The trailer for the horror movie "Insidious" uses several techniques to build suspense and intrigue without revealing too much of the plot. It establishes the dark, ominous tone of the film through its logo design and musical score. Quick cuts show glimpses of the disruption to a family's life but raise more questions than answers. The trailer hints that something is haunting the family's son but does not explain what. This lack of resolution, paired with unsettling imagery and sounds, leaves viewers wanting to learn more and see the full story unfold.

2. The first shot we see of the trailer is the institution behind the film ‘film
district’. Film district has re-designed their logo in order to make it fit the
movies genre making it seem quite dark and using the colour red which
connotes many horror movie themes. By doing this it gives the audience an
idea that the movie is going to be a dark one (horror) without having to watch
anymore of the trailer, it especially helps when eerie dark sounds/music is
easing into the background. By putting the institutional logo at the beginning
of the movie it allows the audience to make their own assumptions on the film
as they will think of other movies this institution has made and whether they
like those movies.
A fade in transition is used to slowly show the name of the movie ‘insidious’
the background is not very clear as to what it is however it is red and the
audience may see this as blood. This choice of look is most likely used to just
keep the genre clear to the audience.
Sound affects are used to match the movement of the changing words (a
sound that very much fits the genre of the movie) the words change very
quickly making it hard for the audience to understand what it says. However
the words do say ‘insidious is..’ this obviously will give the audience very
much questions as they know nothing about this movie and they most
definitely do not know what insidious is.

3. In the next shot us the audience are finally introduced to a character. By
him being the first person we are introduced we assume he is the or one of
the main characters. To the audience he seems like an ordinary man due to
his appearance and the settings. We the audience can see that this
shot/scene is non-linear and is at least half way through the move. A man
who we do not see asks ‘are you ready’ again, for obvious reasons this will
set up a lot of questions for the audience as they do not know what is
going on and they want to know what this man needs to be ready for. Still
no questions have been answered for the audience.
A cut is then used to zoom into a metronome ticking. This again will set up
many questions for the audience as when we think of metronomes we think of
how they are used by musicians to help keep a steady tempo. Which will then
make the audience wonder why he needs a steady tempo. Whilst the
metronome is ticking all other sounds which were before playing in the
background are now gone which helps emphasise on the stereotypes creepy
quite sounds that horror movies usually have. This gives the audience
anticipation on what is going to happen next. They will expect something loud
as it is so quiet in this shot.
With the quiet ticking sound still playing in the background a cut goes to a
faint bloody background like before. Writing then slowly fades onto the
page ‘’From the maker of Paranormal Activity’’. This is a very typical
technique used to simply bring in a audience as if the audience liked
Paranormal Activity then they will like this movie also. It also gives the
audience another idea on what the movie may be like.

4. We are then shown an establishing shot of a house. This is a very
stereotyped shot which is used in very many horror trailers as it shows the
audience the house which tells the audience where everything bad is
mainly going to happen. It also uses the stereotyped idea of a family
household being terrorized by bad spirits of some sort. However at this
point of the trailer no questions have been answered to the audience and
they still have no idea on what is going on, they only have assumptions and
interpretations.
In the next shot we meet two more characters which help the audience
identify the horror genre stereotype of the movie having the ideological family
within them. When looking closely and the setting of this shot we see loads of
boxes scattered around the house. This tells the audience that this family has
just moved into their house. This again is something that is very stereotypical
within horror genres; a family moving into a new house where they will be
greatly disturbed. This use of using stereotyped methods within trailer makes
the audience to some extent know what this movie will entail without having
to outright show and tell them what is going on.
Several quick cuts are used to show a happy family, showing how they have
a happy life. Through using the very quick cuts it emphasises not only on
the happy family but on the fact that something bad is about to happen.
The audience know something bad will happen for the simple fact it is a
horror movie.

5. We are then taken to a silent close up shot of a ladder to which a little boy (the
son) is climbing up, the ladder breaks and the break of the ladder is very loud ,
which indicates to the audience that this is where the trailer will begin to show
what insidious is or at least the disruption of this movie. The before shot were
very bright which helped emphasise the happiness within them whereas this
shot is in the stereotypical dark quiet basement, which obviously emphasises
on the genre of the movie and what is going to happen.
To reinforce the fact that the bad stuff is not going to happen within the
trailer, the before shot in repeated. Showing the title of the film whilst the
words are flickering and changing showing the ‘insidious is insidious’. This
obviously makes the audience question what is insidious, as even though
they have some ideas on what the film is about they still do not really know
anything about it.
‘He is not in a coma the doctors don’t know what it is’, this in itself makes
the audience question what is wrong with him. Low-key lighting has been
used all through this trailer so far to emphasise its dark orientation. By the
movie emphasising on what is wrong with the boy it reinforces the idea of
innocence being corrupted as in horror movies it is usually the children that
are taken over.

6. The mother is then walking through the hallway of her house. Low-key
lighting is once again used to emphasise the idea that something bad is going
to happen and what genre this movie is. We see inside a room that she is
going to go into as she can hear a noise, however from this shot and
viewpoint we can not fully see what is inside the room which just leaves the
audience in anticipation as the believe something is going to jump out. When
looking closely at this shot we see a hidden message. A stop sign is in the
room facing the camera, this is obviously a message to the audience telling
them something bad is going to happen. This trailer and shot uses many
enigma codes
The shot then goes back to the mother. By using quick cuts from the mother
back to the room it builds up anticipation and suspense for the audience. As
they are waiting for the ‘jump’ (what makes the audience jump) to happen.
The audience are disappointed as they have been tricked. When the
mother walks into the room is simply a rocking horse which is rocking on
its own. However it creates more enigma codes, why is the horse
rocking? Or how is it?. This simply makes the audience wonder when
something it going to jump out at them.

7. The ‘insidious is’ shot is repeated once again to reinforce the
idea that whatever insidious is it is something important to the
movie.
In this shot we the audience are finally starting to find out what bad is
meant to be happening as so far we have not found anything out. The little
boy goes into his room, to which we are then shown this shot of a window
with the blinds closed. It is night time which obviously reinforces many
stereotypes of darkness coming out at night time within horror movies.
Quick cuts are then used whilst using eerie music whilst the mother is
walking through the house as if she is looking or waiting for something to
happen. Something then happens, which is what the audience have been
waiting for a very long time. However now something has finally
happened the audience still don’t really know anything crucial about the
film, which is starting to make them want to find out even more.

8. The climax of the music then rises to help contrast with the tempo of the
urgency the mother is in. Rushing into her child’s room who is crying, this
shot does not answer any of the audiences questions, it simply helps
fasten the tempo of the trailer now, showing the audience parts of the
disruption in the movie.
In the next shot, the shot links very much with what is being said. Allowing
the audience to get a bit more information about what is going on, we see
that there is a strange being in their house, after their son. By showing this
shot in the scene the audience find out what this film is about; being it be
about a son who has a spirit/being attached/after him. Low-key lighting is
still being used to emphasise the horror genre.
In this shot the audience finally see the recognition of disruption in this
movie. To where the family now wish to seek help to resolve their
disruption.

9. Like one theorist said about every movie having the same 7 characters
in it, in this shot we finally meet ‘the helper’. The person who we
expect in horror movies to resolve everything as they have had great
experience in it before. This part of the trailer just helps give the
audience more information about the film as it reinforces many
stereotyped ideas used in many horror movies. Eerie music is still
being played in the background to simply emphasise what genre this
movie is.
Lots of quick cuts are used again to show the disruption in this film. In
this shot we see the dad looking in either a mirror or windows and
seeing his reflection, however their is also a reflection of a mysterious
scary being over the top. The use of enigma codes makes the audience
want to know who this being is and what they have to do with the
movie. Even though the audience are finding little bit about the film
they still have no idea what is going on which simply makes them
have more suspense. The idea of darkness is repeated in this scene
also to reinforce many horror themes.
Climatic synchronous music is being used again to make the
anticipation and suspense grow more as well as reinforce the genre and
theme. ‘Insidious is’ is on the screen once again as all the way through
this trailer that is what the audience has been wondering and they still
have not found out.

10. More quick cuts are used which match with the fast paced synchronous
music to match the fast tempo of the movie. In this shot we see a picture
that obviously a child has drawn however the picture is rather disturbing
which reinforces to the audience the idea that something is wrong with the
child.
Another quick shot is used to finally show some type of scary being to the
audience as they still have no idea what is after them or affecting their
family. This then gives the audience knowledge of what it is. It makes them
also question why hasn’t the dad noticed it yet. All these quick helps gain
suspense from the audience as the majority of their questions still have not
being answered.
The next shot, is now silent which really contrasts with the frantic sound
being played in the before shots. This gives the effect that this is possibly the
last shot/ scene in the trailer as we have had many quick shots before this.
We are back to the dark lighting which reinforces the genres stereotypes.
Tracking is used in this scene moving forward, to grow the audiences
anticipation, as they know something big is about to happen.

11. ‘it’s not the house that is haunted, it’s your son’. By this being said it
gives the audience the information they have been waiting for on what
is really going on and now they know. However with all the quick cuts
showing all the action that has been used it makes the audience want
to know everything about the film now that they know what is going
on.
Lots of quick cuts are used with synchronous sound to match the fast
tempo to simply show the audience more interesting scenes from the film
without giving away to much.
Once again we see the iconic ‘Insidious is’ for the last time.

12. Insidious is everywhere. The audience finally understand why the
‘insidious is’ have been repeated all through the movie. ‘Everywhere
April 1’ after having many cuts growing their anticipation and giving
the audience many unanswered questions, they are then left with
when the movie will come out which basically tells them that if they
wish to find out they have to come and watch it. By the trailer not
really telling the audience fully what the movie is about it makes the
audience want to see the movie even more and helps sell the movie
to them.
The last shot of the trailer is the institutional information letting the
audience know the information they may not be interested in. It lets
them know the producers, directors actors etc. It also gives the movies
website on there to allow the audience to find out more if they wish too
about the movie, which helps create a bigger buzz about the movie.

13. Not only does the trailer reinforce many stereotypes and idea but it too reinforces the idea and thoughts that many
theorists had. One theorist that is used within the trailer is Todorov and his theory was that a movie had 5 stages within it,
the equilibrium, disruption, recognition, attempt to repair and new equilibrium. However, in this trailer we only meet 3 of
those stages, the equilibrium disruption and recognition or the disruption, as if the trailer showed all 5 stages, it would not
leave the audience with the suspense they need in order to go and see the movie. Therefore, by showing 3 of the 5 stages it
shows they are using Todorov’s theory within there movie however only using 3 of those stages in order to engager the
audience into the film.
Barthes theory of enigma codes is used in all movie trailer as this is what creates the suspense and by the audience
having so many questions unanswered it makes them want/need to see the movie in order to get their questions
answered. Therefore, throughout my analysis I have pinpointed which questions are being asked.
Levi-Strauss theory of binary opposites is used many times throughout the trailer. Innocence and Corruption when it
comes to the child being possessed. Also a binary opposite of the supernatural Vs. the natural as we see through the
trailer that there is almost a battle to defeat the supernatural in order to get their life back to normal. Many other binary
opposites are used which I have pinpointed through certain screenshots in my anaylsis.