Orphan and The Unborn

1. TaslimaBegum
Analysisof twofilmposters
The filmposter– ‘Orphan’releasedat 2009
The titlesformatcouldbe two things,the factit’snot neatand suggestsit’sdone bya child which
correspondstoimage of Esther.Although the title couldbe someonewhodrew itwithaweapon
e.g.knife whichsuggeststhe genre horror.
The posteris takenupby a simple mid-shotimage of agirl lookingdirectlyatthe audience.The way
she isdresseswithbowsinherhair andher neatclothessuggestshe’sachild – a school girl,also
there seemstobe a glowaround hersuggestingshe’sinnocent.Howeverthere seemstobe a dark
side of her,and thiscouldbe seenwiththe darknessandshadowssurroundinghereyes andjaws
and herstoicface, the fact she isn’tsmilingmakeshermore serioustobe a child.The photoof her
showsthe twosidesof her,an angelicside anda demonicdarkside aswe can see withthe colours
on the postercontrastingwitheachother.
There are twotaglinesonthe poster.The firstone seemstobe more of a statementsaying‘There’s
somethingwrongwithEsther’.This intriguesthe audience tofindoutwhatiswrongwithEstheras
we can see 2 sidesof her. The othertagine at the bottomin redsays ‘Canyou keepasecret?’ they
useda rhetorical questiontogetthe audience involved,the secretlinkswiththe othertagline –the
problemwithherisa secretno one knows.The tagline isindeepdarkredwhich fitswithEsther’s
redchoker andthiscouldhintunderneathitliesone of hersecretsintriguingthe audience even
further.
Pale white face – innocent
Dark shadowsneareye,black
eyes – seemstobe evil
Pigtail hairwithbowsand
Victorianstyleddressing
suggestsshe’saschool
girl – youngchild
Rhetorical question –getthe
audience involved
She wearsverydark clothing
makingherverygothicand
dark
Colourscheme isverydark
suitingthe darkhorror
theme

2. TaslimaBegum
Analysisof twofilmposters
The filmposter– ‘The Unborn’ wasreleasedin2009.
The filmposterusedchillingcoloursthatare usedstereotypicallytofitthe horrorconventions.The
coloursusedforthe posterare blue anda lightgreyandthiscouldbe usedto representthe earth
and the cracks and scratchesmay suggestthe cracks inthe earthlettingoutthe demonsandhow
everythingisn’thowitseemstobe.The effectstheyputonthe poster – the scratchesand cracks are
to put more attentiononthe twinsandmake themthe centre of attention.The lightingonthe
posterisverylow-keyfittingtothe horrorcodesand conventions.
The female infrontof the mirror iswearingall white suggestingshe ispure andthe innocenthere
makingherthe protagonist/victimhere.Herlackof clothesshowshervulnerabilitytothe evil,
somethingtypical forthe protagonist.The demonicchildinthe mirroriswearingblack –connoting
deathand danger,the opposite of hersuggestingthathe isthe antagonist..Alsothe demonicchild
ismade tolooklike the antagonistbythe wayhe looks,he’sall pale withdarkeyesandhe doesn’t
looklike aninnocentchildsuggestinghe’sthe devil.
Moreover,theyplace the title of the filmatthe bottomas a typical conventionsothe audience can
fixate onthe image more.Alsothe effecttheyusedonthe title makingitglow asthoughit’stryingto
come out whichcouldlinktothe childas he’stryingto come out and live.The tagline theyusedis
‘Evil will doanything’ironicallynearthe twinbrothertocreate suspiciontothe audience andcreate
fearin them,expectingthe twinbrothertodosomething.
Theyusedthe typical conventions
on the title puttingitat the bottom
and thisisdone so the audience can
fixate onthe image more
The captiontheywrote- ‘Evil will
do anythingtolive’the factthey
put itnear the demonicperson
suggestsit’sabouthim
The lightingisverylow-keyinthe
posterand the coloursusedare
verystereotypical inahorror
posterand usedtogive itan evil
dark theme
The fact the female iswearingall
white suggestsshe ispure and
The coloursusedare chilling
– a lightgreyand darkblue
Lack of clothesshowher
vulnerability