https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yqvbv-SB4bg
One of my favorite opening scene that I will like to share with the class is from “The Dark Knight”. The Dark Knight is a 2008 superhero film directed, produced, and co-written by Christopher Nolan. Featuring the character of the DC Comics character Batman and other. The film is the second part of Nolan’s The Dark Knight Trilogy and starring  Christian Bale and the late great Heath Ledger. In the film we see Bale character Batman  goes up against the criminal mastermind played by Ledger as the Joker. The reason why I find this opening so compelling is cause it just sets the mood for the rest of the movie and shows the audience what the character the late great heath ledger played is capable of. We see in the first 5 or so minutes a bank Robbery in progress. During this scene we see the robbery talking about the mastermind while trying to complete their job. As the job is finishing up we see them turn on each other so that way their is less money to split. In the end it turns out that the mastermind “The Joker” was actually  part of the group of thieves and is the last one standing. Now when I first saw this scene I’m pretty sure I had the same reaction as everyone else which was surprised that he was one of the unknown mask men robbing the bank. The music changes as he reveled that he was not the same as the dead thieves but that he was better then them the true  genius not some hire gun.
I absolutely agree with you Ese. This scene is definitely a great opening sequence for this movie. It also draws the audience in to the Joker character. The scene portrays how powerful and cunning the character is and how he leaves his mark in the movie as well. The camera shots in the scene very well aided to the story such as the one where one of the robbers (Ledger) was standing on the street holding a mask as the camera slowly zooms in on the mask. The shots have also aided to the eerie sense of these opening scenes. These scenes are also a terrific introduction to the main villain, Joker. They start to see how maniacal and heinous he truly is. As a filmmaker, I like to anticipate things so I guessed who the Joker was using some visual clues. Overall, the mystery of it all was ingenious indeed, having the audience ponder about the Joker as his workers questioned about meanwhile the Joker, himself, was present in the robbery himself. He was disguised as one of the workers. That is just a brilliant opening that serves justice into the rest of the film.
I love the soundtrack to this scene. Its called Why So Serious and the entire soundtrack for the movie is by Hans Zimmer. The scene is un-naturally calm for a bank heist. The people seem scared but not panicked, almost as if they know they can be quiet and not disturb the main action in the scene, the robbery. Also the robbery seems to go incredibly smoothly with everything working together like a puzzle piece. Maybe that is how the joker is portrayed, as a perfect mastermind but the amount of gunshots not discovered by the other members of the crew or even the ease they intercept the silent alarm seems unreal. The focus is on the heist crew and it’s filmed and scored perfectly to frame them as the important pieces. The reveal at the end is well done, even when you know its coming. Its flaws are masterfully masked and even when you see them its not a detriment to the enjoyment of the scene. The music masks the strangely quiet people and the gunshots somehow get glossed over. Its almost like every room is isolated from the rest of the building in a strange way.