The Orphan Trailer Deconstruction

The Orphan Trailer

The general feel at the beginning of the trailer is happy and light hearted. This is due to the high key lighting as well as they high pitched, twinkly, non-diegetic music. This adds an overall happy feel to the  trailer opening. The are a series of High Angle shots of Esther which shows the audience that she is vulnerable being a little girl.

There is a point in the trailer where we see the main characters personality switch. At first, she may appear as an innocent little girl, however when she begins to get annoyed in the classroom on her first day, the non-diegetic music changes, displaying a shift in her mood. It changes from high pitch light music to a low quiet non-diegetic drone in the background. This mood shift is reflected within the characters face.

This is the point of change within the trailer. From here on out, there are constant scene changes with fast pace straight cut edits. This is paired with upbeat, low pitched non-diegetic music that is parallel to what is happening on screen. As there is so much to see, the audience may feel the need to watch the trailer twice or three times, in order to see everything clearly. Low level lighting is a key feature after the mood shift due to the fact that it creates an eery mood that allows the villain to creep about unnoticed as well as being able to surprise her victim(s).

Throughout the entire trailer, the transitions used are either straight cut edits or fade to black edits. Straight cut edits are used for fast pace editing which are used later on in the trailer when the action kicks in and there is an adrenaline rush for the audience. Fade to black transitions are used at the beginning of the trailer as these are slower transitions which take more of a laid back approach to the film, removing the tension and fear.

The simple gist of the trailer is:

• There is basic information about the little girl and who she is.
• Everything was okay with her for a little while
• 1 strange thing started happening
• People think there is something wrong with her
• Strange things continue
• Final consequences and final scare
• Title and release date

One final aspect that was good about this film was the final voice over by Esther: 

"Thats the story of - thats the glory of love..."

The fact this statement is such a well knowns song and is said is such a creepy low tone of voice, tops off the trailer and gives it that final chill factor.