This past weekend I watched “The Orphan” with my friends. This movie is about how a husband and wife can no longer have children and they want to adopt. Since they want to adopt, they go to an orphanage with high standards. They look around to see if there are any kids that they want to adopt and they shortly after find a young girl that they think is perfect. She actually turns out to be a murderer wanted in foreign countries. During this movie the music can get very intense. Usually you will her progressions in the music that are chromatic making you feel uneasy. There is one scene that her face is in the shadows that make you feel that she is not all that she seems. Closer to the end of the movie when her true identity is revealed, there are many extreme close ups. There is one on her mouth when you see that she is taking out dentures and her real teeth are underneath. There are more extreme close ups on her wrists and neck because they want to show you the scars that are there from her trying to escape a strait jacket at a mental institution. At the end of the movie, there is tracking when you see that she is trying to kill the family and the use of lighting is important here. Most of her body is in the dark while the only thing in the light is the knife that she is holding.
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I also recently saw “Orphan” and found it particularly interesting. I found that music was used heavily in order to dramatize various scenes of the movie, as the music generally intensified during ominous scenes. I also noticed that Esther, the Orphan and murderer, was shot at a low angle in numerous scenes, in order to amplify her presence as a powerful, sinister entity. Esther is also frequently showed towering over Max, her younger sister, of whom she manipulates constantly in order to assist her in her heinous acts. This use of mis en scene also illustrates Esther’s power in the film. I also noticed the frequent use of chiaroscuro, particularly on Esther, during scenes in which she is committing mischievous acts. This use of chiaroscuro is likely used in order to show Esther’s “shadiness” and mysterious nature as a character. The use of chiaroscuro could also be used in order to make the audience feel uncomfortable during a scene. During action scenes, scene duration was often short, and scenes often involved the camera panning or tracking. The short duration, and quick panning and tracking movements are likely used to disorient the audience, and again make the viewer feel uncomfortable. I also noticed irony in the film, particularly in Esther’s character. As little girls are usually seen as innocent and harmless, I found the malevolency of Esther, a little girl, particularly ironic as she commits several heinous acts throughout the film while remaining under the cover of an innocent orphan.
ReplyDeleteThe movie Orphan is about a husband and wife adopting a child due to the loss of a baby. After months of waiting they decided they are ready to adopt a child to add to thier family which includes a daughter max and son daniel. Esther who seems perfect is not what she seems though and causes the family strain due to the mother knowing that she has something to do with anything bad happening and the dad believing she is a sweet little angel. A film technique that is used is angles. when Esther pushes a girl off a slide causing her to break her leg there is a low angle to show the supirority she has over the people around her. There is also a high angle used in the scene when daniel is traped in the tree house as its set on fire and esther was saftly on the ground. this angle gives a sinister affect to esthers character because its an uncomfortable angle from it not being diagonal not straight.Another film technique that is used in the movie is lighting. besides there being only flood lights when esther has a sinister part the lights get dark and the person and objects around them are poorly lit causing a scense of mystery, suspense and evil.
ReplyDeleteI watched the movie "Orphan" about several months after it cae out and thought it was a pretty good movie. i agree about the great use of Chiaroscuro to make the audience feel uneasy and create a shadiness to Esther's character. There's also a bit of visual irony in her appearance, because not only is she disguised as a chld, but she is also dressed very innocently, with pigtails and cute dresses. One girl in the movie even mocks her about it, comparing her to "Little Bo Peep". One really great scene is where they show her taking off her makeup and false teeth to reveal her age and the marks on her neck and wrists. In another similar scene she's singing "The Glory of Love" while trying to fix her appearance to go downstairs where the police are waiting. It makes the scene very creepy, because it's such a light, happy song compared to what's going on in the movie
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