Insidious Mise-en-scene Opening Analysis

Horror: Insidious

Insidious is an American supernatural horror film, based on the story of a boy who becomes a vessel for demons in an astral dimension. The film was directed by James Wan and was released on April 1^st 2011.

The film commences with a high angle shot, supplying the audience or viewer with an overhead view from above who is thought to be the protagonist. A pan movement is used to scan the room horizontally, revealing a young boy in his bedroom surrounded by board games, creepy teddy bears and other toys. This establishes that the character is very young. Stereo typically, the child within a horror film plays the protagonist. This is because children are generally seen in a positive view and are “innocent”.

The opening sequence is set in a bedroom. There is low key lighting, creating multiple shadows, suggesting a dark sinister theme within the film. Generally, children fear their bedroom of a night time, when the room is dark. The shadows and low key lighting propose that the child may be in danger, or will be as the film progresses. The low key lighting foreshadows portending doom.

 A pan shot is used again to present the rest of the house. We then come across a ghostly appearing character, who is zoomed in on with a zoom shot. The camera then scans the room again, this when there is a close up of the distressing character, creating fright within the audience. By creating fear within the audience, they immediately get hooked in the film, and want to know what happens next.

Non-diegetic sound is used throughout the entirety of the opening sequence. A high pitched violin is playing, commencing calmly and slowly growing out of control, louder and at a faster tempo when the antagonist (the ghostly figure) appears. Instruments within the classical style generally connote horror or fright, working successfully when aiming to create fear within the audience watching a film belonging to the horror genre.

Red (associated with blood) font, mysterious disturbing music, low key lighting and shadowing, and an eerie appearing character are all demonstrated within the opening sequence of Insidious (2011), following the generalised conventions of horror genre.