Title & sound analysis: opening sequence of 'Orphan'

Orphan is similar to our intended product as both the villains are psychological killers.
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YYmHzocOfkU




In the first 5 seconds of the opening sequence the titles start to fade in from black, which immediately connotes that this is a dark and scary horror film, since black presents darkness and death. Along with the blackness of the image, there is eerie type of non diegetic music playing on the screen. It also sounds as if there are wheels rolling along a squeaky floor in the beginning 5 seconds. This allows the audience to feel a sense of fear and panic, whilst also getting them ready to watch the movie.

The first colours we see after the darkness is a grey screen with red writing on displayed at the middle at the bottom of the screen, which gradually floats upwards whilst there is a tracking shot of moving upwards with the camera. The text says 'Warner bros. picture present', which connotes that they are a very famous entertainment company, and it promotes their hierarchy in the film sector of the media, while the text moves upwards. It connotes that they are very important, as without their help of production and distribution, the movie would not be what it is today. This shows their substantial power as they are the first words that appear on the screen. The audience can identify the companies with the use of the uses and gratifications theory.
Moving on from what the text says, the colour is a dark toned red which connotes blood, death and danger, and this is a common conventional colour to identify this product as a horror movie. It is also slanted in italics which connotes also connotes their importance, as a regular world in a regular font would not be in italics unless it is an emphasised or important word.

The next text that appears is "in association with dark castle..."after there is a slowly the increase of blood coming from the left corner of the screen. Again the text is also red like the blood. Since there is a spilling of blood this definitely connotes that there is going do be some people killed in this horror movie, and also the blood again identifies is as the horror genre, whilst there is squeaky, eerie and whispered non diegetic music playing. The fact that the text break the rule of thirds on the screen shows that the entertainment company is different and is also important as their name comes second after the Warner Bros. The image that is shown on the screen as the first layer is a picture of tiles. The tiles look very dirty and kind of muddy whilst the blood come in from the left corner. This connotes that it is based within a home, and once the villain enters the home, it destroys it and makes it dirty, as it was pure and clean before.

The blood droops down the tiles to clear away the text and the next scene is of a house. This denotation shows where the movie is going to be based. Normally a convention of psychological horror movies is that it is based inside a home / with a family, therefore it is following the conventions. However there is a splat of blood in the bottom right corner of the screen, which connotes that once the villain reaches the victim's home, things will go wrong instantly. The blood can link the Barthes symbolic code as blood connotes death, an death may be a significant factor in this movie, which conforms to horror codes and conventions as there is always if not mostly deaths in horror movies. The right side of the screen should connote what will come in the future, therefore, with this analysis, we can get a hint of what is going to happen. Furthermore, we can see snow on a blurred branch, and the sky is dull and gloomy which connotes that the movie is a seasonal movie and is based in the winter.


As the splat of blood increases in size the name of the director fades in. This helps the audience identify who the director is (uses and gratifications theory), and if the movie is appealing to them, they will want to know who the director is to make this movie amazing and also watch other movies directed by the same director and production company. Additionally, the blood increasing in sixe could connote that there is more and more deaths happening as the movie goes along. This shows disequilibrium.

There are whispering and hushing sounds which play over the mysterious non-diegetic music. This allows the audience to recognise (using the uses and gratification theory) that it belongs to the horror genre.

The next scene gives credit to the screen play: David, whilst there is the chains of a swing swinging. This could connote that there is children involved in the movie, as children play on swings in the park, and it could connote that an incident will happen in the park with a villain.

While each scene changes, there is a transition sound of a fast movement / slicing sound which connotes that weapons like the knife are used in the movie.
Just as the director of photography is mentioned, the picture of the villain is shows as a happy and smiling girl while there is blood at the corner. The text is synchronous with the images shown on the screen. The audience might think this is a victim at first since she is smiling and there is blood, which connotes that the villain could kill a happy child playing with her dolls, however they could also interpret her as the villain because in common scenarios, the villains are always the ones who look happy.

The same girl looks older and angry like a villain in the next photo shown, so the audience will now think that this girl that looks like a evil child is the villain. Since there are hands swapping between photos, this could connote that there are people investigating who she is. Again the text is in red, allowing us the believe the theme colour is red, black and grey toned. This also shows binary opposition as in one picture she is happy and smiling, and in the next she looks like she has just killed someone and her mentality is not straight. This shows that she tries to act like a good person but in reality she is a villain, which allows the audience to gain a slighter insight into the narrative before the movie proceeds.

One of the main protagonists is shown screaming; this could be in pain or in fear. However the continuous non-diegetic music is playing and sounds like the music is more significant over her screaming. This connotes that perhaps she is trying to reach out for help from different people but people don't believe her or that she can't get to them for help. It connotes that the 'orphan' is keeping her trapped. This creates an enigma code as the audience will keep on watching to find out why she is screaming.

The executive producer is then mentioned at the bottom left corner, again the text breaks the rule of thirds which connotes that he is also an important person in the making of the video. It is 43 seconds into the opening sequence and the actual title of the movie has not shown, as most of the credits are beings displayed as to the hints in the images being shown. The opening sequence slowly starts to get scarier. The story credits are shown under a picture of a scary woman. Then finally, the orphan's face is shown in action and she looks like she is screaming / crying. This connotes that she is very angry and she is not getting what she wants, and therefore acts upon her emotions, leading her to do evil things.

As there is a scary woman above the story credits, this could connote that the girl isn't actually a girl, but she has a mind of a lady/ a lady controls her/ she is actually a woman instead of a child.
At the end when the title is finally shown, there is non diegetic sound FX of glass breaking whilst the letters pop up on screen one by one. This connotes that the orphan is the one who is the villain, and the one who destroys the home.