Analysis 1: Batman Begins Film opening (Mise-en-Scene)

'Batman Begins' with Bruce Wayne having a flashback or perhaps a dream about his early childhood when he encountered an incident involving bats. From then onwards, he has developed a phobia of Bats. This scenery is set in a greenhouse. In the beginning scene, Bruce Wayne is shown playing a game with his childhood friend in a greenhouse in the daytime (high key lighting). The camera shots of these two characters are up close, to show their facial expressions and such. Moments later, Bruce is shown falling into a cave full of bats while hiding from his friend during a game, possibly hide and seek. While falling, the camera is tracking him falling from a below angle, to make the shot appear as if we are watching Bruce fall from the bottom of the cave. The camera angle also emphasises on how far down he is falling. Also, from this particular part of the scene, the lighting becomes low key, expressing how dark and gloomy it is to be in the cave with the bats.

Shortly after, the now adult Bruce Wayne awakens instantly in the midst of this dream. The camera shot at this point is a close up of Bruce's facial reactions, showing his disturbed and shocked expression. The scene then shows Bruce waking up in a prison, with an unshaven beard and shabby prison attire. This automatically gives us the impression that Bruce Wayne is a very tough and stern character, hence he later has a fight with a prison inmate. The lighting effects during this point of the opening scene is high key, although it is dimmer than earlier on, perhaps to compliment how gloomy and depressing prison life can be.

In this opening sequence, one wonders why there isn't any theme music to set the pace of the film. However, the sound of bats heard during the beginning brings out a very dreary tone to the film, setting the feeling of suspense for audience. Nevertheless, it can be suggested that the director intentionally didn't put any theme music to the opening credits of the film so that the images and sounds presented would set the pace for the film itself. For instance, the first image shown is a swam of bats flying around in the sky. However, rather than music being played, there are no diagetic sounds used, for instance in the fighting scene with Bruce and his prison inmate. This is to create more impact for viewers, although some may disagree and will perceive this as being quite unrealistic.

Overall, I have discussed the techniques used in this film in terms of Mise-En-Scene such as camera shots, sounds (diagetic/non diagetic), lighting etc. As a personal opinion, I believe that though the opening to Batman Begins was great, it would have been better with the addition of music, to make the atmosphere more dramatic and interesting.