Tag Archives: The Practice of Film Criticism 2025

Jack Hulbert on ‘How The Knight Became Dark: How Media and Societal Changes Can Affect a Long Running Franchise’

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“How The Knight Became Dark: How Media and Societal Changes Can Affect a Long Running Franchise” traverses the history of the Batman franchise from the first television serial in the 1940’s, all the way to the most recent filmic entry in the Batman franchise: Matt Reeves’ The Batman[1]. In the subsequent 80 years, a plethora of Batman media and films have been released, all with their own styles, aesthetics and tones.

 

Posters for (from left to right) Batman[2], Batman[3], Batman Forever[4], The Dark Knight[5], The Batman[6].

 

This video essay demonstrates this history of Batman films, the history of changes in the cinematic medium, and the historical eras of comic books, to understand how nearly 100 years of constant change can be seen and felt in The Batman.

 

The Batman franchise is perfectly suited to exploring the nature of how 80 years can affect a franchise: be this through societal changes or through cinematic changes. Reflection theory suggests “that cinema, being a “popular art,” tends to embody some state of mind common to the millions of people living in a society”[7]. Using this idea as an approach, seismic shifts in the zeitgeist can feasibly be observed through tonal or story changes within a franchise. For this purpose, the Batman franchise is a unique example, being a franchise that had been going strong for almost a century. It has crossed ears of cinema, the Hays code era and the post 9/11 response for example, and it has also developed and crossed multiple eras of comic books, the overly safe silver and transgressive modern age for example. These changes will be explored by exposing and analysing where their influences can be found in 2022’s The Batman.

 

Before analysing The Batman however, it is logical to first explain the history of the Batman franchise and how, historically, it has interacted with seismic shifts and changes to the zeitgeist. To explain this history, every major film and shift must be explored chronologically, to concisely and simply explain 80 years of history in under 11 minutes. (“Major film” here refers to lie action. While the video essay will feature clips from animated films, this is both to show comic books in a more visually engaging way, using their film counterparts, and because pretending that they don’t exist would be disingenuous to the history of Batman films). The eras of Batman films will be explored by their director, splitting the eras neatly, almost by decade. This aligns with the shifts that have affected the franchise, mainly the Hays code limiting the 1960’s film (and its removal between Batman and Batman); the negative reaction to the darker Burton films ( which used the post Hays code freedom to explore “deconstructive and dystopian re-envisionings of iconic characters and the worlds that they live in”[8]); the shift towards dark realism post 9/11 (which was felt across all of cinema as “the omnipresent post traumatic response”[9] at the time was that it all “looked like a movie”).

 

Only after unveiling this history of change can The Batman be analysed. With an understanding of 80 years of cinematic and societal oscillations, sequences from and the overall tone of The Batman are rendered meaningful through their relationship to these changes. After working chronologically through the history of change, going back through each influential event can elucidate the notions of reflection theory: can the various zeitguiseds be felt in The Batman, or is it truly a standalone work?

 

When it was originally released The Batman was positioned as a standalone work. Obviously with the advent of The Penguin[10] series on HBO this is no longer accurate, but it is interesting to consider how standalone it truly was. The word standalone indicates that it is not influenced by other films or properties and is a singular work. However, this video essay attempts to disprove that notion, challenging the nature of how anything can really be singular or standalone. It posits that in reality, Reeves’ The Batman has been shaped by 80 years of changes and that each of these can be observed within itself. It is not a product of isolation but a product of constant change.

The Video Essay may be seen on Vimeo here:

 

Bibliography:

Bordwell, David, “Observations on Film Art: Zip, Zero, Zeitgeist”, DavidBordwell.net (2014), https://www.davidbordwell.net/blog/2014/08/24/zip-zero-zeitgeist/ accessed 3rd February 2025

 

Briefel, Aviva; Miller, Sam. Introduction, in “Horror After 9/11: World of Fear, Cinema of Terror” (University of Texas Press, Austin, 2011)

 

Filmography:

 

Batman (Leslie H. Martinson, USA, Greenlawn Productions, 1966)

 

Batman (Tim Burton, USA, Warner Bros, 1989)

 

Batman Forever (Joel Schumacher, USA, PolyGram Pictures, 1995)

 

The Batman (Matt Reeves, Warner Bros. Pictures, 2022)

 

The Dark Knight (Christopher Nolan, USA, Warner Bros. Pictures, 2008)

 

The Penguin (USA, HBO, tx.30.09.2024 – 11.11.2024)

 

 

 

[1] The Batman (Matt Reeves, Warner Bros. Pictures, 2022)

[2] Batman (Leslie H. Martinson, USA, Greenlawn Productions, 1966)

[3] Batman (Tim Burton, USA, Warner Bros, 1989)

[4] Batman Forever (Joel Schumacher, USA, PolyGram Pictures, 1995)

[5] The Dark Knight (Christopher Nolan, USA, Warner Bros. Pictures, 2008)

[6] The Batman (Matt Reeves, USA, Warner Bros. Pictures, 2022)

[7] Bordwell, 2014

[8] Quoted in Shadows of the Bat (USA, Warner Bros. DVD, 2005)

[9] Briefel, Aviva; Miller, Sam. Introduction, in “Horror After 9/11: World of Fear, Cinema of Terror” (University of Texas Press, Austin, 2011)

[10] The Penguin (USA, HBO, tx.30.09.2024 – 11.11.2024)

Fiola Odusote on the Mise-en-Scène of the Multiverse

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Creator’s Statement

Within my video essay I will be answering the question of: how the mise-en-scene in scenes depicting the multiverse help to enrich a film’s story? I plan to answer this question using three films to support my argument. Everything Everywhere All at Once (Kwan & Scheinert, 2022), Spider-Man: Across the Spider-verse (Dos Santos, Powers & Thompson, 2023) and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (Raimi, 2022) are the films I will be using to support my video essay as all three feature the multiverse in a significant way that impacts the narrative of their respective films. The Research question of my video essay interests me as I was fascinated by the rise in popularity of films that feature the multiverse. Upon further thought about why multiverse films have become so popular I realised that their rise in popularity has a lot to do with the rise in popularity of comic book adaptations. Comic books, more specifically science fiction / superhero comic books, often feature storylines concerned with the multiverse and so it is unsurprising that with the increasing output of movie studios like Marvel, there have been a greater amount of multiverse stories told. The multiverse, however, is not a concept limited to comic book adaptations, as a film like Everything Everywhere All at Once shows that interesting original stories can be told using it. As I was aware about why so many multiverse films were being produced, I began to become fascinated about how the concept could be featured in audio-visual storytelling. Several critiques about films that feature the multiverse tend to be reductive and make claims about the films being mainly spectacle and a monetary vehicle for cameos that aim to draw in crowds chasing nostalgia (Burt, 2022). And that’s why it felt important for me to discuss the different ways the multiverse can be used to enhance a film’s story.

In Cinema As a Worldbuilding Machine in the Digital Era : Essay on Multiverse Films and TV Series, Alain Boillat explored the idea that Hollywood, after 9/11, put a larger focus on world building that had to do with parallel worlds (Boillat, 2022, p. 26-29). Boillat mentioned that CGI in the early 2000s had become popular and also mentioned that many 2000s and 2010s Hollywood films could be looked at as a reflection of the shared trauma the US had experienced. Many films featured city settings that were thrown into chaos by freak events, and it could be possible that history repeated itself when it came to films produced after the Covid-19 Pandemic. Stephanie Burt asked the question in her article ‘Why do we live in a multiversal moment?’ and proceeded to answer herself by stating that ‘One theory holds that the ascent of the multiverse matches our need to keep up many identities. We may feel like different people as we slide from Instagram to Slack to the family group chat’ (Burt, 2022). In a post pandemic world where we use social media more than ever before, Burt’s theory about the multiversal moment we’re in may ring true (Dixon, 2023). Multiverse stories due to being fantastical could allow audiences to explore their traumas through an escapist lens. Themes of trauma relating to the Covid-19 pandemic may be worth paying attention to when it comes to multiverse films after Covid-19, as explorations surrounding topics like loss would be very relevant to general audiences.

When looking at how loss could be explored in a multiverse film, I focused on how the filmmakers of both Everything Everywhere All at Once and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness both employed genre in relation to alternate universes. The Daniels, the directors of Everything Everywhere All at Once, used the Hong Kong romance genre to explore the loss of the romance in Evelyn and Waymond’s marriage. They took inspiration from Wong Kar-Wai’s  In the Mood For Love (Kar-Wai, 2000) and within my video essay I included clips from Kar-Wai’s film to support my point. Sam Raimi within his take of a Doctor Strange film, employed the horror genre to show how Wanda’s loss had driven her to commit immoral acts. Raimi referenced his own prior works when using horror techniques and I also included clips from The Evil Dead (Raimi, 1983) to help support this point as well. Son Lux, the band who are responsible for creating Everything Everywhere All at Once’s score and soundtrack, discussed their creative process with Rolling Stone in an interview (Rolling Stone, 2022). In that interview they mentioned how the film utilised established genre a lot and that required them to compose the score in different ways depending on the genre that was taking place on screen. In the parts of the film that delved into Romance, Son Lux often utilised the faint sounds of strings alongside the more prominent sound of a piano softly playing. The romantic scoring accompanied the Wong Kar-Wai inspired visuals and this successfully helped the film to emulate the romantic genre in an effective way.

Identity was a theme that explored in both Everything Everywhere All at Once and Spider-man Across the Spider-verse. Both films employ the multiverse to help explore this theme and the animated Spider-man film used different styles of animation in order to both communicate what universe we’re occupying and also express what characters are feeling and the ideas they are fighting against. In Everything Everywhere All at Once, identity is explored through the motif of the googly eye, which Evelyn places on her forehead at the climax of the film. An eye on the forehead is known as a third eye and is a symbol within Buddhism for enlightenment. The third eye’s connection to enlightenment is important to Evelyn’s journey of reshaping her identity to become a better version of herself. The placement of the third eye marks a change in her approach to life as she adopts more of her husband’s characteristics in order to save her daughter.

Additionally, the importance of family, community and loving oneself are explored within The Daniels film as well as Raimi’s. Embracing your loved ones and yourself is the key to solving the central problems within Everything Everywhere All at Once and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. And the depictions of the multiverse within both of these films helped to drive home this message as montage and having Elizabeth Olsen act against herself, allowed for the story of both of these films to be told in an interesting and unique way. A films’ score as well as visual techniques’ such as slow motion can help to punctuate important moments where the themes of family, community and self-acceptance are explored. And I believe The Daniels and Raimi’s films employ these elements of mise-en-scene quite well.

My video essay whilst briefly discussing the critiques of the multiverse film does not go into much depth on the weaknesses of that kind of film. This is in large part due to the nature of my research question which is more focused on how the multiverse film can aid a films story. All the multiverse films I’ll be discussing in my video essay are not perfect as both marvel films that I’m using to support my points do use unnecessary cameos as a way to draw in audiences and Everything Everywhere All at Once due to its chaotic and absurdist nature could be seen as being forced to sacrifice its potential for more intriguing cinematography so it does not overwhelm its audience. In spite of the weaknesses the multiverse film can have, I do believe the merits of the films I’m discussing within my video essay do show that the multiverse film can be used in a successful way to explore grounded themes. Science fiction films that do choose to use the concept should not be reduced to being seen as pure spectacle but should instead be given the opportunity to show that they have the capacity to tell as interesting of a story as a traditional drama. Within my filmography and bibliography, I will be including all the resources that have been referenced within this Creator’s statement as well as my video essay.

The video essay may also be seen on Vimeo here:

 

 

Filmography

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022) Directed by Sam Raimi, USA, Marvel Studios

In the Mood for Love (2000) Directed by Wong Kar-Wai, Hong Kong, Jet Tone Production, Block 2 Pictures & Paradis Films

Spiderman: Across the Spider-Verse (2023) Directed by Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers & Justin K. Thompson, USA, Columbia Pictures

Spiderman: into the Spider-Verse (2018) Directed by Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey & Rodney Rothman, Canada, Columbia Pictures

The Evil Dead (1983) Directed by Sam Raimi, USA, Renaissance Pictures

Bibliography

Boillat, A. (2022) Cinema As a Worldbuilding Machine in the Digital Era : Essay on Multiverse Films and TV Series, Indiana University Press: Indiana. p. 26-29

Burt, S. (2022) ‘Is the Multiverse Where Originality Goes to Die?’, The New Yorker, 31 October. Available at: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2022/11/07/is-the-multiverse-where-originality-goes-to-die  (Accessed 2 January 2025).

Cavendish, R. & Burland C. (1995) Man, Myth and Magic: The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Mythology, Religion, and the Unknown . Vol. 19. New York: Marshall Cavendish Corporation p. 2606

Coe, J. (2023) Everything Everywhere All at Once and the Intimate Public of Asian American Cinema. Film Quarterly, 76(4), p. 35

Desta, Y. (2022) ‘Everything Everywhere All at Once: All the Wild Movie References, Explained (as Best as We Can)’ Vanity Fair. 8 April. Available at: https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2022/04/everything-everywhere-all-at-once-explained-as-best-we-can?srsltid=AfmBOooeQHL3nrXJF798TRQ6UR35L2bzdb52cZYd-jM4p7qcOgexW_-l (Accessed: 11 December 2024)

Dixon S. (2023). Social media use during COVID-19 worldwide – statistics & facts. Statistita. Available at: https://www.statista.com/topics/7863/social-media-use-during-coronavirus-covid-19-worldwide/#topicHeader__wrapper (Accessed 10 January 2025).

Drake, N. (2023) ‘What is the multiverse—and is there any evidence it really exists?’, History, 13 March. Available at: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/what-is-the-multiverse (Accessed: 27 October 2024)

Latour, J. (w) & Rodriguez, R. (a) (2015). Most Wanted?. Spider-Gwen. Vol. 0, 17 November. USA: ‎Marvel – US.

Mead, S. (no date), Futuristic city, Auto Design Magazine, Sandow Meida: USA, Available at: https://autodesignmagazine.com/en/2019/12/syd-mead-has-passed-away/. (Accessed: 11 January 2025)

Mead, S. (no date), Zhora dancing in Taffey’s Snake Pit bar, The Movie Art of Syd Mead: Visual Futurist, Titan Books: UK, Available at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-50955699. (Accessed: 11 January 2025)

Morrison, H. (2000) Detail showing head of Buddha statue with third eye in Da cheng ge at Da Fo si. Available at: https://hpcbristol.net/visual/Hv03-034 (Accessed: 10 January 2025)

Rolling Stone. (2022) How Son Lux Crafted a Maximalist Soundtrack for ‘Everything Everywhere All At Once’. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r64JPGRT_OQ  (Accessed: 10 January 2025).

Travis, B. (2022). ‘Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse Will Have Six Dominant Art Styles: ‘The Ambition Is To Wow You’ – Exclusive Image’, Empire, 22 November. Available At: https://www.empireonline.com/movies/news/spider-man-across-the-spider-verse-six-art-styles-exclusive/ (Accessed: 9 January 2025).

I Am Legend: A Prime Depiction of Isolation Horror by Jake Diamond

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The video essay may be seen below:

I Am Legend: A Prime Depiction of Isolation Horror Creator’s Statement 

 

In I Am Legend: A Prime Depiction of Isolation Horror I demonstrate how, through a cinematic character study of Doctor Robert Neville, complete psychological existentialism, created through isolation, can be visually depicted in conjunction with a narrative in I Am Legend (Francis Lawrence, U.S., 2007). This presents I Am Legend as an excellent example of Isolation portrayed on-screen, in conjunction with the sub-genre of Isolation horror. I first outline the cinematic scape the director, Francis Lawrence creates, through daunting expansive establishing shots of the conventionally populated Manhattan; now presented as a desolate, looming skeleton of social contact. Visually, we are thrust into this empty cityscape which Robert occupies completely alone prior to an exploration of the narrative. I examine the sub-genre as a whole, portraying how it can be broken down into three separate sections with their own conventions; conventions all used by I Am Legend, with a primary focus on the existential downfall that is inevitable from a lack of human contact. I make visual reference to examples of each of these subsections of the genre: Cast Away (Robert Zemeckis, U.S., 2000) and Moon (Duncan Jones, U.K., U.S., 2009) in reference to the Geographical subsection; 127 Hours (Danny Boyle, U.K., U.S., 2010) and Buried (Rodrigo Cortes, Spain, 2010) in reference to the Social subsection; and The Lighthouse (Robert Eggers, U.K., U.S., 2019) and The Lodge (Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala, U.K., U.S., 2019) in reference to the existential subsection. I also outline that the film is a prime example due to its timeless essence surrounding the depiction of a cinematic star being cast against type to demonstrate psychological deterioration; referencing Vincent Price in The Last Man on Earth (Sidney Salkow and Ubaldo B. Ragona, U.S., Italy, 1964) and Charlton Heston in The Omega Man (Boris Sagal, U.S., 1971).

 

I outline how the film uses these earlier adaptations to portray a modern take on the text, focusing directly on demonstrating isolation. I detail that the film can be broken down into five distinct narrative sections that each have their own audio-visual constructions, in conjunction with narrative events to present a mental decline within Robert Neville. The formation of my essay surrounds presenting a short clip from the movie before dissecting it, visually and through narration, presenting the deeper meanings present. This is done through visual overlays, graphic colour matting and waveform displays to detail how cinematography/lighting, mise-en-scene, editing, performance and sound are constructed – in-tandem – to illuminate Neville’s perception of safety contrasted with the reality of his impending doom. I additionally use multiple musical scores from the soundtrack of the film, within different sections as a subtextual presentation of the contrasting tones and ambience of perceived safety versus actual danger and isolated existentialism. The construction of multiple sections which I transition between are used to compartmentalise the narrative significance of specific moments and the effect they have upon Neville. I start with the mundane existence he has crafted for himself for stability before transitioning through the narrative to eventually link different portions that build up to his needless sacrifice. He accepts that his life of isolation has been a slow purgatory more than a complete existence.

 

Outside of the visual elements of the video essay, I explored scholarship that assisted in my research and formalisation of the video essay, examining written as-well as visual texts. First, I examined the theoretical underpinnings of the fascinating undertones of the sub-genre. Francis McAndrew outlines that ‘under some circumstances creepiness and horror can be seductive and […] this allure comes from questioning what we ourselves would do if we found ourselves alone, forming mental strategies to deal with it.’[1] This element of self-projection into the narrative sphere is the bedrock of isolation horror and is prominent within I Am Legend, with a diverse introspective look at a singular individual in an inescapable situation. I also examined Carl Royer and B.L. Cooper’s statements on introspective effects stating that ‘much of the finest horror […] deals with psychological horror.’[2] The horrific visual construction of the film is built upon this innate fear that underpins the genre, where inescapable introspective torture is more emotionally provoking than external stimuli, such as the situational dark seekers in I Am Legend. I also made use of Justin Robert’s statement that ‘the hero […] is a total product of his or her environment’ within the actual visual fabric of the video essay to highlight it’s importance.[3] As my essay presents this idea of perception versus reality within the realm of Robert Neville, this idea that – within such narratives – the hero forms environmental schemas was key for my understanding of how to display the environmental contrasts Francis Lawrence conveys in his directorial construction. I researched conventions of films featuring vampiric creatures to look into the external effect the dark seekers have upon Neville. Abbott states that “Rather than embodying humanity’s Legend, Neville’s legend is rescuing the remaining humanity.”[4] Rather than following the conventions of the genre – outlined within the original novel I Am Legend (Richard Matheson, 1999) which shaped the genre shown in other works such as The Stand (Stephen King, 2008) and The Passage (Justin Cronin, 2010) – and submitting to the dark seekers, acting as a martyr of humanity, Neville protects the cure he gives to Anna, accepting a lack of hope within himself, accepting that he cannot connect with the future humanity due to his deterioration. Finally, I also explored video essays about I Am Legend specifically for inspiration and intriguing elements examining deeper meanings. Ryan Hollinger states that ‘Robert tries to survive the dangers of both the outside world and the loneliness and isolation that plagues his mind.’[5] This focus on the two dangers: the dark seekers and Neville himself frames how I presented the ending of the video essay with a focus on match cuts with two perspectives of interior and exterior danger. The channel Macabre Storytelling also outlines in their video essay that I Am Legend engages in ‘flipping the script [and] removing the hopeful aspect of the narrative.’[6] This notion was pivotal within my video essay as I explored how Neville is connected with Sam, his pet who is the only safe form of social contact available to him. How, without Sam, he realises his existentialism and even with the inclusion of human contact and a hope for a future he lacks any essence of hope. This exploration of other texts and an in depth-viewing of films within the sub-genre aided the construction of my video essay.

 

Word Count: 1086

 

Video may also be seen on Vimeo here below:

Link to Video-Essay: I Am Legend – A Prime Depiction of Isolation Horror Video-Essay.mp4

 

 

Bibliography:

Abbot, S. (2016) ‘Undead Apocalypse: Vampires and Zombies in the 21st Century’, Edinburgh University Press: Edinburgh.

 

Cronin, Justin. (2010) The Passage. Ballantine Books.

 

King, Stephen. (2008) The Stand. Hodder and Stoughton.

 

Macabre Storytelling (2020) ‘I Am Legend – One Fatal Flaw’, Uploaded On: Youtube. 17th November. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wmvgea1vP7o (Accessed: 28th October 2024).

 

Matheson, Richard. (1999) I Am Legend. Gollancz.

 

McAndrew, T. Francis. (2020) ‘The Psychology, Geography and Architecture of Horror: How Places Creep Us Out’, Evolutionary Studies in Imaginative Culture, Vol. 4(2), pp. 47-62.

 

Roberts, J. Justin. (2016) ‘Transforming the Hero of I Am Legend’, Journal of Popular Film and Television, 44(1), pp. 42-50.

 

Royer, Carl and Cooper, B. L. (2013). “Chapter 2: “And I brought you nightmares”: The Play of Horror in Hitchcock’s Films”, The spectacle of isolation in horror films: dark Parades, Routledge, p. 25.

Ryan Hollinger (2019) ‘The Haunting Meaning of I Am Legend’, Uploaded On: Youtube. 25th August. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9VEDxyQnA6U (Accessed: 25th August 2019).

 

Filmography

Buried. (2010). Directed by Rodrigo Cortes. Spain: Versus Entertainment; The Safran Company; Dark Trick Films; Kinology; Studio 37. Main Cast: Ryan Reynolds (Paul Conroy).

 

Cast Away. (2000). Directed by Robert Zemeckis. United States: 20th Century Fox; DreamWorks Pictures; ImageMovers; Playtone. Main Cast: Tom Hanks (Chuck Noland), Helen Hunt (Kelly Frears), Nick Searcy (Stan).

 

I Am Legend. (2007). Directed by Francis Lawrence. United States: Village Roadshow Pictures; Weed Road Pictures; Overbrook Entertainment; Heyday Films; Original Film; Rose City Pictures. Main Cast: Will Smith (Doctor Robert Neville), Alice Braga (Anna), Charlie Tahan (Ethan).

 

Moon. (2009). Directed by Duncan Jones. United States and United Kingdom: Stage 6 Films; Liberty Films; Xingu Films; Limelight. Main Cast: Sam Rockwell (Sam Bell), Kevin Spacey (GERTY).

 

The Last Man on Earth. (1964). Directed by Sidney Salkow and Ubaldo B. Ragona. United States and Italy: Associated Producers Inc.; Produzioni La Regina. Main Cast: Vincent Price (Doctor Robert Morgan), Franca Bettoia (Ruth Collins), Giacomo Rossi Stuart (Ben Cortman).

 

The Lodge. (2019). Directed by Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala. United States and United Kingdom: FilmNation Entertainment; Hammer Film Productions. Main Cast: Riley Keough (Grace), Jaeden Martell (Aidan Hall), Lia McHugh (Mia Hall), Richard Armitage (Richard Hall), Alicia Silverstone (Laura Hall).

 

The Lighthouse. (2019). Directed by Robert Eggers. United States and Canada: A24, Regency Enterprises, RT Features, Parts and Labor. Main Cast: Robert Pattinson (Thomas Howard), Willem Dafoe (Thomas Wake).

 

The Omega Man. (1971). Directed by Boris Sagal. United States: Walter Seltzer Productions. Main Cast: Charlton Heston (Neville), Anthony Zerbe (Matthias), Rosalind Cash (Lisa), Paul Koslo (Dutch).

 

127 Hours. (2010). Directed by Danny Boyle. United States and United Kingdom: Pathe; Everest Entertainment; Film4 Productions; HandMade Films, Cloud Eight Films. Main Cast: James Franco (Aron Ralston), Amber Tamblyn (Megan), Kate Mara (Kristi).

 

 

[1] Francis T. McAndrew. (2020) ‘The Psychology, Geography and Architecture of Horror: How Places Creep us out’, Evolutionary Studies in Imaginative Culture, Vol. 4(2), pp. 49-50.

[2] Carl Royer and B. L. Cooper. (2013) ‘The Spectacle of Isolation in Horror Films – Dark Parades, Routledge, p. 25.

[3] Justin J. Roberts. (2016) ‘Transforming the Hero of I Am Legend’, Journal of Popular Film and Television, Vol. 44(1), p. 42.

[4] S, Abbott. (2016) Undead apocalypse: Vampires and Zombies in the 21st Century, Edinburgh University press, Edinburgh, p. 36.

[5] Ryan Hollinger. (2019) ‘The Haunting Meaning of I Am Legend, Uploaded On: Youtube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9VEDxyQnA6U, 00:02:28-00:02:40.

[6] Macabre Storytelling. (2020) ‘I Am Legend – One Fatal Flaw’, Uploaded On: Youtube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wmvgea1vP7o, 00:12:40.

 

Awkward opening sentence I had to read it several times to understand it.

 

Think through punctuation

 

Excellent

Isolation in ONE HOUR PHOTO (Mark Romanek, 2002) by Madeleine Lear

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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.

Hopper’s signature style influenced Andersson’s distinct despondent, minimalistic aesthetic. When stating what drew him to Hopper’s paintings, Andersson claimed “It’s the loneliness. His paintings are beautiful and sad at the same time”, making key reference to Hopper’s The Office at Night (1940) painting (Figure 1).[1] The painting is of a female secretary standing at a filing cabinet, her body turned to face a man sat at his desk, working in the office. While there are indications of movement, the picture itself is frozen in time, with the pair looking as if they’re about to start a conversation which never happens. Similarly, in One Hour Photo in the scenes where Sy is alone, notably in his apartment, despite not being a frozen frame the scene appears frozen in time. This is most apparent in the scene in which Sy is shown standing alone in his kitchen, motionless, holding a glass of water (Figure 2). Sy’s pale, insipid appearance camouflages him into the muted colours of his prison cell of an apartment, insinuating a coldness to his home reflecting his detachment from life and a longing for connection. I propose that this scene and the film as a whole also draw on Song Hwee Lim’s conventions of ‘slow cinema’, dragging out the scene’s duration to heighten viewers’ awareness of time passing.[2] By forcing viewers to endure the scene over a long period, they’re compelled to contemplate Sy’s inner thoughts and feelings. So much of the film is watching, thinking, waiting- we realise Sy is trapped not only in his world but also in his past from which he cannot heal alone.

 

Figure 1- Edward Hopper’s ‘The Office at Night‘ painting.

Figure 2- Sy in One Hour Photo standing alone in the kitchen of his apartment, barely moving and insipid against the colours of the room.

 

I intended to underline this idea that Sy feels ill at ease, prominently in his own company, by displaying how this is visually depicted within the film’s colour palette. The colour spectrum (for which I determined the prominent colour from each scene and laid them out in chronological order) reveals a contrasting palette consisting of brown and white. When looking at the scenes each colour reflected it became apparent that the warm tones, comprised of browns, oranges and yellows, mainly reflected the Yorkins and their world, evoking feelings of comfort and unity, while Sy and the environments he inhabits were left to be reflected by the distinctly cooler colours, such as white, grey and green, most prominently white, signalling an emotional detachment and alienation, thereby spotlighting his loneliness. White is a cold and depressing colour, representing Sy as this numb, blank slate secluded from the world. Sy hides within his colour scheme, representing how he is trapped in his own world and by his past. By shifting between these contrasting colour schemes, Romanek highlights the dynamic tension between emotional closeness and distance, using a desaturated, muted palette to visually reinforce Sy’s isolation in relation to the world around him.

Notably, in some scenes the colour palette appears to be discordant with the rest of the film. The most prominent colour deviances to Sy’s colour palette are red, green and blue. These three colours make up the acronym RGB which is a digital colour model used to create colours on screen. By combining red, green and blue light in their purest forms white light is made, which is the colour coded to Sy. Therefore, even the brighter colours overlaying Sy contribute to portraying his isolation as they work together to remind us of his white colour motif.

Throughout the film there is also a motif of photographs which is extended into the cinematography. Sy is unable to engage with the dynamic, unpredictable nature of real relationships and life three-dimensionally. Therefore, to cope, he reduces them to flat, two-dimensional snapshots. Many scenes mirror Sy’s emotional paralysis, meticulously composed to mimic photos by playing with negative space, focal points, symmetry, and frames. By organising scenes around Sy like a static photograph, Sy becomes trapped within the frame, stripping away the spontaneity and vibrancy of human connection. Although he is often positioned central to the frame, a position commonly reserved for the protagonist, he could not be more visually insignificant. Surrounded by copious empty negative space, Sy is visually and physically separated from the warmth of others.

I selected various stills from the film in which Sy seems to blend into his surroundings and then digitally manipulated the images by erasing Sy entirely. As a result, this created an uncanny reality depicting empty sets inhabited by Sy’s ghostly presence. This resembled the fact that Sy hides within the safety of the frame, camouflaging into his surroundings, reflecting his detachment from life. Sy is in a stalemate within the world, moving purposelessly through life like the walking dead. Within the starkness of his surroundings, just as in the narrative of his own life, Sy seemingly takes up no space, obscuring him so far within the visuals that he might as well be non-existent.

 

The video essay may also be een here:

 

 

Bibliography

Hopper, Edward, The Office at Night, oil paint, canvas, 56.4 cm (22.2 in) × 63.8 cm (25.1 in), Walker Art Center; Minneapolis, Minnesota, 1940.

Lim, Song Hwee, ‘Temporal Aesthetics of Drifting: Tsai Ming-Liang and a Cinema of Slowness’ in De Luca, Tiago and Jorge, Nuno Barradas (eds.) Slow Cinema (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2015), pp. 87-98.

Ratner, Megan, ‘The “Trivialist Cinema” of Roy Andersson: An Interview’, Film Quarterly, 69:1 (2015), pp. 36-44.

 

Filmography

Fight Club, Dir. David Fincher, Prod. Fox 2000 Pictures, USA, 1999. Main Cast: Brad Pitt (Tyler Durden), Edward Norton (The Narrator), Helena Bonham Carter (Marla Singer).

Gone Girl, Dir. David Fincher, Prod. Regency Enterprises, USA, 2014. Main Cast: Rosamund Pike (Amy Dunne), Ben Affleck (Nicholas Dunne).

One Hour Photo, Dir. Mark Romanek, Prod. Catch 23 Entertainment, USA, 2002. Main Cast: Robin Williams (Sy Parish), Connie Nielsen (Nina Yorkin), Michael Vartan (Will Yorkin), Dylan Smith (Jake Yorkin).

 

Watch the audiovisual essay here: One Hour Photo Video Essay.mp4

 

[1] Andersson quoted in Ratner, Megan, ‘The “Trivialist Cinema” of Roy Andersson: An Interview’, Film Quarterly, 69:1, (2015), p.42.

[2] Lim, Song Hwee, ‘Temporal Aesthetics of Drifting: Tsai Ming-Liang and a Cinema of Slowness’ in De Luca, Tiago and Jorge, Nuno Barradas (eds.) Slow Cinema (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2015).