The Joker's Introduction in 'The Dark Knight' is A MASTERPIECE!

[00:00:00]You don't realize how genius the Joker's introduction is by from the screen.

[00:00:05]Shout out to the real ones. Check them out for the first time and see what they're talking about.

[00:00:08]>> Whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger.

[00:00:13]Stranger.

[00:00:14]>> Oh, stranger.

[00:00:15]>> the culmination of one of the greatest opening scenes in modern cinema.

[00:00:19]>> Tie beats.

[00:00:19]>> A single line of dialogue delivered by the Joker right during the moment he reveals his face. What Christopher Nolan did with this opening scene is quite literally engineering a magic trick.

[00:00:31]Think about it. Every stage of the robbery removes information from both the characters and the audience.

[00:00:37]>> Yeah, well, it's genius robbery.

[00:00:40]>> Very. Then another, then another, until eventually there's only one man left standing. And the reveal of the trick is Nolan telling the audience the Joker's philosophy and the central theme of the film itself. Chaos.

[00:00:54]Nolan once summarized his Batman trilogy through three core themes.

[00:00:59]>> Okay.

[00:00:59]>> Fear, chaos, and pain. And The Dark Knight is that middle chapter.

[00:01:04]>> I'm not going to lie to you. This might be a I don't think this will be a hot take. The Dark Knight is the best one in the trilogy.

[00:01:09]>> That's not >> Out of that trilogy >> Yeah, that's not a hot take.

[00:01:11]>> Well, some people say that they like The Dark Knight Rises better. Some people like Batman Begins better. I'm not going to lie. I do take >> see how anybody likes Batman Begins better.

[00:01:20]>> I take I I do take Dark Knight Rises over Batman Begins. Oh, yeah, this is going to be a hot take.

[00:01:25]>> What? I go two, three, one.

[00:01:27]>> genuinely did not rock with The Dark Knight Rises. And the reason I didn't rock with it is not a bad movie, not a bad movie, but the reason I didn't rock with that rock with it cuz [ __ ] when I think of Bane >> You think of the monster the the the >> I think of >> But you got to remember this is based in reality.

[00:01:42]>> but [ __ ] it look like he's fighting Vin Diesel. He should be able to beat Vin Diesel's ass. That's how I'm thinking about it.

[00:01:48]>> Diesel's breaking him mentally, mentally, physically, spiritually, type of >> consumed by chaos. It's entirely driven by the Joker. This opening scene is its declaration.

[00:02:00]>> My favorite part was the mask revealing the face cuz it I was it was so brilliant.

[00:02:05]>> You talking about the Joker?

[00:02:06]>> Yeah, when he took off his mask, like, "Oh, it's a clown. Oh, it's another clown."

[00:02:10]>> And Nolan wastes no time visually communicating that idea with the very first shot of the scene, the very first shot of this film.

[00:02:19]We get a wide aerial shot. The camera glides over Gotham skyline, slowly pushing towards an all-glass building.

[00:02:26]It feels epic, smooth, controlled, and the shot >> The craziest part about this, right?

[00:02:33]>> Uh-huh.

[00:02:33]>> This came out in what, 20 >> 2008.

[00:02:36]>> 2008.

[00:02:37]>> Or Or was the first one 2008?

[00:02:38]>> One of them came out 2010, huh?

[00:02:40]>> Can't remember if it was the first or the second one that came out in 2008, but nonetheless, but >> Nonetheless, when I think about how far technology has gone since this, right?

[00:02:48]>> Uh-huh.

[00:02:48]>> Like this this looks okay. This looks this looks solid.

[00:02:52]>> Right.

[00:02:52]>> But it put in perspective, [ __ ] we can throw a drone up that looks way better than this.

[00:02:56]>> That's not commercial grade.

[00:02:57]>> That's not commercial grade and can get this same exact shot.

[00:03:01]>> Mhm.

[00:03:01]>> Like I think about that all the time.

[00:03:02]Like how far technology has gone from this to where it is now. Like even a few years ago with the Alexa 65, like [ __ ] >> 65 millimeter film camera?

[00:03:11]>> Hell no.

[00:03:12]>> And now you can buy one technically.

[00:03:15]>> of them.

[00:03:16]>> actually lasts 20 seconds, which is saying something for the opening image of a modern blockbuster.

[00:03:22]Nolan is lulling the audience into a sense of cinematic stability. After decades of watching films, we instinctively know the grammar of a shot like this. It's an establishing shot showing a building before we cut into it.

[00:03:36]>> Mhm.

[00:03:37]>> But instead >> not.

[00:03:38]>> what we're expecting.

[00:03:40]>> Found it. Found it. Found it.

[00:03:41]>> Found it. The helicopter.

[00:03:43]>> Oh, you see it right there.

[00:03:44]>> Yeah, top corner.

[00:03:45]>> Yeah.

[00:03:45]>> Well, that's not even a drone. This This is a helicopter.

[00:03:48]>> But I was like I was like, "Damn."

[00:03:50]>> Or a camera on a helicopter.

[00:03:51]>> Yeah, it's a it's a the camera is on the bottom.

[00:03:54]>> Yeah, it's right there on the front of the >> The film has just begun and Nolan is already telling the audience to expect the unpredictable, to expect chaos. And what's interesting is the reflection of Gotham in the glass. The chaotic explosion leaves a hole ripped straight through the middle of the city itself.

[00:04:12]Now, I know this is a stretch and I highly doubt Nolan intended it, but it's the perfect visual representation of what the Joker is about to do to Gotham over the course of the film.

[00:04:22]We cut inside the room. We see the grapple hook and two men in clown masks.

[00:04:26]Just two shots and we know these men are following a well-thought-out plan.

[00:04:31]Economic filmmaking that's moving the story forward at lightning speed. And then we cut to this famous shot. Now, this is actually one of three times that we see the Joker in this opening scene. And even though we technically don't know it's him, >> This is one of my favorite that cuz you think it's him by the hair and it's really mad.

[00:04:50]>> Like, this shot is so It wasn't.

[00:04:52]>> Oh, it was actually him. Okay.

[00:04:54]>> This is but it's like you don't see the face. At this one you don't know who it is. You're like, oh, who is this robber?

[00:05:00]But the coolest part about this whole [ __ ] shot that I loved that I loved I loved I loved is how big the world felt.

[00:05:08]Like, how big he felt in the world and just how far the city goes.

[00:05:13]>> It all starts in Wyoming. We have to first get rid of Wyoming, then Minnesota, and finally Idaho.

[00:05:20]>> Hope because I won't criticize. Look, we've done something impossible. We figured out the conspiracies the government has been hiding from us. I know you think I'm crazy. I'm not, but we need more funding and you're going to fund this investigation. If you go to internetcity.store, you can buy the new merch. Look at it. Very, very dashing and sassy. And you see we have beanies now. And we've also got stickers. You can put this on your backpack and your laptop. We are not responsible for any damages. But, together we can make a lot of money and we're going to steal the moon. Maybe.

[00:05:56]Don't tell the government.

[00:05:58]>> introduces the Joker in this opening scene, and even though we technically don't know it's him yet, Nolan is already clueing us in, much like a magician telling an audience what the trick will be before performing it. The figure is positioned practically dead center in the frame, immediately implying importance. The camera begins low, looking up at him, giving him a sense of authority, the man in control, and the camera slowly dollies forward, matching the same movement that opened the film. It visually links him to that opening shot, almost as if Nolan is quietly telling us that all of this chaos stems from this one figure, that this is the man to pay attention to, who slowly push tighter onto the mask itself. We can't see the man in frame, he has his back to us, but symbolically, his face is staring directly at us.

[00:06:45]He knows something we don't.

[00:06:47]Just as it feels like something is about to be revealed to us, a pickup truck enters frame, and instead the >> And another cool thing about this scene that a lot of people don't realize, because when you look throughout the whole film, that also can signify he's moving as if he has eyes in the back of his head. That's how well thought out and planned all of this was.

[00:07:07]>> He could puts the mask on and climbs into the vehicle. We cut back to the other goons as they grapple hook their way across to the adjacent building. And something very clever Nolan begins here throughout the sequence is intercutting between the two men on the roof and the three on the ground floor. The intercutting keeps the momentum moving forward, but it's also drip-feeding the audience little pieces of information.

[00:07:28]Again, much like a magic trick, we're constantly trying to build a full picture of what's going on, but we can't. Look here, look here, now look here.

[00:07:37]Now, this is our second introduction to the Joker, and this time it's done orally, speaking to the mythology surrounding the man. We're told there are five men involved in the robbery, while the sixth, the Joker, the man behind the plan, is supposedly sitting it out.

[00:07:52]>> He thinks he can sit it out and still take a slice.

[00:07:54]>> I know why they call him the Joker.

[00:07:56]>> We get a profile two-shot of the robbers in the front seat >> And that's him in the back. He's just listening to it all.

[00:08:02]>> squeezed into the far edge of the frame.

[00:08:04]Technically, he's right there in front of us, but visually, Nolan keeps him peripheral.

[00:08:08]>> Yeah.

[00:08:08]>> Like a magic trick, it's misdirection.

[00:08:10]The trick is right in front of us. We cut back to the guys on the roof and get a little bit more dialogue building the mystery surrounding the Joker.

[00:08:18]>> I heard he wears makeup.

[00:08:19]>> Makeup?

[00:08:20]>> Yeah, to scare people. You know, war paint.

[00:08:22]>> We cut back to the three goons on ground level and >> They think they ain't talking in the in the real like filming it all. They just doing their thing.

[00:08:31]>> [laughter] >> Hey, no audio.

[00:08:33]>> The shot moves the narrative forward, but visually, it's telling us to pay attention to the man with a duffel bag.

[00:08:38]He's framed as the central figure, and the low camera angle gives him a subtle sense of control and importance over the situation about to unfold. And that sense of control continues when the goons enter the bank. Nolan doesn't use handheld camera to make the robbery feel >> This is such a great misdirection that's coming as well.

[00:08:56]>> like so many bank heist scenes do. We're not trapped in tight close-ups. We don't feel suffocated. We're not on edge feeling like this could collapse at any second. Nolan does the opposite. The camera is smooth, controlled, stable. We get wide shots and complete clarity of the situation unfolding. He lets the goons own the space. The camera language is telling us the plan's going off without a hitch, which ultimately speaks to the architect behind it, i.e., the Joker. But now, Nolan begins revealing the real architecture behind the man who planned this robbery.

[00:09:30]One goon kills another the moment he's completed what he needed to do. Then that goon is killed by another after serving his purpose. And we learned the man behind the plan, the Joker, instructed them to do it under the guise of a bigger share. It's planned chaos.

[00:09:46]As far as we know, the Joker isn't even present. Yet, through the structure of the robbery, we're learning a lot about him.

[00:09:52]>> Is she all right? Watch this [ __ ] tonight.

[00:09:54]>> to the plan, the bank manager. And for a brief moment, it feels like he's overpowering the robbery itself. Nolan frames him low and dead center of frame, giving him a huge sense of power.

[00:10:04]>> the talking.

[00:10:05]>> And then has him charging directly towards camera, physically pushing the frame backwards. His walk even ends with a shot of him walking into a close-up, a shot usually reserved for characters taking control of a scene or asserting dominance within it. This is all to contrast how he's about to be dispatched. Our two remaining goons take cover behind the desk.

[00:10:25]>> He's out, right?

[00:10:26]>> The goon thinks on the question before nodding.

[00:10:31]Which is our first real glimpse into how the Joker operates. We just don't know it's him yet. He realizes the manager has one shot left and is willing to sacrifice the other goon so he can get a clear opening to attack. It's deception, and it's a perfect demonstration of how the Joker deals with power throughout the entire film. We then get this slow dolly forward on the Joker after he shoots the bank manager. Even though, technically, we still don't know it's him yet. He tilts his head and just stares at the wounded manager. And what makes the moment so unsettling is the contrast between the camera language and the behavior itself. A push-in on a face generally means the filmmaker is emphasizing an emotion, but there's nothing emotional about the Joker here.

[00:11:12]The shot feels cold, almost animalistic.

[00:11:16]And then Nolan delivers the visual punchline to the entire sequence. With just two goons left, one has gotten wise and thinks the other will just kill him.

[00:11:25]They circle each other, the Joker lining up the other goon.

[00:11:28]>> What bus driver?

[00:11:32]>> Suddenly, the robbery transforms into something almost absurd in its precision.

[00:11:37]It's the visual punchline, the cinematic equivalent of a magician stepping back on stage and saying, >> Ta-da!

[00:11:43]>> Ta-da! I'm a little half of it.

[00:11:45]>> is casually killed off within seconds.

[00:11:47]And now with every other goon removed from the scene, Nolan gives us a third introduction to the Joker, the reveal.

[00:11:54]The bank manager keeps mouthing off to Joker.

[00:11:57]>> Then slugs.

[00:12:00]Why was I a hero?

[00:12:01]>> You're lucky you're still alive, twin.

[00:12:03]>> Bro, this this is such a This makes me excited for Odyssey cuz Odyssey drops in a few days.

[00:12:09]>> Right.

[00:12:10]>> Because what Christopher Nolan did with the Batman series, now I want to see what he does with an entire movie that's IMAX.

[00:12:17]>> Okay.

[00:12:18]>> over to silence him. The manager asks him, >> What do you believe in, huh? What do you believe [screaming] in?

[00:12:24]>> The Joker answers the question while removing the mask, the magician finally showing the audience how the trick was done. It's a close-up and he completely dominates the frame, almost overwhelming it. After spending the entire sequence only hearing about him and hiding him in plain sight, >> He was there the whole time.

[00:12:42]>> way that tells us his very presence in this film is going to be overwhelming.

[00:12:46]But his line, >> I believe whatever doesn't kill you simply [music] makes you >> The music, too.

[00:12:55]>> is the cherry on top of this opening scene. It's a warped corruption of the old saying, "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger."

[00:13:02]And it perfectly showcases the Joker's world view throughout the film. He believes chaos doesn't build people into better versions of themselves, that it distorts them, turns them into something else entirely. And after watching this entire robbery, >> This did bring up the worst scene in that entire [ __ ] movie. And that was what? When that [ __ ] walked up to that [ __ ] with the mask, you can clearly see it through at the top of his face. And then when you take the mask off, that [ __ ] say >> That's a wild two-face.

[00:13:34]>> Yes, it's [laughter] the it's the absolute worst reveal in the film. Cuz when he walks up, like you could clearly see it's Joker. And then when he take that [ __ ] off, he's >> Oh, you talking about Oh, when Joker walked into the hospital. Okay.

[00:13:49]>> like, "Dude, come on."

[00:13:51]>> idiot.

[00:13:51]>> Oh, cuz he only had the >> Yeah.

[00:13:54]>> [laughter] >> Oh, oh, is you >> Guess who's back, back, back, back again, gain, gain with GamerSupps.

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[00:14:46]>> The film shifts from perfect control into calculated chaos. Nolan ends the opening by finally letting the Joker say the thesis of the movie out loud. This is masterful filmmaking. Every camera move, the framing choices, the editing, the blocking of the actors, it's all subtly conditioning the audience before the Joker ever properly reveals himself.

[00:15:07]Nolan uses the language of cinema itself to slowly build an idea in our heads.

[00:15:13]First presence, then mythology, then revelation. We spend the entire movie knowing on >> I'm not going to lie, you're cooking with this video, but this also brings something else mentally that I thought about.

[00:15:23]>> What you got? What you got?

[00:15:24]>> Because of Nolan's was the best Batman we had up up until that point.

[00:15:28]>> that point, right?

[00:15:29]>> And what Nolan did with Batman was phenomenal.

[00:15:32]>> Right, you look at the Michael Keaton and all the other Batmans, right? They were >> older 1900s superhero movies.

[00:15:38]>> Yeah, right. That's all you can say.

[00:15:40]>> Nothing, you know what I'm saying? It's like, oh, okay, this this is a movie, right? This was good. This was really good cinema. They crushed it. I don't think if we wouldn't have gotten this trilogy we wouldn't have gotten the 2020 >> Oh oh yeah, no no no, yeah yeah yeah.

[00:15:53]>> And I feel like the >> Cuz they gave it a new perspective.

[00:15:56]Like, oh, you don't have to be like cuz the older superhero movies were like cheesy. Not only were they suffering from not having the technology, it was like kind of cheesy overall.

[00:16:05]>> They they didn't have the execution.

[00:16:06]>> Yeah.

[00:16:07]>> And I think um cuz the other Batman came out what, 2022, 2020?

[00:16:11]>> Yeah, the newest one.

[00:16:11]>> Yeah, like 2022.

[00:16:13]>> Something like that.

[00:16:13]>> I feel like that Batman perfected what Nolan was trying to do here. Because now looking at it it doesn't look bad as a movie, right? But it does not look nearly as good >> The newer Gotham is a more It's like Gotham got Yeah, like this was Gotham, but this other one is Gotham.

[00:16:32]>> Now this feel like Detroit.

[00:16:33]>> Yeah.

[00:16:35]>> like nothing about the Joker while simultaneously understanding exactly who he is, and almost all of it is established in this opening scene.

[00:16:46]>> Yeah.

[00:16:46]>> Great video. Great Great analysis. Great [ __ ] everything, bro.

[00:16:50]>> I would I would love to hear your opinion on >> Superman and Supergirl?

[00:16:53]>> Yeah, but I would also love to hear your opinion on If I had to say something I would love to hear your opinion on maybe Super 8. I'd love to hear your opinion on Super 8.

[00:17:03]>> Oh, he did a Django video. From the screen. Okay. Okay, Jack Sparrow's introduction. Ooh.

[00:17:11]>> Okay, you're good.

[00:17:12]>> If y'all want to check out more and if he'll have us, hey, let us know. Sub up to both people. Sub up to us. Sub up to Farm the Screen. And we'll catch you.

[00:17:18]>> Great. Great.

[00:17:19]>> them to 100k, man.

[00:17:21]>> Great video.

[00:17:21]>> He's right there.

[00:17:22]>> Great video, dude.

[00:17:23]>> We'll catch you next one.

[00:17:24]>> Peace.