This document summarizes genre conventions, narrative ideas, mise-en-scene, soundtrack, editing, and camera work for the films Insidious and Shutter Island. For Insidious, it notes the use of red typography, low lighting, ambient music, and a suburban house setting. The narrative focuses on a boy and signs that the house is haunted. For Shutter Island, it points out the opening in a prison cell, chains implying torture, and an isolated island setting for an asylum. Editing mixes slow and fast pacing to keep viewers engaged in both films.

2. Insidious
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g1e1fe
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3. Genre Conventions-
0 The Red Typography connotes blood, violence, gore and death
0 There is very low key lighting, - black is prominent throughout
0 Slow, ambient music which is typical in any horror film
0 It is set at night time
0 Set in a middle class suburban household
0 Slow pace editing
0 Hand held camera
0 Red, black and white are the only colours featured

4. Narrative ideas-
0 The opening credits takes place at night time in a typical suburban house -hold
in America. The camera introduces the audience to a young boy sleeping. This
connotes innocence because of his current weak, helpless state. The boy being
introduced early on in the film represents significance for later on in the story.
There are grotesque monsters in the form of silhouettes lurking in the dark. This
signifies that this housed is haunted
0 There is an establishing shot of the big house. This represents that the main
narrative will evolve around the house. The significance of the house to the plot
is reinforced by the hand held camera walking into most rooms. There are
moving boxes left scattered across the house. This represents how this family
have just recently moved into ‘their dream house’. But… perhaps the house is not
all it’s cracked up to be.
0 The red typography dissolves during the opening sequence. This signifies death
and disappearance of the characters.

5. 0 Mise-en-scene
0 Setting and Props- set inside and outside of a big house. Props include the every
day household items. There is a large clock which is featured heavily. The vintage
type clock represents how there is a haunted history to the house.
0 Costume, hair and make up- The boy is wearing Pyjamas.
0 Facial expressions and body language- All the ghosts in the house are wearing
black. The ghosts have very white make and there faces are tattered.
0 Composition- Big clock and moving lamps are made a focal point. Contrastingly,
in the dining room the chair just suddenly moves. This creates a ‘blink and you’ll
miss it” vibe.
0 Lighting and colour – Low key lighting. Only colours used are white, black and
red.

6. 0 Soundtrack-
0 The music is all non- diegetic.
0 The non diegetic music is eary and fuzzy. This creates an uncomfortable
experience for the viewer.
0 The non diegetic music starts of very slow and ambient. Then, the tempo and
volume starts to increase to build up tension.
0 There is a violin playing extremely high notes which create the idea of
‘screeching’. This seems like psychological torcher because the violin is very hard
to listen to.
0 The dynamics and tempo increases suddenly when the title ‘Insidious’ is
introduced. The music becomes very frantic.

7. 0 Editing-
0 The editing is generally slow.
0 The hand held camera moves around the house very slowly to create
the idea of ‘tension’.
0 Then suddenly, the editing becomes much faster to create chaos.
0 There are a lot of dissolves. This connotes disappearance.

8. 0 Camera Work-
0 There is an establishing shot of the house. This establishes the scene
for the audience; they are introduced to the main location in the film.
This big suburban, middle class house represents the innocence of
these normal people.
0 Lot’s of Zooms (in and out)
0 Close ups of objects foreshadows the object’s later significance in the
storyline of the film.

9. Shutter Island
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BZjOO
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10. Genre Conventions
0 The use of red typography
0 First shot is in some kind of prison cell
0 Establishing shots
0 Chains, connotes torcher
0 Mixed pace editing. Slow editing with sudden glimpses of fast pace
editing
0 Orchestral music

11. Narrative Ideas
0 The first shot is a prison cell. As a viewer I wonder if in fact if it is
mental institute. This connotes possible mentally ill behaviour e.g.
schizophrenia
0 The gun connotes that one of the characters has a violent streak
0 The chain connotes violence and torture
0 The establishing shot of the river and the background might be
where this prison/mental institute is situated. If so, this is very far
away from any life or urban civilisation. It is therefore assumable
that a lot of suspicious activity takes place on the island
0 The empty prisons create enigma’s

12. 0 Mise-en-scene
0 Setting and Props- Prison and gun. Both go hand in hand to connote danger
0 Costume, hair and make up- No characters
0 Composition- Establishing shots of the mental institute and the island show the
sheer size and scale of the places
0 Lighting and colour- High and low key. The High key lighting is supposed to be
bright and hard to look at for the audience. The low key lighting is a typical
genre of a Psychological Horror film. It connotes disappearance and dark
themes
0 Facial expressions and body language- No characters

13. Soundtrack
- All the music in the soundtrack is non-diegetic
0 Orchestral music- Trumpet is playing long sustained notes.
0 Xylophone plays at regular intervals
0 Crashes of cymbals create an aggressive- brutality feel
0 Varying tempo and dynamics doesn’t allow the music to become familiar.
It is designed to keep the viewers on their toes.

14. 0 Editing
0 Mix of slow and fast paced editing. This keeps the audience fully
engaged because the pace is always changing.
0 We see the film at the camera’s point of view. This appeals to the
audience because we as the viewer as if we are on a journey

15. 0 Camerawork
0 Establishing shot of the possible mental institute. This sets the scene for
the audience. It introduces the big infrastructure the patients are kept
in.
0 Close up at someone's hands where we can see someone shaking.
0 Close up of the gun, brings our attention to the violence in the film.
0 The Hand held camera gives the viewer a chance to go on a journey with
these characters