Research: Analysis of "The Orphanage"

From past research there is a theme, the theme being horror films that portray children as being evil or being possessed by evil and where the child is the main character, that i am interested in using in our horror trailer as i think it would be interesting to film as there are a lot of different camera shots that we could use that we haven't used in our AS piece or ever before and also in the editing process we can be creative. I also thought that it could appeal to quite a wide audience compared to other horror films which are give higher certificates as most of the ones that i have done research for have been given a 15 certificate or less for this particular genre including children.

Through personal experience i have discovered that the child characters are the type of characters which freak people out and are, some would say more creepy than some other supernatural characters. This is because the common ideology is that children are though of as innocent and pure, it is repulsing to think of children who are taken by other forces and are corrupted and the actions that they undertake as a result of this. This is why i am thinking of using a child character in the plot, as it can appeal to a wide audience as well as having the full horror effect that will stir peoples feelings and thoughts about children. It may sicken some people to see children portrayed in this way but the true terror of this will drive people into watching a movie like this.

The Orphanage Trailer:

 

The orphanage is a film that was released in 2007 and has a 15 certificate. A summary of what happens is a former orphan who is now married with an adopted child and now lives in an old house which used to be an orphanage and her son is telling her he has invisible friends in the house, She doesn't believe him until he disappears and she starts sensing the 5 other people in the old orphanage.

This trailer is not as clear as others i have watched as the narrative is quite vague, this is because of the series of shots. The voice over reinforces the story and genre but without this i think it would be hard to tell what is happening.

Mise-en-Scene: The setting and props in this trailer resembles those in other trailers i have researched such as "The Others" with the house being dark and gloomy with dozens of lingering shadows, setting the tone for the whole movie instantly as the first shot is an a low angled shot of the house and orphanage by itself, obviously reinforcing where the film is set. The title also gives it away that it is about an orphanage therefore the audience would immediately assume that this shot is of the orphanage as this is the what the film is centered around. I know from the trend I've seen that we need to think a lot about the setting of the trailer as it can give a lot away about the movie and likewise the genre. At this stage i am set on having a few scenes in the dark at least, as i feel that this is quite an important element in a horror movie. At the start of the trailer there are a few scenes which are shot in daylight and these fit with the voice over as the voice over is saying "that everything around her is fading away" and as the trailer progresses the lighting gets darker, there is not as much shots shown that are filmed in daylight. There is also a montage of shots showing doors closing in on her and shutting her this is representing that she is trapped and alone, she also seems more isolated because she is the only character who is featured in the trailer apart from the boy with the mask on. This highlights that they are both important characters in the film. The mask hides his face and is quite a disturbing image as you can see the mask is on the child suggesting that this boy is evil and one of the bad people in the film. there is also quite a powerful shot used of the female character looking like shes underwater, it makes the audience think is she drowning and also what is going on so that the storyline is anticipated by the audience watching the trailer. Her eyes are wide open and it just appear as being quite haunting, also drowning is something that a lot of people are afraid of.
After this there is a series of shots with what looks like a bright green line that appears on a heart monitor, is this indicating that death is involved. I think it is used because it is a very well known symbol that is associated with emergency and danger that it is guaranteed to alarm the audience as most people are afraid of death or at least hospitals.
Also right at the very end there is a very startling close up image of an eye that flashes on and off the screen this appears straight after the main title of the film is on the screen, so that the audience thinks the trailer has finished and is therefore unexpected and may make a few people jump, i think that was quite effective. It is especially startling as its an eye and its something people find gross, its definitely not something you would expect to see.