Comparing the opening sequences of 'The Dark Knight' and 'Inception'

The thriller genre consists of these main themes: tension, excitement, mystery and suspense. Within both of my chosen films these techniques are expressed and utilized.

Firstly looking at the opening scene of the latest in the 'Batman' series; 'The Dark Knight' the title sequence is very quiet and has some slight ambient sounds, this helps to build tension and and suspense for the audience. It also matches one of the conventions of a thriller opening sequence which is that at the core of the narrative a crime (often murder or assault) is in progress. In this particular scene there is a series of murders and an armed robbery which immediately draws the audience in because it is dramatic and exciting. Another way in which it follows the conventions of a thriller opening sequence is that the antagonist is introduced and it also initiates his personality because it shows the intricate plan of the robbery and how he used everyone to kill each other leaving just him at the end of it all. The shots in the sequence also follow the conventions because the firths hot that is seen is an establishing shot which tell us that it is in a city (Gotham). There is also a lot of handheld shots which help to engage the audience and make it feel like they are really there in the scene. Here is the opening sequence of 'The Dark Knight' http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0OYBEquZ_j0

Secondly looking at the opening scene of one of the highest rated thriller films of all time; 'Inception' we can see that straight away at the beginning during the title sequence the soundtrack is loud and engaging which follows the conventions of a thriller opening sequence. The first character we see is the protagonist and is shown at his weakest by being washed up onto shore and then is later carried to the antagonist. This follows the thriller convention of 'a protagonist who is systematically dis-empowered and drawn into a complex web of intrigue by the antagonist'. It is not explained why he has washed up onto the shoreline within the opening sequence however this is often another convention of a thriller opening sequence because they usually have quite complex narrative structures, with false paths and clues to resolutions. It then soon goes into either the future or past (not clear) showing the protagonist and what his personality is like and his profession as it explains in the dialogue. The camera angles of the sequence are quite slow paced this is because the scene hasn't got much action in but is more narrative orientated, this can sometimes be another thriller convention as thriller mainly focus on the story rather than action  (in some cases it may differ). Here is the opening sequence of 'Inception' http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-VXkUzf1et4

The similarities of the two opening sequences are that they have similar camera shots such as they both have establishing shots which are quite dramatic but help to show the location of the scene. Another similarity is that they both have an introduction of the antagonist however in the 'The Dark Knight' the villain is explained more thoroughly through the dialogue of the fellow crooks. But another key difference would be that the villains identity is never shown in the opening sequence of 'The Dark Knight' as he wears a clown mask which uses the conventions o f mise-en-scene to add illusion and mystery whereas the antagonist's identity is shown in 'Inception' giving less mystery and intrigue. Another similarity within both opening scenes is that the conventions of mise-en-scene with the use of props; within both films their are characters carrying guns which creates tension as this relates to killing or danger because they are lethal weapons. However looking at the title sequence there is a very distinctive difference with the fact that in 'The Dark Knight' there is little or know sound to add suspense and tension whereas in 'Inception' the title sequence is very loud and engaging which is on completely the opposite scale to 'The Dark Knight'. Another difference is that in 'The Dark Knight' the convention of having a complex narrative structure isn't fully clear that it is in use in the film however in 'Inception' immediatly the film within the first three minutes has a flash back which is another convention of a thriller and so having a complex narrative structure unlike ''The dark Knight'. 

By Alex Breeze