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Insidious Trailer Analysis

By Tim Loe

The title screen at the start cuts to a medium close up of the protagonist with a sound bridge. He is asked if he ‘is ready’, which he replies ‘yes’. This builds some anticipation towards the trailer. The protagonists expression, and desaturated grade of the shot creates an intense atmosphere.

The previous shot then fades out, and a close up of a metronome then fades in. The diegetic and non diegetic sound of the metronome is a pace setter for the trailer, it is set at a fast tempo, and the transitions between shots are synced with it, giving the trailer a continuously fast, and menacing pace.

This close up cuts to a shot with text, promoting who the film was made by, creating anticipation to see it. The text is white on a

This cuts to a medium close up similar to the first shot of the trailer, however this time the protagonist is closing his eyes, and the camera is zooming in. This zooming movements connotes that we are looking at his thoughts.

This shot cuts to an establishing shot of what is assumed to be their house. The camera is tracking left, and the movement feels slightly unnatural, which connotes that someone is watching the house. The shot is also low angle, connoting the house is powerful, and giving it a menacing look.

The next two shots then give some exposition into the story, and reveals why the previous shot was an establishing shot of a house.

The first shot is a medium shot of a mother and her son. The composition of the shot, and the mise en scene allows the audience to see that they have moved house, and are settling in.

The following shot is a long shot of the family, and the protagonist, who we can now see is the father getting ready for what we can assume is his new job, and the reason they moved.

The close up of the ladder, showcases conflict of the boy, this is synced with the metronome, connoting that the conflict is almost controlled, and in order. This emphasises the message the trailer is emitting, that the house is the antagonist, and causing conflict upon the family.

That cuts to a two shot of the parents looking intrigued and terrified, this marks the disequilibrium in the narrative (previous shots mostly of equilibrium). The composition of the shot illuminates the fact that they are behind a window, connoting that what they are looking at what is unknown, and therefore needs to be controlled.

The following shot is an OSS of what the parents where looking at. We can now see that the disequilibrium has been clarified, and is the condition the boy has received (provoked by the house). The OSS re-enforces this connotation of the unknown, since it displays how far away they are, suggesting that they cannot get near since they do not know what the condition is.

This cuts to a medium close up of the mother. We can see that she looks very distressed and tired, and contrasts from the starting shots displaying her happiness.

- This cuts to a medium shot of a shadow unnaturally drifting past the window. This unnatural movement has connotations of the supernatural, and the fact that we can only see the shadow connotes that the supernatural is outside the house, watching or trapping the family.

- This cuts to a long shot, with an unnatural movement using a rig), connoting the supernatural. This low angle shot connotes that the family are being watched, but the composition of the shot (placement of light/parts of house) combine to animate the house, creating a sinister atmosphere. This also illuminates the antagonist, which is the house.

This cuts to an extreme high angle of the women connoting that she is being watched, and is vulnerable. The contrast between the following shot (extreme low angle) and this high angle shot connotes that the house is watching them, and contributes to the overall theme of the trailer, that the house is alive, and haunting the family.

The next shot is a long shot of the boy sleeping, and the door slowly opens to reveal part of the supernatural. We could emulate for our trailer, since despite it being very minimal it is eye catching. The slow movement of the door also creates a sense of anticipation.

This cuts to a montage of the expert (which is narratively a conventional character of a horror). The montage is a series of close ups showcasing the advanced equipment the expert has. The use of focus in this montage helps make it seem more interesting, since most shots start of out of focus, and go into focus quickly, this reflects the setting up of the equipment.

This XCU showcases the eyes of one of the experts. Her eyes display the terrifying emotion she is experiencing. The use of XCU’s should be considered for our trailer, since it is an effective way of portraying terror to the audience.

The next shot is a close up, combined with a sting this gives the audience a sinister thrill, and the editing creates anticipation, since the shot was only around 20 frames long, leaving the audience wondering what happened, and wanting to see the antagonist again. This also plays on our innermost fears, displaying the antagonist watch the father, intensifying the menacing atmosphere.

The end of the trailer displays the conventional title cards, and the date of release. This is conventional of a trailer, since the one of the main functions is to be informative.

The lighting is also not mentioned much, this is because the main location is a house, which is the antagonist, so therefore the antagonist is always present, meaning low key lighting will be regular, which re-enforces the scary atmosphere the trailer emits.

There is a shot after the title card, it is a medium close up of the antagonist reaching out to grab someone. This is combined with a sting to provide the audience with a final scare, making the trailer memorable.