2. Over View of Insidious
Insidious was released on April the 1st 2011. It is a supernatural horror film
directed by James Wan.
The film stars Patrick Wilson, Rose Byrne and Barbara Hershey. It is the first
instalment in the Insidious film series. The film plot is about a couple who’s
son inexplicably enters a comatose state and becomes a vessel for ghosts
in an astral dimension who want to inhabit his body so that they're able to
live again. This is what the trailer reveals to the audience about the film plot.
Throughout the trailer we ask ourselves a variety of different questions seen
as the narrative of the trailer creates a code of enigma in many different
ways. The type of questions the audience ask themselves are; why did the
family have to move house? Will they survive? How will they escape from
this traumatic experience? What happens to the family members? Why is
the child experiencing this comatose state? Most of the scenes present in
the trailer make us inquisitive in one way or another.
3. Analysis
The genre of the film is a psychological and supernatural horror. The trailer lasts
1minute and 50 seconds. The trailer also has around about 90 shots, with a
pace that starts off slow and begins to speed up gradually as the tension in the
trailer increases also. The pace of the trailer starts to increase steadily as soon
as the equilibrium is broken.
The audience are able to identify the genre of the film throughout the trailer by
the narrative, the intertitles, the mise-en-scene, the dialogue and the non-
diegetic and diegetic sounds present.
The audience can also identify the genre of the film from the first opening shot of
the trailer. The shot reveals to the audience the production companies name but
the company “Filmdistrict” has adapted their logo in order to fit in with the genre
of the film, which is “horror”. They have achieved this effectively by using the
colour scheme of red and black. These colours are usually associated closely
with negative energy. Both colours used naturally have many connotations such
as black representing the dark nature of the trailer and red symbolising danger
4. Mise-en-scene
The mise-en-scene of a trailer is formulated by using a wide range of methods that relate to
the genre of the film e.g this includes, props, clothing, makeup, location, setting and lighting.
The mise-en-scene in film trailers must be very effective as it is a very important aspect used
in conventional trailers, it sets the scene and makes the audience feel a specific mood which is
created by the atmosphere of the film. The mood created can imply a specific genre e.g
whether it’s a romantic, scary, humorous or a tranquil feeling.
Mise-en-scene is particularly important whilst creating a horror film as it is one of the main
techniques that is used to allow the audience to identify the genre of the film e.g through
makeup showing blood, bruises or scars, through dark lighting which is associated with the
dark nature of the film and through clothing which gives off a specific impression of a character
whether its positive of negative.
The mise-en-scene in the “Insidious” trailer covers a wide variety of aspects that many
conventional horror films contain such as the props, clothing, makeup, location, setting,
lighting etc. The trailer includes a typical location which is of middle class. The house is
situated in a pleasant, respectable, tranquil neighbourhood which is occupied by a typical
family that love one another. This is in contrast to the dark nature that occurs throughout the
trailer; the household is being tormented by a demon/evil entity.
5. There are a variety of props used within the trailer of “Insidious” which create numerous amounts of effects on
the audience and help to portray the genre of the film effectively. The use of beds, chairs, hospital equipment
etc are used throughout the trailer to set the scene. The windows and doors slam shut to provoke fear and to
create a creepy setting for the film which consists of “jumpy” scenes. The bed is a very important prop used
within the trailer of “Insidious” as this specific prop supports the whole film plot; in order for the evil entity to
pass through the mortal realm it must pass via the young boys body whilst he is sleeping or in a state of
unconsciousness. This particular prop has numerous connotations as a bed is identified as being a place of
relaxation, rest, comfort and safety which is contrast to how the bed is represented in the trailer of Insidious.
The hospital equipment which is present within the trailer is used to represent death and illness which is a
conventional feature to have in a horror trailer e.g most horror films reflect a dark nature involving pain, illness,
injury or even death.
Other props present within the trailer of “Insidious” are those that represent the childhood of the young boys
such as baby monitors, a rocking horse and toys. This adds to the fear factor of the trailer as it symbolises
innocence verses evil. These types of props are used as they are very powerful at provoking the audiences
emotions as it is a natural instinct of a parent to keep your child safe. These props are very effective in horror
films as they can be modified to advantage the sinister aspect of this genre e.g toys can show a evil presence
by being moved, played with or destroyed and the voice of the demon can be played through the baby
monitor. These actions can torment the audience as they consider how they would react themselves in that
situation.
A rocking horse or rocking chair is recently a common prop used in horror trailers e.g in The Conjuring,
Insidious, Annabelle and The woman in Black etc as it is an object that many people can remember being in
Mise-en-scene
6. Conventions of horror film
Here is a list of conventions that I have identified in the trailer that I have analysed;
Dark/ low level lighting
Blood/bruising/injury/harm
Music creating an atmosphere – slow non-diegetic sound which gradually speeds up
for tension.
Fade to black creating suspense
A montage for action effect e.g showing the most action filled scenes especially
towards the end
Key points shown through intertitles
All the main characters are shown in the trailer.
Conventionally the title of the film is revealed at the end of the trailer however in this
specific trailer the title of the film is present throughout the intertitles to create
suspense.
7. Sound
When the film title “Insidious” is visible on the screen, a non-diegetic sound
effect is used to fit in with the movement of the word whilst appearing on
the screen. Whilst the title fades there is a faint beat present which could
suggest the sound of a heart beat, this is used to create tension. This heart
beat is then used as an asynchronous sound which is present in the
following shots which includes characters.
This beat used could represent the heart beat of the characters present in
the horror trailer or even the audience who are watching. This diegetic
sound is used to create tension and represent the suspense that will be
created by watching the trailer.
