Analysing Trailers- 'Orphan'

We decided that to get some ideas on the conventions of psychological horror trailers, we would watch some and analyse, then discuss what conventions we'd use from each. This would help us to create a more realistic and professional trailer.




The Orphan trailer begins with a green band rating, showing that the trailer is certified by the Motion Pictures of America. This is followed by a Warner Brothers logo and other production companies that support the film.
The trailer begins with an establishing long shot of a black car driving towards a big white building. The weather is cool as there is snow on the ground, and people can be seen in the background milling around the building. The audience can guess that there is some sort of gathering taking place.
The scene changes into a shot-reverse-shot of a woman visiting a children’s home, looking for a child to adopt. The shot introduces the protagonist Kate, as she talks to the Nun running the care home. The mid close-up of Kate shows the audience the character in more detail.
So far, the lighting and ‘white winter’ ambience gives the allusion of simplicity and calm, giving the audience a false sense of security. This seems to be one of the main conventions in movie trailers.
We then meet the character Esther, in a high angle shot, as the camera is angled down towards Ester painting. This creates the effect of diminishing the subject, making Esther appear less powerful and again, giving the audience a false sense of security about her.
Esther is seen wearing dark archaic sets of clothes, separating her from the majority of her girly classmates. This seen as innocently formal at first but begins to seem unusual as she becomes more evil. Esther’s clothes also become darker and gothic as the film progresses and gets darker.
The shot then fades out into a shot-reverse-shot of Kate and her husband getting to know Esther in an empty classroom. This is also shot through an eye-level shot, as it shows the subjects as we would expect to see them in real life.
The scene then changes into a point of view shot of the Nun opening Esther’s files into her desk; this changes into a long shot, and we see Kate, her husband and the Nun talking about adopting Esther and how unusual she is compared to the other children. This leaves an enigma effect as the audience are left confused as to why the Nun is saying this about Esther. So far, Esther has been portrayed as a normal innocent girl. This is also supported by varying shots, such as a close up of Esther reaching to hold Kate’s hand in an innocent fashion, implying how normal and reliable Esther is.
The scene then fades out into a birds-eye view of Esther and her new parents on the road. The scene is shown from directly above. This is a completely different and somewhat unnatural point of view which creates a dramatic effect and shows a different spatial perspective of the scene.
This changes into a long shot of their home. It is still snowy, giving the shot a pure, calm ambience to the film, juxtaposing the harm in adopting Esther into their family.
The shot then jump cuts into a scene of Esther starting school, however she is soon criticized by her classmates for her archaic sense of fashion. A dramatic close-up reaction shot of a furious Esther is then seen and the ambience instantly turns darker. This shows the audience the significance of this moment, and implies that something is about to happen.
We then see various shots of Esther throwing a violent tantrum in a toilet cubicle. This is portrayed in various shots such as long shots and close ups to emphasise Esther’s unnatural rage.
The trailer begins to pick up pace as we see shots of Esther acting troublesome, such as plotting to harm her family members.
The shot abruptly cuts into a shot of Esther screaming continuously in a high angle shot, emphasising how Esther has changed from the innocent girl, to a naughty unreliable child.
The shot then fades out into a black screen, which is followed by a white screen with black smudged writing that says “There’s something wrong with Esther.” This reinforces the viewer’s notion that Esther is not a normal child and mimics the audience’s thought at this point.
This fades into a montage sequence of Esther creating chaos within the school and family, such as casting evil looks and pushing a classmate of a slide. This highlights how evil Esther really is, which makes the audience hate and fear the character.
The montage continues to build up, reaching the climax of Esther trying to kill her new little sister Max. This includes a slow motion shot of Ether pushing Max across a street, which their mother is driving towards. The shot then pans into a close up of a stunned Max looking up at her mother, which changes into the same shot of her horrified mother trying to stop her car. This shot changes into a freeze frame of the mother in a close up shot, before fading out. This gives the image the appearance of a still shot, which is not a naturalistic view. The close up of Max and Kate is in great detail so that it fills the screen and underline the important moment. The close-up focuses the audience’s attention on the characters feelings (such as Max’s) and reactions (such as Kate’s) and show the characters in a state of emotion, creating a dramatic effect.
This is followed by a fade in of the movie title ‘Orphan’ in white, indicating the movie trailer is over. However, the trailer adds an element of surprise, as an extra scene is shown soon after. The father is seen calling Esther’s name and walking towards her bed where Esther is supposedly asleep, however she quickly jumps out, and the scene suddenly cuts to black. This startles the audience and creates a dramatic effect. This leaves an enigma effect as the audience are left wondering what will happen next, and will want to watch the whole film.
The sound effects of the Orphan trailer follow the typical conventions of a horror trailer. This includes happy music at the beginning, to give the audience a false sense of security and to believe everything is normal and dark thrilling music towards the end, to emphasise the terror of the film.
In the beginning of the trailer, no sounds are heard, except for the diegetic voiceover of Kate. This creates emphasis on the scene as the audience are left to listen to the dialogue properly, and understand what Kate is like.
At first the music is in major key, and displays a happy mood as Esther is introduced as a normal happy girl. However as Esther starts to become evil, non-diegetic orchestra music starts to play, adding to the ambience of the film. This begins slowly and eerily in minor key, but picks up pace and becomes louder.
At this point a voiceover of the Esther can be heard, later followed by the other characters and mother, all talking over the different shots. This gives the audience more information about the characters, and gives a preview of their personality and roles.The climax of the trailer is continued with incidental music, but suddenly stops, in order to enhance the mood and startle the audience.