Symbolism in The Dark Knight

I want to elaborate on some of the semiotics aka symbolic significances of THE DARK KNIGHT. Before I do that let's go back to the first film BATMAN BEGINS.

Both films show an image of the bat symbol at the beginning. One thing I try to keep in mind when watching a Christopher Nolan is that he tends to hint things before they begin to take fold and mess around with the chronological time frame, obvisouly like MEMENTO and even with his latest film INCEPTION. In the case of the opening sequence of BATMAN BEGINS the image of the bat encompasses the entire notion of the film, which is the theme of 'fear'. What is shown is of a yellowy, amber sunset and a horde of bats flying around to form the image of the Batman. There is a concept that colour emit certain emotions like red being a striving colour or blue giving of a calm vibe. The colour or shade resembling that of yellow is commonly or conventionally used cowardice or fear. The colour yellow is used all over this film and is highly incorporated with the Batman, but doesn't necessarily 'mean' Batman, it's just 'fear' because that's what he is trying to spread to his enemies. To bring fear to those who prey on the fearful. The next time you watch BATMAN BEGINS, look at how much the colour amber is used in this film and more importantly, 'when' do you see this colour!

Now, as for THE DARK KNIGHT, the beginning has an image of blue fire, and then the symbol of the Batman sweeps this blue flame into completedarkness. What does this mean? Well, like BATMAN BEGINS it encompasses an important aspect of the film's plot. The opening image of BATMAN BEGINS basically means that Bruce Wayne is using his fear of bats and making it his symbol.
To understand this blue fire I want to draw my attention to the character of the Joker. . Now, if Batman is incorporated with justice and order then what does the Joker stand for? Well he actually says it in the film, an "Agent of Chaos"! What is chaos? It is destruction, disorder, confusion, anarchism, everything opposite that the Batman stands for. Through is usage of fear Batman established himself as a symbol of hope for Gotham against crime and corruption. To cinematically support Batman the colour amber is ever present throughout BATMAN BEGINS. In THE DARK KNIGHT however, the colour blue is more present. Is it used more conventionally as a calm colour? How can that be when the Joker is lurking around plotting his next chaotic move. There is nothing but tension.

Back to the blue fire, the image itself is rather chaotic; confusing, out of the ordinary. Put aside the scientific fact that blue means really really hot and just look at what it is. Fire is not commonly blue, it's yellow, reddish, and orangey. It is in a way an incorrect image. The image itself is very destructive, but also chaotic. Slowly, the image of the Batman creeps towards the camera making the entire screen dark. What does this mean? To put simply, the Joker is creating Chaos in Gotham City and the Batman, an incorruptible symbol, will create order. The Batman will succeed, in stopping the Joker that is, but in a very morbid way. The image of the Batman stands for justice, order, & clarity and it literally wipes away this blue fire of chaos.

Now the next time you watch these films, watch those colours! The one part I really loved that had these colours is when the Joker cuts Gambles face and says the line, "WHY SO SERIOUS?" Why I like this scene? Well again I looked at the background of the room. This scene's cinematography is very similar to that of BATMAN BEGINS, that being covered in the colour amber, the concept of fear. What this scene can emphasize is that the Joker can be scary too!
Right after this scene is the segment of Batman in China. The colour blue is all over this scene! Why? Because the Batman can create chaos too.

I loved this movie, and I loved it even more when I dug into it! Well I hope you got something out of this note if you read it all and I hope you see and understand how powerful the medium of film can be! I've only tackled a small part of this movie. I hope to dig even deeper in the near future