The Dark Knight Rises Title Sequence Analysis

The opening title sequences are very dark in order to conform to thriller conventions as it ties in with the enigma and voyeurism themes related to thrillers. There is lots of non-diegetic sound through the mood music. It is quite dramatic and eerie which, when combined with the close up shots throughout the titles, gives a sinister look to the film, developing thriller conventions as it develops the ideas of enigma to a new level. There is lots of close up shots and the only part of a human we see is hands. This is used to emphasise the control and manipulation from this character. This is also seen through the fact that the characters is moving and distorting the other characters pictures throughout the sequence highlights the manipulation he has. Most of the camera shots are canted to show how unorthodox the situation is. This develops thriller conventions as, although there is a lot of mystery, there is a physiological element to it through the canted angles disorientating the audience. The ‘Batman’ symbol is seen a lot throughout the title sequence as well as some newspaper cuttings to show the semiology. This could lead to the audience thinking that the hands in the title sequence are coming from ‘The Batman’ as he clearly has a lot of control over the city and over other characters. 

The final scene is very different to the rest of the title sequence. It shows a very white setting, with a lone, black Batman mask in the middle. This highlights how alone some characters feel in thrillers, both complying and developing conventions as it isn’t usually the hero who feels alone, but in this case it is. This shows how maybe everything isn’t as it seems, again complying with thriller conventions as it highlights the enigma. The director cleverly controls the mise-en-scene by including a lot of editing in this sequence. The high amount of editing shows that nothing will fit together and everything is as a blur. This is also seen through the camera shots as when they smash cut sometimes it is difficult to see what is in the shot. This develops thriller conventions as it both highlights enigma but also develops the voyeurism as nothing can be seen properly, even in the light. Towards the end also, the newspaper cuttings are torn up and linked together very quickly and match cut is used as a pose to smash cut. This shows how quickly time can move on and, due to the manipulation representation through hands, challenges conventions as characters aren’t supposed to be controlling, but deceitful.