The opening scene of Joker is an example of how composition creates a certain emotion in this movie. The way Arthur is positioned in the centre, illuminated by the lights on his mirror, creates the impression that he is alone and insignificant in a much bigger, threatening society. This, right of the bat, allows the audience to understand Arthur’s battle with being alone and having nobody to care for him.

This scene in Joker amplifies the effect makeup can have on the emotion and atmosphere of a scene. The way Arthur is painted in a ghost-like pale white wash serves the purpose of acting like a clean canvas for the blood splattered on Arthur’s face. This could be interpreted to further understand Arthur’s pre-existing intent to kill and the Directors choice to paint Arthur as a clearly unstable, psychotic individual.

Costume plays a crucial part in differentiating between characters in Joker, the way ‘regular’ citizens such as the men Arthur killed on the subway are dressed in contrast to how Arthur chooses to dress in the resolution of the movie tells the audience a lot about Arthur’s atypical mind and his intent to embrace his ‘different’ personality. Whilst the men on the subway wear regular suits and tie, Arthur wear a brightly coloured red and yellow suit in order to suggest a more amusing, less mundane expectation of a person. This eludes to the fact that Arthur is treated as an outcast by others and has always been considered a black sheep.

The scene in which Arthur imagines himself appearing on the tonight show with Murray utilises lighting and its effect on how an audience perceives a scene. The use of overhead lighting could be interpreted as a heaven-like representation of who Arthur aspires himself to be. The fact that this appeared only in Arthur’s imagination tells the audience that Arthur may only reach heaven or be perceived as ‘good’ in his dreams, this is important for the audience in deciding on Arthur’s morals and better judgment further on in the film.

Colour grading in the Joker contributes heavily to the emotions portrayed throughout the movie, whilst the movie is predominantly colour graded with a blue toned or green toned wash, eluding to a mundane, depressed world, this scene has a yellow tint and as a result feels lighter, happier. This could be interpreted to how Arthur finally feels some hope for happiness in a world that has given him nothing but pain and injustice. This being one of few yellow coloured scenes in the film is important to understand how Arthur rarely feels this way and as a reproduction falls in a psychotic and depressive killing rampage.

This scene is an example of how Set design can be used in order to suggest emotion and patterns in the ending on Joker. The way the curtains surround Arthur in blue eludes to the fact that the underlying sadness Arthur feels is present throughout the whole movie, even when living out Arthur’s dream of being a guest on the Murray show. The way Arthur is lit up by the lightbulbs on the mirror pays homage to the opening scene of Joker in a cyclical technique and tells the audience that, despite Arthur’s new found interest in killing and the arguably successful fact that he is on the Murray show, he still feels isolated and alone like he did in the beginning due to the fact that he has no one to love him and care for him. This fact is further illuminated but how Arthur is standing in the dark behind a curtain, this could be interpreted to reference how Arthur has always been in the shadows, never receiving help from others and even covered up by a curtain so as not to upset the more wealthy who don’t help those in need in society as a whole.