man says "You need to leave". Moreover, this emphasises that Poe is in a hurry to leave the village in order to avoid being captured by the First Order.

The rest of the diegetic sound that is used is when Finn starts to breath heavily after a dying stormtrooper rubs blood onto his helmet. This suggests that Finn is panicking and is unsure what to do after losing a fellow comrade. Furthermore, the use of heavy breathing makes the audience feel that they are in the same situation as Finn and that they can feel sympathy for what he is going through at that particular moment in the film. Therefore, this makes the opening scene much more effective thanks to the use of particular diegetic sounds at that point in the scene.

Mise-en-scene


In this part of the scene, it is clear that the character is a stormtrooper as he is wearing white body armour and helmet with a black visor. However, the blood stain on his helmet suggests that he is different from the rest of his fellow troopers. In this part of the scene, he is the only stormtrooper leaning down trying to save a fellow trooper which suggests he doesn't feel like he can be part of the First Order.

Second Preliminary Task Evaluation

The exam board set specific guidelines that we had to follow for our preliminary film task (e.g. mise-en-scene, 180-degree shot, shot-reverse-shot etc.) which consisted of specific movements and camera angles that we had to feature in our film.

Continuity film task including filming and editing a character opening a door, coming into a room and sitting down on a chair opposite another character, with who he/she exchanges a few lines of dialogue with.

Preliminary Task Evaluation

What was the purpose of the preliminary task?

The purpose of the preliminary task was to show a variety of camera angles including match-on-match action, 180 degree rule and eye-line match in our films. It also helped us understand the basics of these camera angles and how to use them effectively along with continuous and smooth editing. In order to make the film look professional we had to use these camera shots effectively.

What difficulties did you face?

We faced a few difficulties while we were shooting the film; for example, there was quite a lot of background noise which we had to remove while we were editing the film. In addition, we also had problems with lighting as we couldn't get the highest quality lighting to make the film look as professional as we possibly could.

How did you plan out the shots?

We discussed in a group how we wanted the camera shots to be done and how we wanted then to be implemented in our film. We also took several camera shots multiple times to make them as good as possible. This ensured that we corrected any mistakes that were made in previous camera shots.

What did you learn about continuity editing?

We learnt that all of the shots had to smoothly flow so it was suitable in a chronological sequence. In addition, we had to make sure the audience didn't think it was not thought through when it was edited.

What did you learn about the demands of filming a sequence?

To effectively plan a film sequence, we had to draw a storyboard of all of the different parts of the scene. This made sure we made no mistakes while we were filming our preliminary task.

Small Group Preliminary Film