Johnny Barnes

  ORPHAN – Textual Analysis
  Title: Orphan
  Release Date: July 24th 2009
  Director: Jaume Collet -Serra
  Genre:  Horror/Drama
  Sub Genre: Psychological Horror

 

Orphan was released theatrically on July 24th, 2009. Jaume Collet-Serra was the director of the movie. The movie is of a psychological-horror genre which shares similar genre conventions as my media film sequence “Corky”.  My film sequence has themes such as possession, death and supernatural features which Orphan also does as a grown woman is possessed by the younger version of herself who she can’t seem to be free from, as she has a disease that has stunted her physical growth.

 

Using Todorov’s equilibrium model: The Equilibrium of the narrative was that a couple (Kate& Max) were having issues in their marriage after their third child was stillborn. The couple then decide to adopt a nine year old Estonian girl named Esther who a hormone disorder called ‘hypopituitarism’ which has stunted her physical growth. The first and major disruption in the narrative occurred when Esther kills the head woman of the orphanage named “Sister Abigail” as she reported Esther to the couple as being troublesome.  The new equilibrium is formed after a ‘fight scene’
where Esther is finally revealed as
“Leena” the thirty-three year old woman
who has been inside Esther’s body.
Leena is then killed by Kate (Esther’s adoptive mother)

 

 

Levi-Strauss’ theory of binary oppositions allowed me to apply that theory within my analysis. Orphan has a “Young Vs Old” opposition involved. The movie is centred around Esther trying to become the woman she had always wanted to become but that wasn’t possible due to age, she could never be loved by Max as how he loves his wife Kate as she was a grown woman and Esther had the physical appearance of the young girl. The Young vs Old opposition is also present when Esther/Leena bullies and manipulates the younger children to do things for her.  She being much older mentally than them creates that divide between Young and Old. Orphan is written in chronological order which is a part of the Genre conventions of Horror as they don’t like to dwell on the past and most are set in present. The narrative transforms from restricted to omniscient as the audience was not told Leena was trapped inside Esther's body until the later stages of the movie.

The characters were typical of the genre in the sense that they were a middle class Caucasian family which in most horror movies people of the Caucasian race are casted. Movies such as “The Devils Child” (2007) and “Mama”(2012) which had a Caucasian couple taking care of two girls related to the male of the couple.  The behaviour of the couple in general was depressive and bleak as both had just lost their newborn baby and Kate had started drinking alcohol again. This is typical of the behaviour of people in Horror movies as characters aren’t straightforward and living perfect lives, there is always some baggage the characters have to deal with. For example in the movie in “Mama”(2012) a couple is left to deal with two girls that were left alone in a forest for five years, which is far from normal which reinforces the dysfunctional lives people in horror’s lead.  Facial expressions which were included were glum, apprehensive and disturbing which is symbolic of the genre of the movie, in this situation Kate was apprehensive about Esther’s past and possessed negative facial expressions. Costumes worn in Orphan were very symbolic as Esther always wears ribbons on her neck and wrists to cover up her scars; this is special to the genre as it creates a narrative enigma.

Sound is very important in the Horror genre as it creates the generic conventions Horror movies has to offer, which is a feeling of terror and anxiety. Orphan uses sound very well by the use of violins and Piano which creates an apprehensive atmosphere for the audience.

Low key lighting is used throughout the movie which is a typical convention as it creates a darker mood in a scene. An example of low key lighting being used in Orphan was the scene where Esther was walking into her room and you could see her shadow.


 

 

 The storyline of Orphan is typical of the genre as it shows a family who has emotional baggage such as the recent death of a new-born baby. Having Esther introduced to disrupt the equilibrium is typical of the horror genre as it provides that tension and shock factor the audience is used to watching these movies for. “Drag Me to Hell” (2009) shares similarities with Orphan as the character Christine Brown has many problems that are affecting her life, similar to Kate who has just had a miscarriage. Esther being the protagonist in the movie can be related to “The Exorcist” (1973) as there is also a young female lead involved.

Extract – Esther’s secret is revealed

There is a POV shot of Esther walking into her room which gives the audience the feeling of being in Esther’s state of mind. The POV shot is also done as a revelation and allowing the audience to understand what is going on by “being the character”. There is then a jump cut between Esther’s face and the paintings which was done to give off an anxious effect for the audience watching, there is a cut between each painting and each light up when shown which was to emphasise the significance of all the paintings for the audience.  Non-diegetic sounds of violins are used to build of tension and anxiety in the scene. An extreme close up shot of Esther is shown then there is a fade out into the next scene which leaves the audience feeling anxious on what’s next to come, something movies of the Horror genre do a lot. There is then a Close Up shot of Esther crying on her bed with mascara running down her cheeks, The mascara is black which further reinforces the genre conventions of Orphan as black is very typical of Horror and so is the feeling of unhappiness.  Diegetic sounds of a telephone is heard when Kate’s phone rings in the hospital, cross cutting is used when both Kate and the Doctor have a conversation via telephone to show the actions of both characters in the scene. A low angle is used of Esther’s picture to make it clear who the conversation is about. Extreme close ups are used on both Kate and the Doctor as the conversation gets more and more serious.  A cross cut is then used of Esther crying by herself when Kate is explaining to the doctor that he’s wrong about Esther’s identity. A Cross cut is then used back to the Doctor explaining Esther’s true identity, An extreme close up and yellow highlighting is used on screen to emphasise the real age of Esther to the audience which reflects the change in the narrative from restricted to omniscient.

 

ORPHAN POSTER ANNOTATION

 

 

 

ORPHAN POSTER - WRITTEN ANALYSIS

The title “Orphan” is one word which is common in a lot of Horror movies, Such as “Scream” and “Mama” who both have strong one word titles.  “Orphan” has a negative meaning as it is an idea of abandonment, being alone and not valued which gives the audience an idea of the narrative.

Esther is positioned directly in the middle of the poster which gives us the idea that she is the USP. Esther is the selling point to the audience as it’s clear from the positioning of her image that everything is about her. She is the star of the show and she will be heavily involved in the plot/narrative once the movie starts. The clothing Esther wears in the poster are of  very dark and mellow colours which is typical of the Horror genre as bright colours are not associated with Horror. Esther is represented as an innocent young girl on the poster by the use of the ribbons and ponytail used in her hair which is symbolic of a young girl who is attending primary/elementary school.

The tagline mentions she is hiding something so there is an ambiguous connotation presented in her character.  A Rhetorical question is used which invites the audience onto the journey the film will be going on. Doing this gets the audience involved into the plot/narrative. The effect of the tagline is that it gives off a negative connotation to the audience. Makes the audience anxious to know what the problem with Esther really is. Target audience for Orphan would be for those who are a fan of psychological/horrors with “possession of spirits” involved. Fonts used are White and red colour  are used throughout the poster, there is a juxtaposition between both the colours as they mean different things, with “Red” having negative connotations of death and violence and “White” positive such as purity and peace.

Esther is typical of other characters used in Horror movies as she goes against what people would deem “dangerous” someone of her gender and age are viewed upon the most vulnerable in society. She is shown as a little girl on the poster as it will surprise people when watching what she can really do, as nothing is expected of her. This is typical of the horror genre as it all about surprises and revelations.

The mis-en-scene portrayed on the poster is typical of the genre of movie. The costume Esther is wearing is symbolic of the plot as the ribbons in her hair and neck which is shown onto the poster is later revealed in depth why it is worn, so there is a sense of secrecy and ambiguity shown on the poster for the audience. Her facial expression is blank which doesn’t give away any hints to her character at all which could due to not wanting to reveal too much to the audience. Focus is shown on her eyes which is a key element as you are more likely to connect through the eyes than anywhere else.

On the socio economic grade those of a C1 grade or higher would be targeted due to those social groups having occupations and lifestyles regarded as more appropriate in society(bank clerk, sales person) compared to a skilled manual workers of the C2 grade who may not understand the type of narrative Orphan entails.

 

ORPHAN REVIEW ANALYSIS

 

nytimes.com

This review of Orphan was written and published by America’s most popular daily newspaper “The New York Times”.  I found this review very critical and informal written by Manohla Dargis.

Manhola Dargis instantly focuses on the presentation of the characters and makes it clear from the beginning as she mocks the actors Vera Farmiga and Peter Sarsgaard for the roles they play in the film.  In the first paragraph of the review Dargis states that she was surprised the actors weren’t laughing throughout the filming of the movie, which reveals the patronising nature she takes throughout the review. Dargis then goes onto explain the narrative of the film and the running time being too long which she criticises “for a dopey “boo” movie” which has negative connotations with “boo” giving off a negative response. Additionally Dargis uses this to also criticise other parts of the movie “as in creaking sound plus abrupt visual cut equals” and “with a comically contrived premise”. The editing style, sound and narrative foundation are criticised by calling it “comical” which is something that shouldn’t be taken seriously.  Dargis then goes onto explaining the plot of the film, giving a character profile of the protagonist “Esther”. Dargis seems to draw attention to the genre conventions of the movie “She has her evil way with the family, as expected” which reminds the audience that it’s a Horror movie and it is predictable and they will expect it.

The director of the movie Jaume Collet-Serra is then brought up by Dargis, “House of Wax” is mentioned beside Collet-Serra’s name as it gives a cross reference to that film as he also directed it and is most famous for that. It is also to create further contextual information. Dargis does not hold back and condemns Collet-Serra’s work on the movie “appears to have lost a sense of narrative economy during his move from the small screen to the big.”

Highlighting Collet-Serra’s transition from small screen to big screen, not living up to expectations, ridicules him in the process as Dargis makes it seem he wasn’t focused throughout the making of the movie and was caught up by the budget he had.

Dargis further goes onto critiquing the movie for having a big budget something, lacking substance in the process. She then further condemns Collet-Serra’s use of camera choices throughout the movie and mocks them “a shift in focus that led me to think we were meant to find a clue in the carpeting when, really, all that had gone missing was a point of view” which explains the technical errors Collet-Serra made during the filming process.

Coming to the end of the review, the age certificate is mentioned with sarcasm from Dargis “bloody violence, much of it directed at the young characters and some kitchen-counter coitus interruptus.” which further highlights the informal nature of the review.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/24/movies/24orphan.html

 

 

 

Digitalspy.com

This review of Orphan was written and published by one of Britains most popular media and entertainment websites Digital Spy.

Mayer Nissim pays attention to the tagline of the movie “You’ll never guess her secret” which is symbolic as the reader may have seen the promotional poster and wanted to get the viewpoint of what someone else’s interpretation of it could be. Nissim makes a joke of the tagline being comical when watching the film, Nissim then uses a cross reference to other horror movies which shares the same predictability factor as Orphan “Psycho” and “Friday the 13^th” and mentions that Orphan is even more predictable than those movies as it follows the generic conventions of it’s genre. Nissim completely destroys any hope and expectations the reader may have of Orphan by possibly seeing the trailer/poster.

Nissim goes onto explaining his reasons for the films predictability by mentioning scenes in the movie he thought were badly created. He mention then turns to the director Jaume Collett-Serra and his involvement in the movie “House of Wax” is mentioned as others may have heard or watched that movie which he directed, therefore making creating an intertextuality. The critique continues from Nissim “the whole project is put together with such little flair that it really would be better for you to save your pennies” he criticises the direction Collett-Serra has taken the movie and tells the audience to save their money which is a strong comment to make in an review as it now changes the audiences mind completely as a majority of consumers do not want to invest their money into something not worthwhile.

The focus then turns to the actors performances and Nissim brings up “Aryana Engineer” one of the stars of the movie and praises her performance in the film; “The performances across the board are strong, with Engineer's turn as a deaf toddler the most impressive” this gives the reader insight into that particular actor as they may have watched them in other movies and interested to see how they play their role in this movie. Nissim seems to give a backhanded compliment here as he then goes onto say “but the acting is wasted on a script so hoary that you can't quite believe how little it deviates from your expectations.” He commends the acting but disapproves of the screenwriter’s job of writing a “hoary” script which doesn’t give the acting the credit it deserves.

The last stages of the review, Nissim mentions the controversy the title of the film has had which is always important as some readers may be even more intrigued about watching due to media controversy. A cross reference is once again used by Nissim which is the contrast in the movie “The Omen to Single White Female” and Orphan, both movies are of different genres but Nissim makes it clear that’s what’s so comical about Orphan as it shares a similar ending to a completely different genre of movie.  

 

 http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/movies/review/a169010/orphan.html