Day 1: The Dark Knight

[Shannon Collier]

This scene is great because it starts right into the action. The masks immediately tell us that these people want to stay anonymous, not letting us know right away if they’re good or bad. The close up on the one mask leads us to pay it particular focus and allows for subtle foreshadowing. In the van, the characters reveal their intentions, leading us to know they are now up to no good, and explains who the lead character is. The writer jumps to another shot of more robbers, continuing the dialogue, further explaining the Joker while advancing the scene (more characters, doing more things). As each key member of the team completes their tasks and is killed off, questions are quickly coming up for the audience and just as quickly being answered, allowing us to anticipate the path this heist will take, leading us to question who is at the end of it all and trying to figure out the mastermind’s plan. The bank manager is an interesting character to add to this scene, as he provides secondary information about himself, the bank, as well as what ulterior motives the Joker may have in robbing it. It leaves a lot of questions too about what the manager is saying – what has happened to this city? what has happened to the crime here?

All dialogue in this scene advances the story, nothing is by accident or added unnecessarily.

The scene is fast paced, building an excited state in the audience, allowing enough time to process the action, but without losing our attention, and ultimately building anticipation.

There’s a simple and obvious scene arc – moving to the bank, through the bank, killing off each member, leaving only 1, which ultimately reveals himself as the Joker, and ends with one final piece of carnage with us now in the know.

There’s significant conflict in this scene – robbers vs robbers; robbers vs citizens; robbers vs. Joker, manager vs. robbers, manager vs. Joker. The conflict is short and quickly resolved; but the manager is given special time and attention, the scene slows here, the dialogue important, providing character development.

What this scene does for the story is that it reveals Joker’s character – what he is capable of, why he does what he does, his nature, and a glimpse of his personality.

This scene set the tone for the film – dark, violent, unnerving, suspenseful, action, with an odd sense of comedic lightness (it’s sick, twisted, and subtle, but it’s there).

[Vincent Ovalle]

That’s good observations.

[Courtney Hill]

The scene grabs your attention from the beginning. There are so many questions that I asked myself while watching the scene. Who are the robbers? Who ordered them to rob the bank and why? Why a mob bank? Why are they killing each other. The scene set up the introduction of who the bank would call besides 911. I can’t remember, but I thought Batman. It’s a Batman movie, but it was still exciting if he was being notified. There really wasn’t a lot of dialogue because every line had meaning and advanced the story forward.

The arc of the scene was pretty fast, and it flowed throughout the five minutes. The tone of the movie seemed thrilling, and threw in some comedy aspects that were truly funny. The tempo of the scene stayed the same. There wasn’t a dull moment- every character, the dialogue, and action sequences all “put in” to the scene instead of taking away from it.

[Rice Rice]

After reviewing and analyzing the assigned scene, I gave some more thought to my script and came to realize that I needed to start my scene with intriguing action, not the current static visuals of the science fiction world where my story is set.

I need to demonstrate also my characters’ skills, as is done in the assigned scene, by having my characters showcase their skills with exciting action.

Crucial to my opening scene is including the big confrontation in the middle by characterizing the antagonist as the embodiment of evil.

Additionally, the tone of my script needs to be set with the use of futuristic weaponry, uniforms, architecture, and personal flying aircraft.

Also, as in the assigned scene, the conflict in my script needs to be enlarged with intriguing dialogue about how a dangerous shortage of an element critical to human survival is about to get worse, due to the shenanigans of the antagonist.

Rewriting my opening scene brought about great improvement, thanks to being given the opportunity to review and analyze the assigned scene.

• This reply was modified 1 year, 11 months ago by  Rice Rice.

[Vincent Ovalle]

I agree the characterization and tone was really good.

[Renee Miller]

The writer did a great job of establishing the movie’s tone and the world without blatantly telling the audience. There is a clear scene arc, with a beginning (the masked men preparing for a job), a strong middle (the masked men robbing the bank and each member killing off another team member), and a strong and surprising ending (the last robber standing is the Joker who commissioned the job).

There is plenty of conflict in the scene between the robbers, the customers/bank manager, and the masked men themselves. The writer created a great setup/payoff situation with the team members talking about the Joker and then revealing that the Joker was, in fact, with them the entire time.

There are also a ton of max-interest techniques included in the scene. There is suspense, surprise, a major twist, uncertainty, intrigue, and something unseen on the structural side. With the characters, we have betrayal, an uncomfortable moment, and misinterpretation. With the limited dialog in the scene, the writer used hooks, predictions, creating a future, and anticipatory dialog.

I hope that some day I can do as good of a job creating scenes as the writer did with the opening scene.

[Vincent Ovalle]

All those ingredients were in the scene seamlessly.

[Anis Taylor]

The scene starts great because we as the audience are thrown into a guessing game from the beginning as we wonder the identity behind the robbers and their mask. This sets the tone especially when the Joker is waiting with his mask in his hand to get in the car.

Next, I noticed the element of karma taking place within the scene. The two robbers in the front of the car are talking about the Joker without realizing the Joker is sitting in the back seat. Which by the way is who planned the robbery. The dialogue in the car drives the story forward by giving us an insight into the robbers involved. It all adds up in the end of the scene once the quiet robber is revealed.

Next, is the part of the robbers on the roof who give us more insight into how big of a robbery this is when one robber mentions there wasn’t even a call to 911, instead it was to a private number. This gives two insights to the scene. One it explains why the cops are not at the bank right away since they haven’t been notified immediately, and two, the robbers are messing with a force more serious than the police. This drive the stakes up.

As the robbery is happening, we start losing all the unnecessary robbers one by one. Their only purpose is to commit the robbery and then be eliminated. Leaving only one robber, who we find out is the Joker at the end.

This is a brilliant way to set up the scene. We have one robber leading the scene with his dialogue. This gives us the impression that he is the lead robber, The Joker. He remains alive all the way until the end of the robbery when he is finally killed by a bus.

• This reply was modified 1 year, 11 months ago by  Anis Taylor.
• This reply was modified 1 year, 11 months ago by  Anis Taylor.
• This reply was modified 1 year, 11 months ago by  Anis Taylor.

[Susan Willard]

The Black Knight Movie Opening: Writing Analysis:

Basic Scene Components:

· Scene Arc:

§ The Audience’s learning curve is built by experiencing the action and digesting the knowledge acquired along with the bank robbers throughout the robbery.

§ To knowing the complete character profile of Joker, the planner of the bank robbery, sole survivor.

§ Builds intrigue by raising bigger questions with each characters’ questions.

§ Builds a strong hook, with entertainment by using quick and content building actions.

· Situation:

§ Mob bank robbery, with six people, five who don’t know each other, but we are tricked into thinking all six are in the dark.

§ Each bank robber has one focused task to do.

§ Each bank robber is killed by his nearest- neighbor robber when his task is completed.

§ One sole survivor get all the money, learning, and a clean get away.

· Conflict:

§ The act of the Bank Robbery creates conflict since the robbers since they each know different details of the robbery, and each robber is told to kill another when they complete their task.

§ The fact that the mob owns the money in the bank raises the stakes for the Joker.

§ The plan for the robbery is a self-inflicted conflict for the Joker, as he tells the audience in the scene’s last line, “I believe whatever doesn’t kill you makes you stranger.” The audience watches the Jocker as he learns added information about robbing a high-end bank, containing mob money, as he stops to think and turns his head in pondering throughout the action. The opening is one big self-inflicted conflict Joker devised so that he could learn things he needed to know for the future.

· Moving the story forward:

§ The quick, creative use of props.

§ The interconnecting, new actions.

§ The sharp, to the point dialogue.

§ The unexpected in all the above.

· Entertainment Value:

§ The new ways of interconnecting quick scenes and dialogue to create a fluid/flowing story.

§ The questioning dialogue, with quick answers from another person or source.

§ The continual flow of added information, from one beat to another.

§ The setups that do not pay off immediately, which need resolution.

· Setups/Payoffs:

§ What did Joker learn by robbing the mob’s bank?

§ What will Joker do with the money he took?

§ Where did he get the people to rob the bank with? Does it matter?

§ Where is Joker going with the bus and money?

§ What did Joker mean by he gets stranger? How will he get ‘stranger’?

§ Did Joker know that the bank has the mob’s money?

§ Will Joker pull off another bank robbery?

§ Will the mob go after Joker? If so, how?

§ Why did each of the bank robbers have to be killed?

§ Is the Joker going to work without a band of bad guys?

§ Who did the alarm call, if not the police?

§ What will happen next?

Additional Scene Attributes:

· Challenging Situation:

§ A purposely planned high-end bank robbery to steal the mob’s money, using five people who don’t know the entire plan, who each with one job then will be killed, and the Joker is the alone survivor?

· Intrigue:

§ Raised by robbers asking questions.

§ Raised by bank manager yelling about the money belonging to the mob.

§ Raised by each bank person handed a grenade to hold so it won’t blow up.

§ Raised as Jocker took time to observe and see what people would do.

§ Raised as 911 wasn’t called.

§ Raised when bomb place in man’s mouth.

· Interesting Action:

§ Robbers killing Robbers.

§ Grenades are put into people’s hands to hold so they don’t blow.

§ Bomb put into bank manager’s mouth so that the bank blows as Joker drives away.

§ Two robbers sliding onto the roof to gain access to the alarm system.

§ Two robbers picking a third robber on the busy street corner.

§ The three robbers pull up to rob the bank in the middle of daylight and no one notices or reacts as they climb the stairs to the bank.

§ Each robber has a specialty task and performs it seamlessly, and quickly, adding to the intensity of the scene.

· Intriguing Dialogue:

§ The Bank Manager asking the Joker: “What do you believe in?”

§ The Joker answering the Bank Manager: “I believe that what doesn’t kill you makes you stranger.”

§ All the questions asked by the bank robbers, such as

o “The Joker?”

o “Why do they call him Joker?”

o “Makeup?”

o “Three guys?”

o “He thinks he can sit it out and still take a slice?”

o “Is it a problem?”

o “Where’s the alarm guy?”

o “Where did you learn to count?”

o “What happened to the rest of the guys?”

o “If this Joker guy is so smart, he ‘d have a bigger car.”

o “What bus driver?”

o “He’s ‘out’ right?”

· Tone:

§ Overall scene: Disbelief, Violence, Dark/Evil.

§ Bank Robbers: Another day at work, Matter of Fact in doing activities, even killing.

§ Joker: Learning, interested, pleased at the end before he drove away.

· Lures us into the Story:

§ The desire to answer questions that arise.

§ The building action, to see more and what results.

§ The characters encounters and their progression and dialogue

§ The unfulfilled setups that need fulfilling.

· Twist at the Conclusion of the Scene:

§ The Joker planned and implemented, was the sole survivor of, and the sole benefactor of, a high-end bank robbery of mob money, for a learning experiment.

§ He says one full line at the end that tells us this, “I believe whatever doesn’t kill you makes you stranger.”

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[Vincent Ovalle]

Very comprehensive. I’m impressed

[Linda Bennett]

Love the fast pace, not a wasted moment.

The set up/pay off was good how the robbers talked about the joker and in the end he was the surviving robber, that stuffs a bomb into the bank manager’s mouth. Ending the scene with a BANG!

[Anna Burroughs-Merrill]

What makes this a great scene?

It opens in media res.

• We open, not with the villain, but with other characters talking about the villain while they are in the middle of a bank heist.
• …he wears makeup….
• We see a character’s back, hunched over, holding a clown mask, before he gets picked up, but he does not speak. We learn there are six men on the job.
• The emergency alarm doesn’t dial 9-1-1, but a private number. Who? Batman, maybe?
• The clowns put grenades in the bank patrons hands.
• As soon as one villain completes their task, another one kills them, increasing the others shares.
• The safe-crackers get jolted with 10,000 volts of electricity. Who does that? The mob!
• The bank manager takes the surprising action of blowing out the windows with a shotgun and stalking the robbers, saying “do you know who you’re stealing from? You’re dead men.”
• But then the silent clown blasts the bank manager, after he shoots the other clown.
• The two clowns then ask who is supposed to shoot who, and the silent clowns says “I’m supposed to shoot the bus driver.” What bus driver?
• The back-end of a school-bus crashes into the building. The silent clown shoots the other robber, and then shoots the bus driver, as soon as the bus is loaded.
• The bank manager talks about “honor among thieves”. The last clown puts a grenade in the bank manager’s mouth, and then takes off his mask. It’s the Joker, and he’s wearing garish makeup.
• “I believe what doesn’t kill you makes you stranger.”
• As the bus drives away and pulls the pin on the grenade, we expect the bank to blow up, but it merely puts out smoke.
• The school bus slides into a line of other school busses leaving school, driving right past the clueless police cars (not shown in the clip).

How can these concepts improve my own opening scene?

• It won’t work for me to open with an “unknown villain” as the villain is already known to the audience, but having my main character learn what is going on from other “new minions” talking about the villain and what he does to prisoners – and to those who please him — would cut out a lot of boring backstory and raise the stakes.

What I learned rewriting my scene…?

• Batman’s opening scene isn’t a good fit for my own work-in-progress, but having other characters talk to each other about the villain’s plan as my POV character is dragged before him rather than blah-blah-blah helped raise the stakes.

[jay miracle]

What I learned was I have too slow an opening in my current project – though there are elements of mystery and a complex character intro. I have a contained, historical mystery with an epic resolution – but everything will depend on the arc of the lead character.

THE DARK KNIGHT:
Challenging Situation: a brazen daylight robbery
Intrigue- incredible setup and action – a well planned and executed job- worthy of the Joker and his minions
Interesting

Action: a great robbery, filled with twists and turns – the robbers setup and killing each other off – the execution

Intriguing Dialogue – great robber dialogue to reference and make a major intro/intrigue on the Joker! – Reveals about mob bank – end even comedic lines in the middle of all the action “didn’t know you could count that high!”

Tone: high, intense action – with clean, efficient dialogue and humor!

Lures us into the Story: from the very opening action we are immediately pulled into this tension-packed story

Twist at Conclusion of the scene: That the Joker is behind all of this and the mastermind – Plus the cigar trick at the end is a clever humorous accent to the entire scene.

[Zev Ledman]

Everything starts with lots of action. So many interest techniques are used throughout the scene. First, men in clown masks break a glass panel and shot a zip line across to the next building. What’s this all about? Next, a man is holding a clown mask and slips it on prior to entering the SUV. There, we find more men in clown masks. Why? Then, 2 clowns zipline across to the other building high above the street. What is worth taking such a high-risk endeavor? The clowns in the SUV discuss who gets a share, but the 3rd clown remains silent. Who is this Joker person? The clowns enter the building. Now, we realize it’s a bank job. But, why clown masks instead of ski masks? The man cutting the silent alarm is surprised that it’s calling a private number. Why not 9-1-1? After disabling the alarm, the other clown kills him. Intriguing. The bank patrons have their hands tied and are given live grenades to keep them scared shitless from doing anything. The clown from the roof starts drilling the safe open but receives a jolt of 5,000 volts. Never heard of that before. Now, we’re told it’s a mob bank? Why would any criminal risk such an endeavor when they could just hit a regular bank?

Now, the clown from the roof that unlocks the safe is killed. Why are the robbers killing each other after accomplishing their task? With two clowns left, one figures out that he will be killed and prepares to execute the other. But, a school bus slams into him, killing him. The bus driver jumps out wondering why everyone is dead. Now, he’s killed. The last clown standing is now lectured and threatened by the severely wounded bank manager. Why is this clown not scared? Instead, the clown reacts by sticking some type of tube in his mouth with a string cord attached to it. What is it? A bomb? A flare? A smoke or poisonous gas bomb? The last clown pulls off the mask letting us see the strange, grotesque person under it. We now realize he is the leader and this is no normal criminal. As the clown jumps in the bus, the door closes on the cord causing the pin from the tube to release as he drives away. Something I haven’t seen before.

FADE IN: MACCABEES – THE REBELLION

EXT. JUDEA – TOWN OF EMMAUS – MIDDAY

JUDAH, (20) a cocky, religious Jew wearing a yamulka and fringes (2 long knotted strings on each side), and sparse beard, lugging a huge hammer, races away from badly damaged

idol of Zeus. Some Towns PEOPLE point to Judah, raising the alarm about the vandalism to the idol.

EXT. JUDEA – FOREST – DAY (LATE AFTERNOON)

Judah casually walks through the woods, carrying a huge hammer over his shoulder, occasionally chuckling.

A spear flies through the air and hits the tree next to a Judah, startling him.

YOUNG SOLDIER (O.S.) – Stop!

Judah turns and sees THEO, (30’s) an athletic, Greek Lieutenant and YOUNG SOLDIER, (mid-20’s) chasing him with swords drawn. They’re a ways off. Judah tosses the hammer and

races away.

INT. SCHOOL HOUSE – LARGE ROOM- DAY (DUSK)

JONAH,(mid-40’s) religiously-dressed teacher with a full beard, faces a room of lively religiously dressed, late-teen boys studying medium-sized scrolls on long tables with

benches. ELEAZER, a sprightly, (18) with a sparse beard sits in the front listening intently.

JONAH – And, what if they demand obedience?

ELEAZER – Did not Daniel defy the King’s decree in our time of captivity?

Jonah gives Eleazer a light nod, then notices it’s dusk.

JONAH – Okay, tomorrow we’ll study how we overcame other times of captivity.

As the students leave, Jonah jesters Eleazer hold up.

JONAH (CONT’D) – Eleazer, where’s Judah?

Eleazer shrugs and leaves. Jonah purses his lips and sighs.

TIME DISSOLVE:

Several lamps are lit. Jonah straightens up the tables and organizes the scrolls.

EXT. JUDEA – FOREST – NIGHT

Judah races into a clearing. Catching his breath, he looks back to see 2 torches, far in the woods, moving towards him.

He races to the lit schoolhouse before him.

INT. SCHOOL HOUSE – NIGHT

The door flies open and Judah, desperate, races in and locks the door with the wooden latch. Jonah glares at him.

JUDAH – Greek Soldiers!

Alarmed, Jonah points to the back and they dash to a large wooden chest, with gaps between the slats on its side.

They remove dozens of scrolls in the box, then Judah jumps in and Jonah covers him with a large prayer shawl and throws a bunch of scrolls on top of him before closing it.

JONAH – Keep silent, Judah.

Pounding on the door. Jonah throws a few scrolls on top of the box and races to the door and unlocks it.

Theo and Young Soldier barge in and check out the room.

THEO – Where is he?

JONAH – Who? There’s no one here, but me.

Judah peers through the slats of the box and sees Theo racing his way checking under the rows of desks. Judah freezes.

THEO – He was heading towards your school. I know it was one of your students.

Theo throws the scrolls off the top of the chest, lifts the lid, and shuffles around the scrolls. Nothing. He closes the lid.

JONAH – Everyone’s already gone.

THEO – You, come with us!

Judah sees the Soldiers grab Jonah and haul him away. Jonah glances at Judah and lightly shakes his head.

INT. ANTIOCH ROYAL PALACE – THRONE ROOM – DAY

Armed Guards line the Hall. KING ANTIOCHUS, mid-fifties and wearing a crown, sits on a throne with a dour look. LYSIAS, his mid-fifties Royal Chancellor, stands beside him. Jonah,

his hands tied in front, is knelt down before the King. Theo stands on one side of Jonah, Young Soldier on the other.

VOICE-OVER – In the year 175 BCE, Antiochus Epiphanies, considered the cruelest

of all the Hellenist Kings becomes King of the eastern provinces.

SUPERIMPOSE: JUDEA – 169 BCE

JONAH – I did nothing to your idols. But, neither will I bow down to them.

KING ANTIOCHUS – It’s those exact words that incite your students to vandalize our

statues!… The Athenian King kindly gifted me with something made for removing insolence from you religious fanatics. This seems like an opportune time to test it.

(to Theo) And, find that brazen young man.

Theo nods. Jonah’s anxious about Judah. The King waves them off, and Theo and Young Soldier drag Jonah away.

KING ANTIOCHUS (CONT’D) (to Lysias) – Rome’s power and influence is rising rapidly. It’s critical we unite all our people behind one set of customs and beliefs. Jason’s been High Priest over these Judeans for several years! So, why hasn’t he moved more of these stiff-necked people to our Greek ways, Lysias?

LYSIAS – King Antiochus, that honored and lucrative position would be prized by many. So, let us find another.

INT. LARGE PRISON ROOM – DAY

Theo and Young Soldier stuff a bound, loudly protesting Jonah into a huge brass bull through a large door and latch it. Other soldiers light the large wood stack under it. King Antiochus and Lysias watch as the wood burns.

KING ANTIOCHUS

It’s called the Brazen Bull. They said the tubes inside make the screams sound like… They said I’d have to hear it to believe it. Lysias gives him a puzzled look as the fire intensifies.

Kicking, banging and muffled cries are heard through the nostrils of the bull as the fire escalates under it. Smoke exits the nostrils and the banging and screams get louder, sounding more and more like a bull in distress. With smoke billowing out of the nostrils, the loud screams turn into sounds of a bull moaning. The King purses his lips

and tilts his head to Lysias who looks on in dread. Theo smirks at the shocked Young Soldier.

EXT. WALLED JEWISH CEMETERY – DAY

Waiting for them outside the gate is a saddened, mid-50’s MATISYAHU. Eleazer talks to an anxious Judah.

JUDAH – I was hiding. They just hauled him away. I didn’t know why. Or, was I

supposed to show myself and get arrested?

ELEAZER – Why did you need to hide?!

Judah is alarmed to see Theo and Young Soldier approaching. He tries to hide behind Eleazer so they don’t see him.

YOUNG SOLDIER – I really didn’t get a good look. But, he was older with dark hair.

THEO – All his students should be coming out soon. See if you can spot him.

All Jonah’s students, many with their parents, exit through the gates of the cemetery. Following behind them is ZALMY, his wife, Malka, AMOS and his wife, EVA (all middle-aged) and MIRIAM, Zalmy’s pretty eighteen-year-old daughter. All are solemn, some weeping.

Theo and Young Soldier can’t figure out who was the culprit, so Theo yells out to all the students.

THEO (CONT’D) – A reward of 15 silver drachmas for anyone who tells us who defaced our

statues.

Eleazer glares at Judah, who timidly looks down.

ZALMY – This is neither the time or place.

THEO – We tell you what to do, old man. (to the students) – Again, 15 drachmas, and no one will know. Go to any outpost.

Zalmy and Matisyahu look sternly at Theo and Young Soldier, who leave. Matisyahu hugs Zalmy.

MATISYAHU – Zalmy, Jonah was a dear friend. May the Holy One comfort you among the

mourners of Zion… You know we all wanted to be there.

ZALMY – Everyone here knows you’re a Cohen, Matisyahu. Nonetheless, we

appreciate you coming. (sighing) I told him to watch what he said. At least, he’s no longer suffering.

MATISYAHU – Amen. When you finish your time of mourning, my boys will come and

help with your harvest.

Judah moves from hiding behind Eleazer and approaches a teary-eyed

Malka and Miriam with empathy.

JUDAH – Shalom Malka… Miriam?… I’m so sorry about Jonah. He was my

dearest teacher. We grieve for him.

MIRIAM – My uncle never defaced their idols.

An anxious Judah presses his lips together as she weeps.

INT. ANTIOCH ROYAL PALACE – THRONE ROOM – DAY

King Antiochus sits on his throne with Lysias standing beside him. A late-40’s General GEORGIOS stands on the side of the room closely watching everyone and everything. A trimmed bearded, fiftyish MENELAOS stands before the King wearing the High Priest garments with a priestly turban.

MENELAOS – King Antiochus, circumcision, and the Torah bind our people to this

religion. As High Priest, I will end both to break their covenant. We’ll start in the large cities.

KING ANTIOCHUS – Make it so, Menelaos. But, don’t let me hear of any unrest. These

Romans would be quick to exploit any dissent.

Menelaos nods, bows, and leaves.

KING ANTIOCHUS (CONT’D) – General Georgios, send word to Commander Apolonios to return. You know how restless these Jews get when new decrees are enacted. Georgios bows and leaves. The King turns to Lysias.

KING ANTIOCHUS (CONT’D) – What of the Palaestra’s progress?

LYSIAS – Concerns have been voiced about the gymnasium’s proximity to their temple. Vandalism and protests continue to be a problem.

KING ANTIOCHUS – No further delays. Find these agitators and imprison them!

[Mary Emmick]

This scene establishes the Joker as a scary and unpredictable villain. The scene captures us and we realize who we are meeting at the beginning of the film. The bank robbers know the Joker is in charge of this operation; they don’t know that they are going to be killed. We are immersed into the actual robbery as four of the Joker’s thugs who wear clown masks and the bus driver are shot, and the bank manager is gassed when a grenade is put in his mouth. The Joker takes off his mask and reveals himself, and he gets away with the money from the bank vault. Bank manager is mob boss.

What I need to do in my opening scene is to bring the scene to life by the following: 1) Immerse the viewer into the world; 2) Include shock and unpredictability in my thriller; 3) This opening scene was about 6 minutes, and had several locations; 4) Lots of questions as we wonder who these characters are and why they are doing what they are doing; 5) Intense music and repeated drumming during shootings; 6) LOTS of action, brief dialog, twists as we realize at the end of the scene how the robbery was devised and how it succeeded as planned.

[Jenifer Stockdale]

Scene Mastery – Lesson 1 – The Dark Knight

What I learned doing this lesson – start with bang! Suck your audience in so they have to continue watching. Put in a reveal if you can. My first scene was pretty clear-cut, but I realized the “reveal” I could add by just changing the way the scene was laid out (what the audience sees first, or I should say doesn’t see) makes it so much better.

Challenging situation(s) – everyone is potentially a victim, bank manager has gun, vault is electrified.

Intrigue – who is behind the masks? Who will live/die?

Interesting action – ziplines, “What bus?” then then bus crashes in, Joker takes off his mask, bus pulls pin, shooting their “partners,” bombs in hands, Joker nods when guy asks if he is out (of bullets)

Interesting dialogue – you don’t realize it at first, but the Joker is talking about himself! “wears makeup to scare people” – the count on who is sharing the money and not realizing the one who planned it is there, “Where did you learn to count” (and later finding out the miscount was intentional – “Told me to take the guy out when he was done” (right as he was done doing his job!) “Funny, he told me something similar” and then shoots him. Bank manager “The guys who hired you will do the same to you” – but then he is the guy who did the hiring!

Tone – serious, yet satirical

Lures us into story – clever and quick-witted pro/antagonist and we need to see what he’ll do next

Twist at conclusion – it is the Joker who survives, he gets all the guys he hired to kill each other

[Mary Dietz]

The situation had dual layers: get the money and eliminate anyone else who might get a share. For that, the action was non-stop. Setups were paid off almost immediately. The questions in the dialogue were answered and all set the tone and introduction to the main character. The only slow moment was at the end when we were left to anticipation of the explosive in the banker’s mouth.

We don’t know the identity of any of the robbers other than the Joker. The masks hold that mystery for the entire scene. The bank manager’s assessment that thieves have less character than previously foreshadows more chaos. Joker’s reply about becoming stranger is a setup for the rest of the film.

The twist at the end happens with a single action of removing the mask and revealing Joker’s character in a single sentence which holds the viewer’s attention to want to know the full impact of “strein jerr.”

The cast of characters were eliminated one by one until only the Joker remained–so different from most films that start with a small cast and we watch it grow. Each character being eliminated moved the story forward to show the savvy of the Joker who is the last man standing.

The character arc moves from the mystery behind the reputation of the Joker to the close-up at the end of the scene when he states that “strange” is a strength.