Chess- One Hour Photo Opening

One Hour Photo
In this Thriller opening, we are successfully drawn into the film and are desperate to know more. We learn little about what has happened so our minds wonder off with all these questions, and we even feel some empathy for the character we know not much about, but theres certain aspects of this opening showing its a thriller...

Main Chracter

• nice looking, not creepy or of a percific stereotype/group


• very nervous but calm


• looks respectable, plain normal clother, short combed hair, glasses and a shirt..


• very vulnerable looking, in many of the shots he is alone in the centre, in a big open space quite a simple man maybe, image to the left possible confused as gets left and right muddled up- could be due to under alot of pressure and stress
  
• gives you enigma codes and makes you wonder what he has done, and what the 'not pretty' photos are, plus if he really is to blame for whatever the crime is, sounds like maybe he was pushed to do it or had good reasoning




• so this causes us to feel abit sympathetic towards him even though he may be mean, just he doesnt appear it, something about him we can relate to. we dont hate him or feel any bad feelings towards him in the opening, maybe they want us to like him as we seem to start feeling something of a sympathetic care for him already.

the Credits

• the backgrounds all dark, pitch black so not bright with colours


• writing starts off black, but will flash and change to red glow


• then 'One Hour Photo' title flashes to red and then to different colours


• theres background sound very low key, qwerky music, and when credits change theres a slight boom kind of sound, one time theres a traffic drone, -already setting scene through credits


• red = blood? love? passion? enigma codes already


• flashes= like a camera


• also some markings around/on screen which gives it an interesting but unusual look, also appears like the marking on a photograph..


• probably done like this to not only reflect the idea of photos and cameras which is even mentioned in the main title of the film but also to give us that sense of how its abit dark, maybe sinister, so setting the feel and tensed atmosphere of what may later come.

Setting

• in the opening 3 minute clip there are two main scenes we see, the police station and the garden


• first very shot we see a is close up of the camera, very white even the room its in appears white. background music getting louder and increasing of the impact and speed of it, makes you brase yourself and get ready to jump as very suspensed atmosphere. then theres the loud and very bright flash from the camera, image to right, makes you jump, but you're drawn in and want more, as youre paying your full attention now.


• then a few shots of the main character standing against a blue screen having his photo taken, he is totally alone in the shot and its very open and big spaced, looks like hes very vulnerable and all eyes are on him so maybe hes slightly embarrased--his tensedness causes us to feel tensed too, partly due to the framing of him and the appearencess of the shot.


• later see a mid shot of him in the questioning room on the television. its ever so dark, no light on in the room just light from the window and tv. empty chair-- gives deserted feel yet also the sense he is being watched by someone who we dont know yet (restricted) then the shot is a very long shot as moves to the side and travells through the wide window see image to left, then the police man/ detective walks in, as its so quiet the buzz from the door is a shock, and then he talks to him while standing up (in same long shot) shows the authroity he has over the man, hands over the photos in envelope on desk. the silence shows the awkwards situation



• the interview room and the garden seem to be exact opposites of each other. after the shot reverse shots of the main character and the detective, the flashback is joined with background music, theres a close up of the main characters face and as he stares the sound builds into a high pitch note, then the next shot it changes to a much softer, calmer, light notes music. And it goes from a very white, plain room to a brightly coloured, sunny, happy, filled and very alive garden, the atmosphere is alot calmer in the garden then the interview room. It also looks as if the garden action has been slowed down, slower then the normal speed it was filmed in, during editing, probably to show its in his memory and he is recollecting. This complete opposite in mood and place gives a bigger impact, because they just are totally different, and if they had been similar the transition would be minimal. It also shows how different the mans life was, and this causes us to wonder how he went from that one place to this interview room. The voice over the flashback is his voice, and it shows the connection and as he speaks he sounds wise, with words of wisdom, increasing our interest and emotion for the character.

Overall...

what I think is so good about this thriller opening is how there is so much we don't know, yet we know where he will end up at the end, due to the flashback. But in a short few minutes it pulls you in so deep that you get a sense or care for the character and are intrigued to how his life has so rapidly changed. What we could use for our opening is to have some shots of the victim in the centre of the frame, to show the vulnerability of the character. Also to have some shots which are abit longer then others, but where only a minute piece of action happens, to give a real big bang effect.