Orphan

By Alexandra Wells

How narrative is set upAfter the first scene, we see Kate waking up. This tells the audience that the first scene was a dream as well as setting up the narrative for the rest of the film. The audience can then expect that the rest of the film is going to play off from Kate’s nightmare/dream.

In comparison to The Sixth Sense, Orphan is set up more complicated as the audience has to understand to concept of the film. Also, The Sixth Sense uses more diegetic speech to set up the narrative whereas Orphan uses mise-en-scene to set up the narrative.

Orphan uses props such as the medical equipment to do this as the medical equipment plays a big part in the beginning of the film. Also, Orphan uses the contrast of the white and red colours to tell the audience that the characters within the film aren’t all innocent as they seem.

How titles are usedAt the very beginning, the production company logo is splattered in glow in the dark paint. This foreshadows what is later to come in the film. The title of the film then quickly fades onto the black screen in white writing which then disappears when the background gradually fades from black to white.In comparison to The Sixth Sense, this title sequence introduces the film quicker as well as foreshadowing what will happen later on in the film.

Technical elements-camera work

The camera follows Kate so that the audience knows that she’s an important character. She’s also the character that the audience is properly introduced to. The director clearly wants the attention of the audience to be on Kate. The shots of her are balanced and the audience are comfortable to follow along with the story because of this.

In the next couple of shots, there’s mostly close up shots and even some point of view shots. This allows the audience to get involved with the film.

The first that the audience sees of Kate is her walking through the doors with John. At first, the depth of field is shallow so they’re out of focus, but as they walk towards the camera, the depth of field strengthens and they come into focus.

Technical elements-editingDuring the hospital scene, shots alternate between close up shots of Kate to birds-eye shots of her. This gives the audience a different view of what’s happening in the scene. These bird eye view shots also gives the audience a feeling of the terror that Kate must be feeling as the audience can see the blood that taints the floor.

Next, the audience sees close up shots of the doctors and the medical equipment around her when she’s in the hospital bed. The audience feels sympathy towards her as the doctors come across as intimidating and frightening, instead of being calming and supportive.

Technical elements-mise en sceneThe first scene is set in a hospital and the background is mostly white. Which signifies the purity of the setting. But then a minute later, Kate is bleeding badly, which could signify that the purity of the white is being tainted by the red. This can also suggest to the audience that Kate is in danger.

Also the fact that Kate and the doctors wear white also signifies the purity and good of the hospital. Later, the audience sees that all this is tainted by the dark red blood which can signify that there’s danger later on in the film.

The brightness of the lights also show this as the audience can see that the light are pure white.

Technical elements-soundDuring the opening title of the film, the audience can hear eerie non-diegetic music. This lets the audience know what to expect in the film.

After the title credit, the diegetic speech and the fact that the woman is in pain tells the audience that something bad has happened. The diegetic speech from John indicates to the audience that he’s supportive of Kate. The audience also feel sympathy towards Kate due to the fact that she’s in pain. A few seconds later, Kate screams in pain. This results in the audience feeling scared for her.