The Orphanage: Regression Scene

Last lesson we watched the regression scene of The Orphanage, where we analysed the soundtrack, sound effects and the dialogue, looking at what kind of effect it creates and why they do it. Here is a link to the regression scene of the orphanage which you can watch, but come back to my blog to read my views on the scene.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CL3nIK2i4oo

When watching the scene I noticed that the scene starts with the sound of electronics, for example the microphone clicking on and off which is a non-diagetic sound to make it sound more realistic. It also has a dialogue which helps set the scene and help the audience to understand what is happening. I noticed that the main characters voice had been edited to make it sound deeper which gave him more presence. The contrast between the main character and woman, whos voice is given the effect of talking through a microphone, makes the woman seem more distant and vulnerable compared to the other characters.

I realised that when the characters began to count down the note and the sound of the light flickering gets louder and louder. Which adds tension and increases the sense of danger. When the countdown finishes there is an exaggerated sound of violins to build up suspense and as soon as the woman opens her eyes the music stops and there is a second of silence, making it more dramatic.

They also record the woman's footsteps and breathing and emphasise it by making them louder, which adds tension and draws the audience in.

The sound effects of this scene are very clear in the sense that they make the audience tense and begin to imagine sights in which they arent actually there, which makes it a lot more scary. The soundtrack is alos overlapped over the sound effects with an outcome of a heavy layer of sounds which creates a dramatic effect.

The Orphanage: Opening Scene

The Orphanage

Director: Juan Antonio Bayona
Writer: Sergio G. Sánchez

In today's lesson we watched theThe Orphanage, which is a 2007 spanish horror film. We watched the opening scene of The Orphanage and analysed the characters, their relationships, genre and location, which we used to try and figure out what the film was about. 

My Analysis on the Opening Scene:

Characters: Laura

• A young girl
  
• Alone
  
• Singled out
  
• Innocent
  
• Wearing old clothing (1940's)

Characters: Old Lady

• Hiding emotions
  
• In charge of orphanage
  
• Don't see her face
  
• Mysterious

Relationships between Characters

• All interact with eachother e.g. playing
  
• All socially friendly towards one another
  
• Old Lady seems to care for Laura

Genre

• Psychological horror film

Location/Setting

• Old historical Orphanage
  
• Spanish countryside, middle of no-where
  
• Garden was surrounded by trees, giving the impression it was closed off to the outside world
  
• A scarecrow, didn't look like the average scarecrow
  
• Tell by the costumes and props that the film is set in the past (1940's)