Opening sequence analysis 2

 Joker opening sequence.

The opening sequence to ‘Joker’ starts with a slow zoom in from a corridor into a dress room with the main protagonist in the centre of the camera shots. The camera continues to zoom in slowly and pan around the characters back to his right shoulder so we can see his face in the reflection of his makeup mirror. The camera then cuts to an extreme close up of the jokers face, only having his lips in frame first as he puts on some clown face paint, and then slowly the camera cranes upwards revealing his nose, eyes and forehead

There are then a few shot reverse shows between his hand holding a makeup brush and the close ups of his face. There is then an over the shoulder shot to capture the reflection of the characters face in the mirror to show the characters environment and provides the audience with the location. These shots are handheld to create a more natural feeling to the opening sequence as it is set inside a busy dressing room. The editing is slow for these few shots which makes the transition between the jokers fake smile and his frown more dramatic and shows the audience he hates his job, creating a depressing mood of atmosphere.

Soft piano music comes into play and then amplifies as the camera cuts outside to the busy streets. There is diegetic sound of the piano and the sound of people walking and talking next to passing cars. Warner Bros titles and production company titles start to appear on screen as the camera cuts between extreme long shots at high angles of Joaquin Phoenix dancing on the road with a shop sign, and close ups of him in the street to show is melodramatic facial expression.

After this, a group of boys attack the clown and steal his sign. They run down the road as the camera follows in a tracking shot. We track the boys run across the road as well as the clown in some high and shots and shot reverse shots to show the difference between the hooligans and the desperate clown. As they run into the street we hear the sound of cars bee bing and screeching to a break.

The camera tracks the boys to the entrance of an alley way and then pans as they turn left. we then get a high angle of the alleys that shows the boys being followed by the clown as he screams for them to come back. When Joaquin finally catches up to the young teens, he is suddenly hit in the face by his sign from one of the boys hiding behind a wall. This violence is shown at a front on camera angle to show the hard impact of him running into the swing of the sign. The boys then proceed to beat him up and kick him while he is lying on the ground. This is shown at a high angle, canted shot to portray the clowns weakness and vulnerability as well make the scene more sympathetic.

When the boys run off and leave the clown lying on the floor, we can hear the non diegetic sound of violins playing as the camera slowly zooms out while focused on him lying on the floor. The sound of the characters panting has been amplified to emphasise his injury’s and suffering which makes the audience feel sympathy towards him. The camera proceeds to zoom out and capture his facial and body expression to properly show the audience that Joaquin is severely injured. The title ‘Joker’ suddenly appears on screen in a vibrant yellow to stand out from the grey, bleak background of the alley.