Orphan (2009) – Analysis - Esther Seducing John Scene

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3pjqjHwFbgA

A mid dolly shot follows John as he walks into the living room to take a seat. The bookshelves in the background of the first shot could symbolise the family’s wealth and how educated they are. The low-key lighting in this shot tells the audience that it is late at night, this could be significant later in the plot because Esther, the young girl, should not be up at this time. John and Esther’s clothing are both dark. This could be symbolic of the dark and morbid nature of the film. The next shot is a close up of Esther climbing on to the chair. The reason the director chose to make this a close up shot is because is expresses the importance of how young Esther is; she has to climb on to a chair to see herself in the mirror. The eerie non-diegetic sound in this shot creates an atmosphere. This low angle mid shot of Esther trying on the dress gives her connotations of power and dominance over the audience, making her a feared character. Esther’s choice of clothing in this scene is significant also as it is black, symbolising death; this matches the low-key lighting.

A close up shot of John holding a lit cigarette and pouring himself a glass of wine signifies his stress. He is alone in this shot and by drawing the audience’s attention to the drug and alcohol use, the director can portray the message that John is worried or stressed; he therefore looks for another solution to his problems. The choice of wine is noteworthy as it is red wine, symbolising blood. The choice of a dark colour beverage also links in with the low-key lighting in this scene.

In the next few shots little non-diegetic sound is heard, only quiet music to set the tone. This could be to emphasise how solitary John is and how distant he is from his family. This also means that diegetic sounds that are used in this scene, such as Esther ripping the dress, stand out. A short montage of close up jump cuts, continuously switching between John and Esther’s actions increases tension. A tracking close up shot is used to stress the importance of the knife that Esther is wielding.

When John and Esther are both sitting on the sofa, a mid two shot is used to summarise the position John is in; it is neutral. No real message is portrayed here; it is used purely to set the location of the scene. Canted angles are used on a close up of Esther’s face to reveal how insane she is. The angles both their heads are at also portray this confusion and insanity they both possess. A lot of front lighting is used on Esther’s face to bring out colour and to draw attention to her expression and back lighting is used on John’s face because it represents the dark thoughts and worries inside his head. A single mid shot is used near the end of the scene to show Esther’s desolate face and how unlike any other character she is; she feels alone and the audience feels this with her. One of the final shots is a medium-long shot of the two characters in the scene, Esther on the right and John on the left. This expressed the psychological distance between the two and their relationship problems. A tracking shot is used on Esther; it is kept at eye level when she stands up. This parades her dominant manner to the audience.