After a half decade of waiting, the long-anticipated sequel to Joker – Joker: Folie À Deux – is finally ready to hit theaters, and fans could not be more excited. Todd Phillips’ original masterpiece, which generated a rare genre nomination for Best Picture, has only grown in popularity since its initial theatrical run, and if the trailers are any indication, round two looks every bit as daring. It also looks really beautiful.
Credit for that striking look, of course, goes to the talented crew that worked on the movie. Cinematographer Lawrence Sher and everyone in his department have done some fantastic work here executing Phillips’ vision, which often uses color, perspective and scale to help amplify the story. To help achieve that, they worked closely with IMAX, as the film was part of the premium format giant’s Filmed For IMAX program.
To learn more about how that collaboration for Joker: Folie Á Deux went, we partnered with AMC Theatres and sent a camera crew to IMAX’s headquarters in Los Angeles and Toronto to get the backstory on shooting with the crew. One of the conversations we had was with Greg Ciaccio, the VP of Post Production for Original Content and Image Capture at IMAX. During our chat, he talked about how early his team gets involved in projects now. The days of waiting until the movie is finished to work together are over. Now, it’s a collaborative process before principal photography even begins, and that’s all done to make sure the movie really pops on the biggest and best screen possible. Here’s a portion of his quote…
In IMAX, we actually get involved in the filmed for IMAX program way early in pre-production. We go through camera choices, lens choices, cutting style, how objects look on an 80, 90 foot screen.
It’s not a matter of dictating choices to the filmmakers, however. There’s no single way to shoot a movie in IMAX correctly. Instead, it’s about using the high resolution cameras and advancements in film technology to bring out the elements the filmmaker is trying to highlight. In fact, IMAX has started to see filmmakers really experiment and start to find new ways to pull emotion out of characters using the high-resolution cameras, and the end result is an enhanced psychological factor the audience really feels, especially in a movie like Joker: Folie À Deux. Here’s more from our conversation…
(The film) has got this amazing quality, there’s some amazing close-ups in there. I think filmmakers are finding new ways to get the emotionality out of the characters. When you see Joker: Folie À Deux and the characters in full screen like that, the psychological factor is really kind of hyped and enhanced, and you really feel that tension. We’ll see that effect in IMAX and nowhere else.
You can see flashes of what he’s talking about in the film’s trailers, but it’ll be even more obvious once you see it on the big screen. The goal of Joker: Folie Á Deux isn’t always to be the loudest or the most in your face. Sometimes it’s to connect and emphasize with the characters, and that involves bringing out the emotionality he’s talking about.
You can check out Joker: Folie À Deux in IMAX at AMC Theatres on October 4th.
