Tom - One Hour Photo

One Hour Photo

a) the main character, what sort of a person?

the main character was, in my opinion, quite a nerdy character. At the beginning of the film when the shot was on his photo he looked very weird with glasses, being bald with little bits of blond hair and wearing very boring cloths, also when the policeman said now turn to the right, he hesitated and started turning left, but then turned right. also the way he sits, waiting for the policeman to come in his legs are crossed over which looks very restricted and nervous, and when the policeman talks about his photo which "aren't pretty," he asks to see then which could show the character being obsessive about his photo's. then the character asks THE POLICEMAN weather they have their own photo lab which is an odd question to ask when he is being held in a white interrogation room. also nearing the end of this short sequence the audience is interested with him because when the policeman asks a question the camera shows him thinking deeply about it, showing his emotions, this makes the audience want to know more about him.


b) how do you feel about the main character - why?


in this short sequence you feel a number of different emotions about the character, because first of all you see him being told which way to go and where to stand, which no one wants to have done to them however when you discover that he is at a police station your mind jumps to he must have done something wrong to be in a police station. also you feel confused about the character because when he is in the white room he is nervous, and even though he is in what looks like an interrogation room he asks to see his pictures which is bizarre because hes the one being interrogated, however then we slightly like the character because then he asks, and is interested in whether the police station has its own photo lab, which is nice because although he appears to be in trouble with them he is still friendly to them. then finally you feel bad for him because he then gets asked a question and goes into deep thought, its obviously a painful memory from his facial expressions, and then a quick look at the policeman to tell him the answer


c)analyse the opening credits- why have they created them in this particular way?

the credits slide in from the left hand side of the screen which is interesting because its almost as if they are on a reel, they also look like some sort of file number with the directors name because of the zeros and the small lines in the bottom right side of the screen, then it fad's out. when you first see the credits it makes you confused because you don't know why they are shown like that, and you don't know what it means.

d)the setting- what sort of atmosphere does this build and how have camerawork, M en S, editing and sound helped to create this?

the setting builds a very tense atmosphere, you can tell this because of the white walls being neutral which is creepy and the part where the policeman tells Robin Williams to turn to the left because that's him giving Robin an order which he is tense about. also the very first camera shot is an eye level shot of a camera pointing at the audience, which starts of being very intimidating, then the music builds up to a climax when the flash goes off, this is effective on the audience because it confuses them but straight away grabs their attention. when the character has had his mugshot taken it shows a very negative atmosphere because his facial expressions are neutral, emotionless which creates a serious vibe also his cloths are very neutral so it shows that the character isn't really a fun, happy guy. when the camera pans over from the TV screen to the window, it shows him sitting on his own in a white room with only a chair and a table, this is a negative atmosphere because the room looks so empty and the character obviously looks unhappy in the room. when the policeman enters the room the camera shows that he restricts the pictures from the main character, saying that he cannot look at them, this emphasizes the negative atmosphere, and finally when the policeman enters the white room you only hear the door close and his footsteps which are very spesific sounds because they echo which adds to the tense atmosphere.

e) how do sound, mise en scene, camerawork and editing create the effect of the flashback?

they all contribute to making the flashback work really nicely.

• sound

the sound when it starts is very dreamlike, showing that it is a flashback and not a different scene, also the children are laughing in the background of the narration which shows a completely different mood change

• mise en scene
  the very first shot of the flashback is children on a climbing frame which lots of different coloured shirts on which shows the difference between the white room and this, also there is a camera documenting all the good photo's which the main character comments about. also their is cake in the shot, the family being playful and shoving it in the kids face, which shows a significant difference.
• editing

when it starts their is a certain glow in the shot, which wouldn't be their normally, this creates a dream like effect, as if we have gone back in time, this is effective because we feel like this is a different scene, then it jumps back to him being interrogated.