This video essay aims to examine how isolation is portrayed visually within Mark Romanek’s 2002 film One Hour Photo. The film is a psychological thriller starring Robin Williams as Sy Parrish, a photo technician who has dedicated over 20 years of his life to developing film in a supermarket. Sy is a desperately lonely, quiet soul who wishes for nothing more than to feel loved and wanted, leading him to form a perturbing obsession with one of his customers, Nina Yorkin (Connie Nielsen), and her seemingly perfect family. Rather than wanting to replace anyone in this family, Sy simply wants to be included. However, on finding out about Nina’s husband’s affair, Sy takes it upon himself to punish Will Yorkin (Michael Vartan). From here, the film takes a darker turn as we follow Sy’s slow decent into turmoil as he goes to extreme lengths to attempt to avenge his shattered fantasy and lost childhood innocence. One Hour Photo delves into the intricate depths of the human mind, exploring themes of obsession, voyeurism and particularly isolation, prompting viewers to confront the darkness inside us and the people we encounter daily. However, Williams’ portrayal of Sy, while still evoking a sense of disturbance, elicits a strong sympathy for him. Williams’ heart-wrenching performance carefully builds tension as it peels back the layers of Sy’s fragile psyche, proving Sy isn’t a psychotic, evil caricature but rather a broken human being with no real identity, tragically struggling with no source of help and therefore finding reason to live through the lives of others. Romanek, being a very visual director, and Jeff Cronenweth, known for his cinematography on David Fincher films including Fight Club (1999) and Gone Girl (2014), skilfully extends Sy’s sense of isolation into the film’s visuals, namely the colour palette, use of frame-in-frame, and spatial composition. This video essay begins with an exploration of my own footage, utilising it to illuminate how a few changes can make a scene evolve from a warm, welcoming place into an inhospitable, empty space. Initially, I shot the subject in a medium long shot, highlighting her surrounding while staying in close proximity to her, thereby establishing a physical and emotional connection. I directed the subject to stretch out across the sofa, taking up the space around her, showing her comfort in her surroundings. I then adjusted the highlights to emphasise the scene’s yellows while making the midtones a copper orange. This enabled me to introduce a warmth to the shot, further enhancing the cosiness of the space. Comparatively, in the second clip, I filmed the subject in a wide shot, almost losing her in the expansive negative space around her. She is made even more insignificant within the space due to the fact she is sitting upright, rigidly in one spot on the sofa, making her appear uneasy within the room. Additionally, I darkened the highlights while tinting the scene a green tone, resulting in the cream of the walls becoming a murky cyan. Coupled with the fact the subject was framed within the window, I was able to communicate visually a looming sense of emotional entrapment. Although there was limited movement in both shots, the second seems even more motionless, almost as if frozen in time. Therefore, it is evident these changes can help one perceive the character as lonely because rather than finding a solace in her solitude, she appears to find her physical loneliness to be emotionally confining. This is emblematic of the fact that Sy is never free of his inner turmoil and so never seems to feel comfortable in any of his surroundings. From the sterile, blinding white light of the SavMart to his own home, Sy is made to appear as if he doesn’t belong. In order to create this impression, Romanek and Cronenweth created living paintings, framing many scenes in a tableu vivant style, depicting events as living pictures where the camera remains motionless matching Sy’s stationary blocking, trapping Sy within the frame. Romanek and Cronenweth seemingly draw inspiration from director Roy Anderson and artist Edward Hopper, both of whom explore what it means to be human by placing an emphasis on solitude.
