Movie review 1: Colours for feelings-Creating mood

So this is going to be one of 3 highly  unusual blogs from me. Our school is going into "shoot week" where we don't have regular classes but work on projects. One of our projects this week is to do 3 movie reviews on movies selected in their relation to photography. My first movie was One Hour Photo with Robin Williams in it. So here is my review:

Gone is the childhood funny memories of "Mork and Mindy".  Robin Williams takes a HUGE step away from his regular funny/comedic roles to play a "psychotic" film development manager at a large retail store. He lives vicariously(actually envisions himself as a family member) through the photos brought into him by a family to develope. Everything is going fine until he discovers that the husband is involved in an extramarital affair and his illusions about being part of this perfect family are thrown in a tailspin. This combined with his dismissal from his place of employment leads him on a  rip, roaring, camera rampage. (Who needs a gun when you have a camera). We've also heard of the might of the pen, but the camera in this case, may be mightier!

Content aside,  I see this movie as a study in tones and color saturation and their relevance to creating mood and suspense in the movie. I loved the way the cinematographer used color in this film to convey a message to the viewer about the mood of the scene or that of the character. For example, when the main character is at work, the store always seems bluish white. The grocery shelves,  on the other hand are stalked with product that showcase as a massive blur of orange , yellow, blue and green. I saw this as a suggestion that perhaps the main character is cold and isolated from the real world and the real world is the colorful stuff on the selves. WAIT- I've been there before- Those colors, that feeling-  Sometimes as a housewife, and mom , you tend to feel a little isolated from the world especially if your a stay at home mom. I can remember times going to my monthly excursion into the real world of- Walmart! Even with the people all around, I would still feel alone. I'd walk by a mirror and peer into it and not recognizing myself in the bright florescent lights. Who was that pale, bluish, washed- out women in front of me- where was her life? The bright products seemed as though to mock me from their selves promising  life-  A life of cleaning, cooking, baking, repairing, painting..... Okay enough theatrics......

 And then I got to thinking(Cause my mind seems to do that once-in-a-while) And then my brain did the other thing it does once -in-a-while and it began to make an association between what I was doing at the time and this movie review. A big huge lightbulb goes on in Ebonie's brain. Photographing some items around the house and playing with a few tools in Lightroom, perhaps I could convey those same colors/feelings in the movie?  It somehow seemed easier to explain the color changes in the movie with an actual photo, maybe even a little more interesting? 

A little disclaimer here, The condition of the laundry is in no way a reflection of any of the cleaning products indicated in the photo's OR my abilities as a laundress. I love Tide, I've used it all my life -it's all good.... 

Two things drew me to shoot these photo's this way:

1. I was multitasking -Laundry day and homework

2. It just happened to be what I had in the house that was colorful enough.

 Above:Here is the feeling I got when the main character was a work:Blue/white, cold isolated.   But still dynamic, saturated color around him. Examples are when he meets the boy in the store toy area. The boy is dressed colorfully and he is his blue/gray/white self. Also his customers always appear in colorfully saturated clothing as well. I found it interesting as well at the end of the flick, that the interrogation room was also Bluish/white with but one shot of red- a chair in the room. 

 Every time He got into his vehicle and ventured outside his residence or place of work the scene become a mass of green/yellow hues. I'm not sure what feelings those colors conveyed but I got a sense of discomfort. Maybe it was his discomfort I was suppose to be feeling????

When He was reflecting on being part of the family, the scene turned a warmer hue, not bright, just a slight peachy glow. This happened when he was at the restaurant looking at the pictures and even in his home. I may add, his trophy wall of family pics remained saturated and the color diffused further from this wall. This worked well to convey his happiness. 

All in all, I would give this movie a 4 star if your looking at it from a photographer's point of view- a 1 if your just renting it. It's slow,  predictable and I prefer the Robin Williams I grew up with. Oh don't forget,  5 stars for the lady doing the Laundry-Tee- Hee-He!!!