The Joker film is up for eleven Academy Awards this year. This includes: Joaquin Phoenix for Best Actor, Todd Phillips for Best Director, and Best Picture. The 2019 psychological thriller explores the beginning of the infamous DC Comic book character, Joker. It shows the decline of a failed comedian, Arthur Fleck, who descends into madness and inspires a crazy revolution against the rich. It is a failing Gotham City from the extreme separation of classes. Joker’s costume was inspired by John Wayne Gacy, the clown serial killer.
The movie itself was filmed in a more improvisational approach. Most of the scenes were written the day of the shoot and memorized during hair and makeup. Then the crew would go back and re-film some of the scenes three weeks later. This could be why the film has received such praise.
There is an important scene in the end of the film where the “Joker” character is finally revealed to the audience. They filmed Phoenix in the red and orange suit strolling down a flight of stairs on the way to the television set. This scene was considered to be the “most stressful scene to film”. The reason being, was because there are no paparazzi limitations in the city of New York. Anyone can take a picture and post it on the Internet, making the most important scene visible to the public before the film opens.
Warnings were issued to the film crew before the release of the Joker film. In 2012, on the opening evening of The Dark Knight, a mass shooting happened in Aurora, Colorado by James Eagan Holmes. People were worried that there could be a copy-cat shooter for the opening day of Joker but luckily nothing happened. The film opened a success.
Olson Visual created a mesmerizing prop and display for the Joker film. It consisted of a large-scale graphic with a display case.