The Dark Knight Rises - Genre Specific Film Opening Analysis

The dark knight rises is a action/thriller film released in July 2012. The film generated $1.085 billion at the box office which shows how famous and popular the film is now and was on release. The film is of the same genre of my film opening and has a intense start to it, introducing the main enemy of the film in the opening scene. However, Batman isn't introduced until later on because everyone already knows who he is, where as Bane, hasn't been seen before in the series of Batman films. Therefore, people need to know who he is early on. 

At the start of the film opening, the CIA agent asserts his dominance by having his hands on his hips and so the audience and everyone around him know he is someone of importance. Also, the agent is positioned in the centre of the frame meaning he is what everyone looks at. Also the camera gradually moves in towards him through the use of a dolly, meaning the character is able to assert his dominance more as he takes up more of the frame. In addition, the CIA agent introduces himself as just CIA therefore, suggesting that he doesn't know many other CIA agents and has little contact with others and so in his mind he is as big as CIA itself, giving him more reason for him to be asserting dominance over others. 

A establishing shot is used when the people are on board the plane. This is to introduce the setting around it and let the audience know of their surroundings.  Moreover, the shot starts with low key lighting however, becomes lighter as the camera pans round the plane. This is because of shadows disappearing as the plane moves along. The camera also ends up level with the plane where as, at the start of the shot the camera was looking down upon the plane. As the camera moves closer to the plane, there is less of an establishing shot and more of a focus up on the plane, drawing the audience's attention towards it.

Moreover, the use of a dolly is used effectively for a few seconds during this opening scene. The use of this dolly is unique as the camera is moving upwards rather than forwards. This is to show the hole in the plane that has just been created, late on into the scene. This adds variety to the shots and shows the audience whats just happened and what's been created.  Also, instead of the camera zooming in the camera moves forward towards the thing that it wants to focus on, in this case it wants to show the audience the damage to the plane that the hijackers have just created and the problem that the people now have. 

In addition, the main villain of the film is kept secret for the opening part of this scene through the use of a bag over his head. This use of mise en scene is used and is effective because it keeps the audience in the unknown, in the fact that they dont know who has a bag on their head and therefore, they are yet to find out who the main villain of the film is or be introduced to him. This is until they take the bag off of him when he (Bane) begins to speak. This means that the villain gets introduced on his own and the full attention of the audience automatically gets drawn to him. Also, by revealing the character in this way the audience can get to know what he looks like and how he talks etc. so they can easily refer to these characteristics later on in the film. Bane also is unusual to everyone else in the way that he speaks and his appearance, especially through the mask that he wears. The film makes Bane like this and so he stands out from everyone else and can be easily recognisable and shows that he is different from everyone else, as he is the villain of the film therefore its a trait they normally have. 

The opening scene comes to an end with characters and a plane travelling away from the camera, showing them become smaller and smaller. This blends well with the fade out transition that is used to end the opening scene. Moreover, the last face we see in this opening scene is the face of Bane as this is the most memorable face in the scene and the most important to remember. In addition, the scene ends with Bane escaping, showing that he is a threat and letting the audience know if they didn't already that he is the main villain throughout the film. The shot of Bane and another person being towed along by a plane is the ending shot of the scene and shows the equilibrium after the disequilibrium that's occurred, using todorov's theory. 

Furthermore, when analysing the sound during this opening scene, the voice of Bane is particularly effective. The line "No one cared who I was until I put on the mask" suggests that Bane was a no body before he decided to have his mask and become a villain, no one cared who he was because he didn't have anything interesting about him. Also, the lines " You're a big guy" - "for you" suggests that Bane is a problem for them, the CIA, and everyone else who isn't supporting him. This gives the audience the impression that he is a dangerous man and isn't afraid, because all though he is tied up, Bane still threatens them. Moreover, the camera shots when the CIA agent and Bane are having this discussion are very effective and sticks to the 180 degree rule as it uses shot, reverse shot, to pan between the two characters as they speak. The shots also include over the shoulder shots and dirty shots, increasing variety of the shots and keeping the focus upon the two of them that are speaking. 

In conclusion, this film is of the same genre to my film opening and therefore the mise en scene, lighting, sound and camera shots etc. are all helpful for helping me to consider ideas for my film. The use of camera shots and mise en scene in this opening scene I find especially effective because of the way they introduce Bane and where the scene is set. This film opening is very successful in creating the most effective mood possible to have an impact on the rest of the film. The film is seen to be successful as it's one film in many of the famous Batman series, also it generated over a billion dollars at the box office with the budget of the film being at $230 million. This shows just how popular the film was on its release and how they thought it was going to be very successful even in production, due to the fact they were given a huge budget to work with.