Analysing the opening sequence of a Horror Insidious (2011) Chosen film: Insidious (2010)

Brief introduction of the film

Insidious is an American horror film which was released in 2011, the film was written by Leigh Whannel and directed by James Wan, the film features Patrick Wilson, Rose Bryne, Lin Shave, and Barbara Hershey. The story is about a couples son who falls into a coma and strange things happen to him and a ghost is present running around the boy. The location is set in a home.

Plot Rose Bryne and Patrick Wilson play the characters of the couple called Renai and Josh Lambert and recently they have moved into a new house with their three children. Renai the mother looks through an old family album with her son Dalton ,he starts asking questions about Josh, Renai the mum says he was always camera shy however Dalton hears a noise in the attic and goes up to take a look at what is going on, he does see something which scares him, and he falls down the attic ladder which breaks causing him to go into a inexplicable coma. Lighting/Sound In the beginning the colours seem quite bright and neutral as the family have just moved into a new house but then as they get settled in to the new house everything starts to change such as Dalton hearing noises from attic from that point the colour and the music change so we know that something is going to happen because the colour is now a dark and dull colour which will indicate that something bad or horrific is going to occur. The colour in the film is mainly dark which is showing the atmosphere of something bad going to happen. The sounds being used are both diegetic and non diegetic towards the start and the end Camera shots In the film many camera angle shots are used such as a number of close ups were used which were very effective because it creates tension and makes the audience question on what is going to happen next and to be scared of it maybe knowing what will happen a good example to use is in the film is a women is standing up and the man is getting closer to the women while she is standing up as the man is still trying to get closer a light shines in the womens face this is an effective shot as the audience will get a sense of feeling that something is going to happen to the women. Another good close up is when the women is holding a gun and we then get a close up of the mans face, he looks back at the women but she isnt there anymore this creates suspense to the audience wondering where she has gone and what is going to happen next.

Costume In the film the costumes are shown as dull and their faces are shown as pale this is relating to horror as the room has grey effect which hints out suspense and makes the audience stare on the edge of their seat because something is going to happen by making them scream or jump. The lighting reflects their clothes as the scenes are mainly dark by being grey and faded which is unpredictable for the audience not to know what is going to happen. Props The props used in the film are mainly all mainly in the home such as a bed, rocking horse, baby monitor, cupboard, ladder and other home ware items, in one particular scene which is in the attic where the young boy is climbing a ladder to get to another section of the attic in the attic are many props being shown such as a old dolls house and a boxes all the items being shown in the film are more or less related to the young children in the household an example of this would be the rocking horse, cot and baby monitor relating to the little girl. Characters In the opening scene we saw a happy family moving in to their new home consisting of a nuclear family, the father is shown sitting on a chair relaxed which shows that he is a calm person I would say his age would late 30s, and the son who gets into a coma character is more or less stubborn in my opinion he must have been told not to go into the attic and he ignores this and carries on this will make the audience wonder at what the young boys intentions are, the mum in the film is a women who is aware of everything that goes in the house an example would be the horse rocking back and forth which he stops immediately as she thinks something was going to happen this allows the audience to get a good picture of how she acts in the film and why she is a curious person.

The picture shows the boy is more or less possessed, evil you can tell this by his eyes which shows his pupils are dilated, and the inside of his eye is pure white. The background is giving a cloudy effect on the picture which can indicate many things such as suspense, gloomy and spooky effect.