Insidious

In this presentation, I

shall analyse the opening of the popular thriller film "Insidious"focusing on the mise en scene, sound, editing

and cinematography.

Cinematography• The cinematography used in the opening

foreshadows a lot of the events in the main film. They use close up's of teddy bears to create suspense, as toys and dolls are related to thriller films. In the title sequence, there is a lot grisly images that can frighten an audience. For example, there is a dark shadow which is a figure of a man, and that foreshadows the fact the film could be based on a stalker, child killer or a ghost. Like paranormal activity, they've used mid shots of mysterious moving chandeliers, and chairs moving. This then reinforces the idea that it's going to be based on a ghost type, paranormal film, and then the audience prepare themselves for any scares. All of the cinematography used in the film, creates the right mood for a supernatural thriller.

Mise En Scene• The mise en scene used in this sequence is very basic and it sets up the

films location very well. The title sequence foreshadows the events of the film, and does it in a manipulating way with the use of colour. They have used bleak colours such as white, red and black, and all of the colours have connotations of death, blood, heaven which tells us this is a scary film. They have used iconography such as an old grandfather clock, a photo frame of the main protagonist family and a crib, to indicate young children are involved in the film. The low key lighting indicates the point that it's a horror thriller, as it's dark and gloomy. The first part focuses on the shot of a child's bedroom, with the child in the bed sleeping. The mise en scene used is very dominantly ideological of what a young boy's room should look like, which makes the film seem like it's based in an innocent location.

Sound

• As Insidious is a supernatural thriller film,

non - diegetic incidental soundtrack is

vital to build the suspense for an

audience member. The sound is

extremely creepy, and makes you feel

uncomfortable. When watching previous

thriller openings, I noticed that when the

main title comes on, the music builds up

more and gets louder. This happens in

Insidious, and makes you feel scared

even though the movie hasn't properly

started yet, once the "Insidious" title has

finished, the music quietens and goes

into a more deluded tone, which is still

very scary and again, makes you feel

uncomfortable, because you feel like

something will make you jump with a

sound sting.

Editing• The transitions used in the opening are very

smooth and they connect with one shot well. They use the colour red a lot in the title sequence, and the credits fade in and out very nicely. When the Insidious title comes onto screen, the "I" is shaped like a devil, which foreshadows the events of the film, and can make the audience get the idea of what the film's antagonist may be (The Devil). The title sequence has been put together well, and everything flows together, they don't leave one specific shot on for more than 15 seconds, meaning the audience get a glimpse of the location, and setting and a few main characters, but not enough so that they can guess the plot. This is effective because, it makes the audience want to carry on watching. The editing used in this opening to a supernatural thriller fits to the right standard, and keeps the audience excited and in tact with the action.

Why is this a good title sequence toa Thriller?

• Insidious is a good title sequence to a supernatural thriller because of the sound, mise en scene, cinematography and editing. All of the four key elements build up the suspense and enjoyment of the film, and the audience get a real insight of the key events of the film, and they get a small preview of what's coming up for them.

Does the title sequence fir the right codes and conventions of a thriller?• The codes and conventions of a supernatural thriller are

that it's focused somewhat on the horror thriller sub-genre, but focused more on the ghosts, mysterious moving objects etc. The codes and conventions are that the audience sustain a feeling of menace and unpredictability, which is exactly what the opening of Insidious does to the viewer, making them feel extremely uncomfortable, which is the aim of a thriller film.