Craig's thriller openings.

The Dark Knight
Camera work and editing
The opening scene to the Dark Knight is a bank robbery scene, it is a quick paced sequence with quick cuts. The first shot is an extreme long shot, establishing shot, it zooms from a long way back into a tall glass building, this is when we are first introduced to a character, we see a window smash then, a quick cut to a man, wearing a clown mask, holding gun that fires a zip wire across the city and on to another building, the bank which they are about to rob. We are then introduced to another man, and begin to see this as a big operation and not just a few men robbing a bank, whilst the camera zooms in on the mans hand, we see he is holding a clown mask and also part of the operation, the camera zooms slowly on to the mask, a car then aggressively pulls over by him, and as a contrast to the previous shot he quickly gets in to the car before it drives off.

We are then taken back to the men in the tall glass building, who are just about to zip wire across the road, we see an extreme long shot, birds eye view so we can see the long way down to the road, the cuts in the scene are very fast, this gives us the impression that this is a well organised operation, and that timing is crucial in what they are doing. We are then taken back to the 3 men in the car. The camera is in the back of the vehicle looking forwards to the men in the car, they are getting guns ready to use whilst driving towards the target. The shots are getting progressively quicker, as the pace picks up it brings us in to the event.

Back to the men now on top of the new building, they get out a bag, then break open a metal box. These shots are all looking towards the men in masks, as if we are a spectator of what is going on. The shots are also getting much quicker as we the audience get ready for the robbery. Now the men pull over in the truck along side the bank, they quickly get out and run in to the building. We still get the impression like we are spectating the events as we are always over looking what they are doing and never get a point of view from the men. The camera still has very quick cuts, and the camera often cuts in to a new place where we see the masked men run through. As the men on the bank floor begin to get everyone on the floor, and get ready to take the money that they have come for, we are again taken to the roof, where one of the men in masks shoots the other, adding a lot of confusion in to the events of this opening, as we thought that they were all a team. This sequence is cross cutting, the shots get faster and faster as the scene progresses until the men meet, to rob the bank, this until the man is shot in the back, presumably by someone trying to stop them.

Mise en scene
The first thing that grabs our attention in the film is that the men are wearing clown masks, this is obviously very important to the film, and hides the identities of the men very well, this helps create mystery into the audience and creates great effect. Clowns are a big phobia to a lot of people, and this could be a reason for the choice of a clown. The setting is presumably a summers day, the sky is blue and the area is well lit as if the sun is shining, luring us in to a false sense of security in to what is about to happen. It is hard to get any sense of facial expression or body language due to the masks but we can assume that they would be focused towards the mission.

The props create a good impression in the sequence, the men are carrying bags, which, people associate with robberies as they need them to put money in, this helps to create the scene look a lot more real. The location of the film is a busy city scene, making the robbery look even more daring,