Research into an action opening scene

 

The Dark Knight Rises opening scene:

 

This opening scene starts with about 5-10 men on a plane, three of them with bags over their heads. We assume that these men are victims to the guy who is asking them questions, until we hear that he is asking about Baine. After one of the men with a bag over his head is shot, and then thrown out of the plane, just before the next one gets shot, the third one speaks. This third one is then revealed to be Baine, who then talks for about 30 seconds, only to reveal that he is going to crash the plane “with no survivors”. Four men then jump out of another plane, onto that plane and shoot the majority of the people inside. Then, Baine grabs the doctor who refused to work with them and holds onto one of the grappling wires that is attached to the other plane, so he doesn’t die in the wreckage. This is how the scene ends. We can expect this film to be about Baine, and obviously Batman, as the film is part of the Batman trilogy. We can expect it to also rely fairly heavily on the doctor, as the entire purpose of that opening scene was for Baine to be able to get to doctor. This film’s target audience would most likely be men or teenager boys, as it shows elements of violence and action which stereotypically appeals more to the male gender.

 

The genre of this film is set up really well in this opening scene. It starts right away by shocking the audience, as they are led to believe that they guy who is throwing people out of his plane is the bad guy, until Baine reveals himself. This is then followed by a gunshot action scene, along with Baine punching the man who’s plane it is in the throat. This is then followed with Baine, leaving a man behind in the plane, and hanging by a rope from another aeroplane, whilst holding onto the doctor. Not only does this perfectly foreshadow the action to come later in the film, but also sums up what a super villain is.

 

 

There are quite a few characters introduced in this opening scene. There is the man who is asking all the questions, and throwing people out of his plane, along with a few of his soldiers beside him in the plane. There are two other men with bags over their head, and Baine, and also 4 men who rappel down from their plane onto the one that Baine is in. The main characters, however, are Baine, the doctor, and the man who is throwing people out of his plane. Baine is the main villain in the film, and clearly the mastermind behind the plane that is taking place, which is why he comes across as important in the scene. The doctor is the reason that Baine is on the plane, so we know that he is relevant to the rest of the film. Finally, the man who is throwing people out of his plane is also important as he is one of the roles with a lot of dialogue in the scene, which leads us to believe he is of importance.

 

 

The camera work is very effective in this opening scene. It starts with an establishing shot on the plane. This paired with the dramatic, non-diegetic soundtrack leads us to instantly believe that something is going to happen on this plane. Also, even when Baine is kneeling down, they use a low angle on him to make him seem more intimidating and stronger, like a super villain should look. This also reflects how vulnerable and weak the others are in comparison to him, and how they are now in serious danger.

 

 

The non-diegetic soundtrack plays through almost all of the scene but turns off for the first bits of dialogue until the men from the other plane rappel down. This use of the soundtrack is very useful because as this opening scene is full of action, the audience can then know when the action scenes are later going to happen by identifying the same section of the soundtrack when it's played. Also, as the action gets more intense as does the soundtrack, and it becomes synchronous and parallel to what’s on the screen. As the soundtrack speeds up, as does the pace of shots. In the most intense part of the action, the shots become faster and shorter to reflect the true urgency and tension of this part of the scene.

 

 

I believe that this is a very successful opening scene. Since the previous movies in the trilogy have obviously included Batman, they use the opening scene of this film to introduce the villain. They portray him as a strong, smart and powerful character, and as the biggest task batman will have to face yet, which sets up the rest of the movie. Also, it leaves the audience with questions, for example: why was the doctor so important to Baine? Who was the man at the start, throwing people out of the plane? What relevance does this have to Batman and Gotham? This opening scene leaves the audience on the edge of their seat whilst simultaneously introducing a very powerful supervillain in all his glory.