The Orphanage Analysis By Sina Hadgu

Genre

What is genre?
Genre is the french word for type e.g. the genre of a film.

• classification of media into groups with similar characteristics.

Codes is another term for a symbols e.g. noises or visuals

Conventions is another word for the way of things e.g. an explanation of a feature.

Iconography:

• Pattern of visual imagery
• Signs associated with particular genres e.g. for an R&B music video you would expect to see girls, flash cars, gold chains etc, a love story etc.
• Characteristic features 
• Actors setting, props etc.

How do you identify genre?

When analysing a genre, this is what you should be looking for:

• What type of story does the film tell?
• Where is the film set?
• What type of characters appear in the film?
• What particular actors and or/directors are associated with the films? Have they been involved with similar types of films before?
• What is the 'look' or iconography of the film?
• What music is used within the film?

Genre of horror film identifications:

How to identify the horror genre

When identifying a horror genre, this is what you should be looking for:

Codes

• Dark mood
• Supernatural elements
• Low key lighting
• Violence
• Masks
• Knives/weapons
• Close up shot --> Reaction
• Creepy/uncomfortable atmosphere 
• Frightening
• Fearful response to viewers
• Blood
• Haunted house

Conventions

• Children
• Ghosts
• Curse
• Woman running
• Somebody appears out of the fog

Sub genre is a sub category of genre.

All this means is that for example a Vampire movie would be a sub genre of horror as it has elements of horror, but its a vampire movie at the same time.

Hybrid Genre:

This means having a mix of genres put into one film e.g. Romantic Movie, Comedy Horror, Romantic Horror.

Issues with genre:

The issues with the horror genre is that it is hard to identify what exactly 'creates' a horror film. This is because a  lot of films carry influences of being in the horror genre, however they could also be other genres.

• Popular texts reflect and influence social,economic and political concerns
• Can account for changes within genres and any rise and fall in their popularity.

The Orphanage

In lesson we watched a horror film named 'The Orphanage'. I was extremely hesitant to watching it as I am petrified of scary films and i did hide behind a piece of paper throughout a the scary parts of the film, but I very surprisingly did actually enjoy it. It wasn't like any other scary film I've watched before, it had different elements that made me feel sorry for the characters because a family has been torn apart.

Best bits that made it a horror movie

• I recognised that i really loved watching the relationship between the mother as an audience member as it made me feel on edge because as a viewer you're scared that something bad is going to happen that will ruin the relationship they have. But this is common within scary films for things to be torn apart and get ruined because it's meant to scare you.
• After the mother of the child find the old mysterious woman in the shed, it's a scary and heart skipping moment for me as it frightened me, however as the old woman leaves the shed playful and up beat music is played which is really humorous in my eyes as it contradicts the gasping moment of finding a stranger in your shed.
• i really liked the concept of the film, I enjoyed that it was a treasure hunt for the woman to find her son because we got to follow her on her journey of finding out what happened to him. It's similar to most scary films in the sense that you have to survive when you're up against something, in this case it's ghosts.
• There were children involved
• Woman running
• Violence
• Masks
• most importantly it was a haunted house, which is typical in horror movies.
• Rain/Thunder.

What I thought

• I dont think there were any bad aspects to this film
• It was very entertaining
• gripping.
• It's scary but I didn't want to take my eyes of the screen.

Great shots

• When there was a close up in the film of the old woman's broach I really liked this shot because it added to the mysterious of the film because it made me think that it would have an important factor towards the film and the journey of the mother throughout the film.
• Swing moving by itself durin the start and through other parts of the film as it adds tension it scares you a little,plus it links to the dead children that used to be orphans in that house. This kind of shot is typical typical in horror films.
• I also really lied the shot of when we could see the man and woman through the clock in a scene because it's a hidden message 

Interesting sounds

• In the film there's a cave scene and I thought the water dripping off from the concrete was an intense sound as it added tension because of the mild silence.

Dialogue

• "When will i die?..."I'll never get old".
• Is father Christmas a lie too"
• "Seeing is not believing, it's the other way round"

I think all of these lines were very rememberable, especially the last one as they sound mysterious  it makes you think and it fits into the genre of the film e.g."When will i die?..."I'll never get old". is a creepy thing to say, it's even more scarier when an innocent child says it.