CLOSE TEXTUAL ANALYSIS

INSIDIOUS


MIGRAIN

CHAPTER ONE: A family looks to prevent evil spirits from trapping their comatose child in a realm called The Further.

Lighting - filler lighting+ back lighting to soften any shadows, as well as making the character look dark and the house stand out which shows the main subject 'haunted house' - silhouette - low key lighting.

Camera Framing - close up of the child to show the significance of the character; the eyes are spooky highlighting that its a horror movie.

Review from IMDB: ''The film Insidious has done something many horror movies have failed to do recently, and that is to be scary''

CHAPTER TWO: The haunted Lambert family seeks to uncover the mysterious childhood secret that has left them dangerously connected to the spirit world.

Lighting - key light on the characters faces and filler lighting to soften shadows - under lighting+ low key lighting.

Camera Framing- long, close up shows that the film consists of a family; able to see the facial expressions of the mother who is scared and is protecting her child. 

Stereotype of women - loving protecting feminine side.

Review: The movie picks up right where the first left off, and really gives you the back story of the family and why they are going through everything they are going through.

Overall rating: 6.6

TRAILER ANALYSIS 

Slow edits to show the narrative; shows equilibrium (Todrov) Calm, high pitch song. Slow to emphasise the harmony and equilibrium

Fast edits to show the disequilibrium (Todrov)  helps to build the tension; also the music becomes loud and faster, creating suspense. Diegetic sound when the characters talk – to show thoughts.

STEREOTYPES:

Stereotype of women - loving protecting feminine side – hugging her children

However she is holding a weapon makes her look powerful and masculine

REPRESENTATIONS:

The trailer gives a representation of darkness with the dark colours on the poster, and the strange and evil events that happen in the trailer.

 Giving a representation of good vs. evil which is shown in the trailer.

TRAILER ANALYSIS

The trailer is cryptic to the audience as it uses the film’s title “Insidious” and mixing up the letters and
rearranges them to spell out “Insidious is insidious is”. While the words are being rearranged a crackling non
diegetic noise appears over the top of the shot, the noise in itself is fairly mysterious and just adds to the
mystery and cryptic nature of the scene. The background it black with hints of dark red at times and the font
colour is white, creating a contrast, like the contrast between good and evil further along in the trailer.

The trailer cuts to a medium shot of a male character in the film, diegetic dialogue from another character that we cannot see on screen asks this male character “Are you ready?” and he replies “Yes”. This shot then cuts to a close-up shot of a pendulum and presumably the character asking the question previously starts the pendulum ticking. The diegetic sound of the pendulum ticking can then e heard for a significant amount of time throughout the trailer with exaggerated echos added on to each tick of the pendulum to create a sinister atmosphere. As the trailer goes on it becomes clear that the pendulum may have been used as a signifier of time running out for this family and their child. This type of shot and sound makes the audience question the nature of the film straight away.

Overall, I think the film trailer for 'Insidious' is very successful from the the style to the editing of the trailer. It defiantly creates many unique ideas that allow the audience to agree it is a horror film through the performance and mise-en-scene. I think this is a fantastic trailer to analyse for our horror film trailer within the sub-genre of demonic possession as the evil spirits that consume the family are appropriate to our research and project.

PARANORMAL ACTIVITY

TRAILER:

SLOW edits to build suspense, the music also builds up and creates more suspense 

Use of young children which builds more fear to the audience. Children are a main target to use in horror movies 

Editing - use of camera work and the use of technology to show horror effects 

POSTER

COLOUR: use of red text to connote danger; use of black to connote dullness. 'its closer than you think' is in white to make it stand out gives an idea of what the movie may be about.

LOCATION :  in a bedroom which connotes nightmares shows that the movie includes disturbing cinematography which could mean that audiences may have nightmares after watching it

CAMERA FRAMING: the picture is framed in the centre, it is zoomed in  which shows the significance of the character   as well as the scenario and the whole situation

PICTURE: the picture shows that its a snapshot from a camera video which shows the movie is going to be cam- corded. 

TRAILER ANALYSIS 

The majority of the sound is diegetic dialogue -diegetic dialogue of “windows are locked, doors are locked, alarm is on” could create a false sense of assurance for the viewer’s giving off the impression that the family are safe. -The diegetic dialogue of 'screaming' is used with long shots of the audience to show their fear, the diegetic dialogue “if you do try to play games with it, that's inviting it in” is followed by silence,  Slow paced, Non Diegetic soundtrack is used at the start to resemble a heartbeat, emphasising intensity.

 There is use of enigma codes to created by never showing the 'ghost, demon or poltergeist' -trailer ends on a female character being thrown across the room into the camera, which leaves the audience in suspense main title being “experience it for yourself” linked with non-diegetic sounds of loud bangs and crashes, this, and the titles of “one of the scariest movies of all time” establish the mood and the very high expectations of the film. Camera shots and angles most commonly used in trailers are often the most important ones - don't have to be in order of the film a common shot will be an establishing shot at the start of trailers to set the scene. Mise-en-scene constructed in trailers often in regards to their genres.