One Hour Photo - Jon Lambert

One Hour Photo's opening sequence most definately leaves its audience questioning. First of all, with the titles.

Opening Credits
The opening credits are depicted as a roll of film being developed. In the background we hear drums and sinister music, alongside the sounds of the machine developing. Following these shots, there is a shot of a camera, however it is a confusing one as we don't know what the device is. Once the music has built, we see a white flash and hear a high tone. Immediately following this shot, we see the character for the first time.


The Main Character
The main character is confusing from the start. First shown in a picture loading (close-up shot), he is clearly not a hardened criminal. Although, that is made clear to us that he is some sort of criminal when we see his picture on the screen, with all the federal information too.
He is shown to be nervous, as when he is asked to turn to his right, the camera switches to a long shot and he momentarily confuses himself. We can then see his nervous body movement.
The camera is then viewing a screen, on which we can see the main character sitting alone in a white room. The camera pans to look through a glass window, which gives the impression that he is under survaillance. This becomes a long shot, as the main character and the interviewer begin their conversation. The camera becomes an eye level 180 degree switch, as the conversation continues.

The Setting
The setting is very plain, clean and "sterile". There aren't many colours in any of the scenes, especially the white room interviewing scene. In this scene, there is an extreme long shot; which gives the character an isolated look. Adding to this is the lack of objects or scenery, as the only items are a chair and table.

The flashback

• The sound has alot of reverb
• The lighting is very bright and the colours are vibrant, with a high saturation
• The scene is in slow motion
• There is an audio bridge transition between the main characters face, and the flashback scene, we hear childeren laughing before we see a camera. This gives the effect of the main character thinking of the scene before we see it ourself.
• The main character becomes the narrator, with a voice-over the scene.