The Dark Knight (action)

The Dark Knight was released in 2008 as the sequel to Batman Begins, and as of 2012, it became part of a trilogy, although Warners Bros have confirmed there won't be anymore. The movie had a budget of $185 million although it made over $1 billion at the box office. All three Batman movies were directed by Christopher Nolan and had Christian Bale playing Bruce Wayne who is indeed Batman, the rest of the cast was mostly all A-list, including Heath Ledger, Gary Oldman, Michael Cain, and Morgan Freeman. 

Action movie conventions generally consist of violence, mass destruction, and death. The opening scene to The Dark Knight does adhere to the action stereotype, whereby the first shot exposes us to one man holding a mask and a duffle bag, already we (the audience) can tell he's on a mission, the use of the clown mask suggests he and his men are the villains, as they don't want to be identified, although we later find out the clown mask represents ‘The Joker’, who bases his appearance off of the common court jester. We’re soon told that there are 5 men part of the heist, each with their own speciality that'll be useful for this specific heist, this suggests the main man behind the plan has been planning this for a long time due to the detail and people he has hired, furthermore the plan reflects his intelligent as well as his experience.

The use of the non-diegetic soundtrack creates tension as the bank heist unfolds before our eyes, the soundtrack is parallel to the scene whereby as tension builds the music speeds up, heightening the tension. Non-diegetic soundtracks are extremely common for action sequences as they enhance the action. The use of a suspenseful soundtrack in this opening scene helps the action flow, the pace of the soundtrack varies, the change in tempo exaggerates some of the action. 

The opening scene has a serious yet suspenseful tone, whereby the audience is gripped from the offset due to the violence and lack of knowledge of who the characters are and what they stand for. It appears to be set in the US, specifically Chicago, you can tell this from the bird's eye shot, where the city is established. Additionally, the technology within the scene suggests that it is set in the current day and the narrative of the story will focus on the Joker and his nemesis and will include many more fights and confrontations.

The use of the soundtrack within the opening scene helps to build up the ‘protagonist’. We don't know an awful lot about the characters or their backstory, although we can grasp who is in charge. The scene begins and ends with the protagonist getting into a car, the cyclical structure reflects the simplicity and childlike manner the joker obtains. his costume, in particular, his makeup also represents him as a child. Conversely, the dialogue within the scene represents his intelligence, as no one knows who he is nor that he is present. As the joker unmasks his face the music changes to a more evil and dark tone, highlighting that he is the villain. The Dark Knight's opening scene is really effective at establishing the action genre through the ruthlessness of the joker, as within the opening scene all four of his accomplices are murdered. Although without watching the rest of the movie, one would assume the joker is going to be the main character due to his screen time alongside ruthlessness. Despite being very key in the movie and the opening scene, this is the Joker's first physical feature within the trilogy and DC world, therefore this encounter would encapsulate the audience who have prior knowledge of the film, as they want to fully understand who he is.