Joker = Murray Sequence

Question 1

Cinematography =

Answer 1

• Low, lingering close up of Joker watching Murray ridicule him on the show before he goes on
• Slow zoom to Arthur doing his contorted dance
• Seen from the camera’s POV which shows how Joker looks to others
• Extreme close up of his ‘joke book’ with serious and morbid thoughts of Arthurs
• Close up and initimate shots of Arthur’s face which shows his emotions
• Puts us in the viewing position of the audience which makes us feel less sympathetic and more disgusted with his behaviour
• Camera focusses on the applause
• Wide shot to establish audience
• Extreme wide shot of audience, joker and equipment as he confesses
• Extreme close up of Jokers reaction which then cuts to another extreme wide shot
• Joker breaks the fourth wall

Question 2

Mise en Scene =

Answer 2

• Joker is wearing bright colourful clothes compared to the other guests who were dark and dull clothing which highlights how he doesn’t belong
• Foregrounds TV equipment of applause

Question 3

Editing =

Answer 3

• Intersperse shots from the TV and real life

Question 4

Performance =

Answer 4

• Insecure tone at the beginning to mad confidence
• Contorted dance and complete confidence dancing onto the stage
• Joker examines the set and feels like he is there solely to be mocked
• He reaches into his pocket and hesistates which foreshadows his gun
• His demeanor shifts when he opens the notebook
• Sits there shaking his leg processing his emotions

Question 5

Sound =

Answer 5

• Shocked gasps
• Diegetic dialogue

Question 6

Ideology =

Answer 6

• Highlights how Arthur’s hero was fictional and often very belittling
• Talks about how the ruling class ignore any harmful effect they have created as long as it benefits them (Thomas Wayne)
• ‘A society that abandons him and treats him like trash’
• ‘If it was me dying on the sidewalk, you’d walk right over me’

Question 7

Critical Approach =

Answer 7

• Arthur is a working class man alienated from society and his invite on the show is made to be a mockery and how the ruling class are able to humilate and exploit the working class for their own entertainment and profit
• Arthur’s transformation of Joker becomes a symbol of clas srage which sparks uprising and becomes a rebellion against the ruling class
• A postcolonialist lens can be applied as Arthur treated as a joke in society and something to be laughed at, he is paraded for entertainment. The colonial gaze allows people from a position of power to ridicule those without voices. Arthur’s rebellion can be seen as postcolonial resistance

Question 8

Spectatorship =

Answer 8

• Arthur is the centre of attention and is performing for the audience as his true self
• Arthur now wants people to see Joker
• He delivers a rant about how society neglects the vulnerable where the audience can’t look away which is a moment of forced spectatorship
• Arthur directly challenges society of ignoring people like him