Insidious Trailer Analysis

The trailer starts of with the title ‘Insidious’ then moves on to a medium close up of the protagonist with a sound bridge. 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 then hear some dialect, he is asked “are you ready?” and he replies “yes” leaving us in anticipation wondering what he is ready for. In addition, the mans facial expression portrays uncertainty and adds to the anticipation.

We are then introduced to a cut in which a zoom is used into a metronome ticking. Whilst the metronome is ticking all other sounds which were before playing in the background are now gone which helps emphasise on the stereotypical 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 to surprise them as it is 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 and Saw’’. This is a very typical technique used to simply attract an audience as if the audience liked Paranormal Activity, which is a very well renowned horror movie, then they will like this movie also. It also gives the audience another idea on what the movie may be like.

We are then shown an establishing shot of a house. This is a very stereotypical shot which is used in very many horror trailers and movies as it sets the scene and also shows the audience the house in which everything bad is mainly going to happen, denoting the house is haunted. It also uses the stereotyped idea of a family household being terrorized by some evil spirits of some sort. In addition, 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 predictions.

In the next shot we then see loads of boxes scattered around the house. This suggests to the audience that this family has just moved into their house. Again this is something that is very stereotypical within horror movie/trailers; 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 be about without having to outright show and tell them what is going on.

One the children named Dalton goes up into the attic and has an accident. When Dalton is in the attic the lighting is very dark. The child appears to fall off of a ladder when one of the steps break, but in the next shot, an over the shoulder long shot, he is in a hospital bed with and oxygen mask amongst other things, suggesting to the audience that something else has happened as he would not be this unwell because of the fall he had.

The diagetic dialogue following from Dalton’s mother, “He’s not in a coma, they don’t know what to call it”, suggesting that something else is going on. In between all of these shots, the “Insidious is insidious is” shot keeps reappearing. This will be building tension amongst the audience rapidly.

The ticking metronome is still present whilst all of this is going on and does not stop until the next scene when the ticking sound merges in with the sound of a wooden rocking horse. When the mother stops the rocking horse more medium shots are shown with a faster pace than previously. All of these shots have very dark lighting, making the audience concentrate on the screen more, and creating more anticipation. Lots of loud noises start to happen here including a large crash and a crying baby. All this will be confusing to the audience and will make them feel uneasy.

In the next scene there is diagetic dialogue from paranormal investigators as well as close-up shots of the equipment they use to try and sort out the problem the family are having. The dialogue says what the investigators intend to do to sort out the problem. They also enlist the help of an older lady, which we assume is an exorcist. They use an extreme close-up shot of this woman’s eye while she is speaking to the family. These shots allows the audience to see the emotions clearly on the faces of the actors.

With the screen black the audience thinks the trailer is over, until a quick close-up shot of what appear to be a ghost is shown quickly to leave the audience feeling scared and uneasy one last time. It is intended by the producers for that last scene to have a lasting impact on the audience. The producers also hope that this will attract people to go and watch the film