'Insidious' Textual Analysis

Insidious Textual Analysis

 ‘Insidious’ is a paranormal horror film, released in 2010 and directed by James Wan, who has also directed other popular horror films like ‘The Conjuring 1 and 2’ and ‘Annabelle’. In ‘Insidious’, the family are on a search for help for their son after he mysteriously had a coma after being in the attic. The family rediscover the past and the truth about what has happened to their son.

In the opening of ‘Insidious’, there is lots of panning with a wide lens, which makes the audience assume that something is going to happen in the background, therefore they are more concentrated and engaged. There is use of a handheld camera shot when there is a silhouette in the kitchen, which makes it seem as if the audience is discovering this and feeling the first hand fear. The tracking shot that is used to get closer to the clock foreshadows the significance of this mis en scene. This opening does not relate to ‘Todorov’s Narrative Theory’ as there is no obvious equilibrium and it’s disruption. The opening then moves onto a montage of photos showing how the house is deserted and these are all long shots, establishing the room and its surroundings.

The editing in the opening of ‘Insidious’, portrays the genre as the credits are red and have the effect of smoke rising above the names, showing how this mysterious effect could be important, relating to the dominant ‘Reception Theory’. The slow paced editing in this opening gives the effect that the audience feel that it is climaxing to the horror. When the title of the film appears on the screen, it is in large, bold letters and is also in red, like the credits. After the camera has moved on from panning in the modern house, and goes onto to show the photos, the establishing shot of the first photo, has been given a black and white effect to show its age and generally, in horror films, the older era, connotes that it is haunted. The shots of the photos of the rooms fade in and out, giving it the effect that the audience are reflecting on this mysterious past also.

The mysterious and prominent music begins straight away in the opening of ‘Insidious’ to grab the audience. After the camera leaves the boys room- which is the first room to be explored in the opening- then the music becomes more eerie. This is done as it is climaxing to the silhouette in the window of the next shot as the music reaches a higher pitch of classic horror music. The music then continues to sound like screeching, which could connote screaming and therefore bring fear to the audience.

The mis en scene in the opening generates fear for the audience as it is set in a house, which the audience may then feel this could happen to them in their own home as this film makes it seem realistic. When the room is shown with the sheer curtains, this suggests that a figure may appear as this is an element that is used in horror films to not exclusively reveal who is causing all of the horror. Furthermore, the house in this opening appears to have just been deserted, as if the people living in it have just left but there are elements that are shown in the opening of this film that are iconography that it is a horror film. For example, the old paintings on the wall suggest that this homes dates back, therefore people who have lived in it may have died. Also, there is a baby’s crib in this house which could connote that the child is part of the narrative. This links to the 1970s horror films of commonly having a child in them as part of the horror.

A woman asleep is the only character to be visibly shown in the opening of ‘Insidious’. Her being asleep connotes the innocence of her character and maybe the way the director wanted the audience to view her as vulnerable. This relates to the ‘Effects Theory’ as the audience are passive in accepting this message.

Overall, the camera movement, editing, sound and mis en scene, all relate to the genre of the film and have effects that affect the audience and their viewing of the film. This research has helped with the opening of my film as it shows how having the location of the film in a house, can generate fear for the audience and also having prominent music throughout the opening. Furthermore, panning is used effectively in this opening and in our opening, we plan to use panning shots in the beginning.