In Depth Analysis

In Depth Analysis on Insidious opening scene

Insidious is a Horror/Thriller film that was made in 2010 and was directed by James Wan. The opening sequence to this film has a number of effects on the audience due to many techniques used by Camera work, Editing, Sound and Mise-en-Scene.

One way that this opening sequence is effective amongst the audience is through the use of camera work. At the start of the opening sequence when the mum is walking down the stairs we see the camera pans left as she is walking down, this creates the effect that someone is standing at the bottom of the stairs and is turning to face her although she can not see what is in front of her, this creates tension among the audience as it makes the question that if it was someone why cant they see their face, it also makes the audience believe that something may happen to her as she walks into the other room. Moreover there is an establishing shot of the house in which our protagonists are living, this is a very big house with a lot of space on the inside, this is very stereotypical and backs up the conventions of the horror genre. In addition this effect is also used again when the baby monitor goes off and the mum has to walk upstairs to sort out the crying baby there is a high angle shot used on her as she walks up the stairs, this again makes the audience think that there is something/someone looking down at her, the use of the high angle shot also makes the mum look inferior and makes the audience think that something might happen to her. There is also an element of shallow focus that is used when the mum is playing on the piano and the baby starts to cry down the baby monitor, the focus is then put on the baby monitor, this is effective amongst the audience as it takes their focus off of the mum playing the piano and puts our attention on the baby crying, and as this is a horror film it suggests to the audience that the baby is not crying for no reason, it makes the audience believe that something or someone is doing something to the baby possibly hurting it, it also makes the audience think that something could happen to the mum as she goes upstairs to check on the baby.

The use of props has also been effective in this opening sequence. For example, when the mum sits down and she looks at the pictures of her past when she was younger, this creates effect amongst the audience as this creates a juxtaposing atmosphere which creates effect as the audience think that nothing is going to happen as the photos of the mum's past creates a happy atmosphere and puts the audience at ease whilst this scene is going on. Moreover before the mum sits down to look at her old photos of her past she puts some books on a bookshelf, which then later on in the opening sequence they are scattered on the floor, this is the first thing that we see which can be interoperated as paranormal, this is effective among the audience as it allows the audience to understand what type of horror film the film is also going to be, it also puts the audience on the edge of their seat as they expect more events like the books coming off the bookshelf  to happen and more regularly. Moreover there is a continuous use of low key lighting in the beginning scene when the mum comes down the stairs and when she was putting the books on the shelf, this creates a very gloomy and tense atmosphere which again makes the audience think that something may or may not happen to her.

The use of sound in this opening sequence is very effective in this opening sequence. In example there is a lot of dialogue that suggests different things, for example, when the mum is sitting down looking at the pictures with her son, she tells him that his dad was always very "poor" at keeping photos, this suggests to the audience that something may of happened when he was younger and creates mystery as it makes the audience question why there are no photos of the dad when he was younger. After this scene we see the mum on the phone and she is finding it very hard to talk to the other people down the line and repeatedly says "speak to an agent", this suggests to the audience that the reception is very poor and foreshadows that later on in the film there may come a point where someone will need to call someone in an emergency and the reception is really poor and no help would be recieved, this is effective because it creates a sense of isolation and makes the audience think that something dramatic or important is going to happen in the film. Later on in the opening sequence we see the mum is playing the piano, the effect of this is to draw the attention of the audience away from anything that might jump out at them, it makes the audience ease as the the piano has a very soothing and comforting sound to it. Moreover when the mum is singing whilst playing the piano she sings the lyrics "looking west", when she says this the only thing that is on the west side of her is a baby monitor, this foreshadows that something is going to happen to baby at some point, this is effective amongst the audience as it suggests to them what might happen later on in the scene and it creates a sense or horror and makes the audience fright at what just happened and what has happened to the baby.

Production Plan

My Practical Production Plan 

Storyline:
Our story starts off with a blank screen then fades into a scene of two people sitting on a sofa explaining a traumatic experience to a therapist. This will intrigue the viewer into the film as they would love to find out what the traumatic experience was. Then it cuts to a scene where we will see these two people performing a satanic ritual around a grave. There will be a third person with them, but when the clip changes back to therapy scene, the third person will not appear which suggests that something has happened to the third person and something has happened to the other 2 people. There will also be a clip where the 3 friends are doing a tarrot card session and 3 cards will be received, Lucia will get the 'lovers' card, Max gets the 'death' card and Aaron gets the 'devil' card.

Characters:
Aaron - Jake

Max - Ben

Lydia - Margaret

Lucia - Grace

Aaron will be acting as the main character who gets possessed, Lucia will be the sister of this possessed person, I will be the devil that Aaron stars at whilst the therapist session is going on (although we do not see me in the camera shot) and the 3rd character who supposedly dies and Lydia will be the therapist and tarot card reader too.

Music:
There will be music that will play over the satanic ritual and tarot card reading only, no music over any dialogue scenes. This technique will be used to create suspense and a build up of tension for the rest of the film.

Setting:
The setting is going to be at Aaron's house where the therapy scene is and where the tarot card reading will be. We may also use a graveyard to preform the pretend Satanistic ritual.

Target Audience:

We are aiming our opening sequence at people aged between 16- mid 20's this is because this is the age group that normally tend to watch horror films. We are aiming this production at both genders. The social class that this is aimed at is B - D, this is because people in the social class A do not tend to enjoy these films and people in class E may only be children and will be too young to watch the actual film. Because of this targeted age group the employment of the our audience will be primarily full time education, part time jobs or just starting to do full time work. This is going to be a western film.

Our primary audience is going to be people aged 16-mid 20's, as this is horror films people normally come with friends or boyfriends/girlfriends for the comfort and so that they do not get too scared, so, our secondary audience is the other people that are accompanying the person who wants to see the film. We aim this at a mass audience excluding anyone below the age of 15 but aim it anyone who is above the age of 16 and who love horror films.

Analysis of different Title Sequences

Ginger Snaps is a Horror/Thriller film, Directed by Fawcett, Released in 2000 and starring Emily Perkins, Kathrine Isabelle and Kris Lemche.

This title sequence presents the genre of horror through the use of iconography, throughout the title sequence there are photos and short clips of dead girls suggesting that there is a lot of death as these girls have died or been killed, which reinforces the conventions of horror. Moreover the the use of these photos also has an effect of the audience as it creates a sense of mystery because it makes the audience think of questions such as "who are they" or "what  happened", this hooks the audience and makes them want to watch to the very end of the film to find answers to their questions.

In addition there is also non-diegetic music over the top of the photos that are shown. This creates tension of the very slow tempo of the instruments and the bass in the background which sounds like a heart beating very slowly. Moreover the use of the violins and the minor key that the violin is played in presents the music to be quite mournful as the use of a minor key typically presents the music the sad.


The Avengers is an action/adventure, sci-fi film, Directed by Jeremiah S. Chechik, Released in 1998 and starring Ralph Finnes, Uma Thurman and Sean Connery.

The title sequence presents a gloomy atmosphere through the use of low key lighting and pathetic fallacy, at the start of the title sequence all we can see is darkness and clouds and thunder and lightning. The use of the lightning and the low key lighting suggests that this films narrative is going to be a battle between good and evil, and evil is winning the battle between good vs evil. This is effective on the audience because although we do not see any characters in this title sequence, the use of pathetic fallacy suggests to the audience that there is a villain in the main storyline.

In addition there is unusual non-diegetic music that is played throughout the title sequence, the unusual instruments that are used to play this music builds tension as throughout the title sequence the music gains in tempo and pitch, moreover tension is created through the use of the bass that represents a heartbeat that also increases in tempo.


Batman is an action/adventure film, it is directed by Tim Burton, Released in 1989 and starring Michael Keaton, Jack Nicholson and Kim Basinger.

This title sequence presents the genre of Action/Adventure through the use of music, during the title sequence the music starts of fairly slow but then it increases in tempo and pitch, which reinforces the conventions of Action/Adventure as the use of the fast tempo creates tension and could also illustrate a chase scene. Moreover the genre is also support by the use of low key lighting, this is because the darkness suggests that evil is winning in the battle of good vs evil and the this battle of the good vs evil is a typical convention of Action/Adventure.

The Incredible Hulk is an Action/Adventure, Sci-Fi film, Directed  by Lois Leterrier, Released 2008 and staring Edward Norton, Liv Tyler and Tim Roth

This Title title sequence shows a part of its narrative, this is through the use of Todorov's theory, during the title sequence we see parts where there is person who is in a hospital and is being experimented on, however it is clear that something went wrong and a disruption occurred breaking the equilibrium that was set before this happened. Moreover there is also a fairly clear restoration, this is because of the use of the newspapers and the files that the people have, also the fingerprints we see could all be because they are trying to capture him and restore the equilibrium.

In addition Propp's theory can be applied here as-well because the person that was getting laser eye surgery is being represented as the Villain, however we do not know the whole story so it could mean that he may not be the Villain he might be the Hero. Also we see a woman laying in a hospital bed, she could be the Princess. These two theories apply very well to the Action/Adventure and presents the genre of this film.

The Ward is a Horror/Thriller film, Directed by John Carpenter, Released 201, and starring Amber Heard, Mamie Gummer and Danielle PanaBaker

This title sequence is effective because it creates a scary atmosphere and presents the genre of horror. This is done through the use of music, all through the title sequence there is a woman singing a weird tune, it is sounds like she is crying or screaming or like she is taking her last breaths, this music is very scary and makes the audience feel scared and create tension. The use of pathetic fallacy is also used to suggest there is something evil or negative which makes the audience believe that the people in the photos were murdered, the music and the lightning work to together to try and scare the audience; the music starts to build tension and spooks them then a lightning strike or glass smashing comes in and scares the audience.

Se7en is a Psychological Crime Thriller and is Directed by David Fincher, it was released in 1995 and it stars, Brad Pitt, Morgan Freeman, Gweneth Paltrow and Kevin Spacey

This title sequence is effective because it creates a scary and mysterious atmosphere by using music. The music in the title sequence is very strange and has an increase in tempo as the title sequence moves on. The increase in tempo creates tension and a thrilling atmosphere which makes your heart race. Moreover most of the shots that are used in the title sequence are point of view shots, this has an effect on the viewer because it allows the audience to feel more involved as if they were actually there.

This title sequence is effective because it raises a a lot of questions that the audience think. This is because if the fast pace shots, the shots in the title sequence are very fast and makes the what the person is doing very confusing for the audience and it makes the audience question what he is doing and who they are. The fast pace shots also create a thrilling atmosphere because there are shots of people and some of them are crossed out or coloured out, so as-well as it raising question about what they are doing it also makes the audience think that they could possibly be a murderer and they are hunting down people and killing them. This is also backed up by the use of low key lighting, this creates a very dark and scary atmosphere which suggests that there could be death or a lot of violence involved in the rest of the film.

Preliminary Task

On Monday my group and I filmed our preliminary task, we filmed a short scene and the shots that we took will be edited in our next lesson. Our short scene involved two girls being locked inside a haunted school, we tried to create a sense of tension and horror by using a variety of shots such as close ups and point of view shots. When we come to the stage where we will be editing, we are going to lower the brightness of the shots this is because we are aiming to create a scary and tense atmosphere, we are also going to do this to give the impression that this was filmed in the dark, which suggest they are locked in the school at night time. We also used some other skills and techniques whilst filming:

• Match on Action
• Shot Revers Shot 
• 180 degree rule

We also used other shots such as:

• Point of View
• Low Angle Shot
• Close Up
• Extreme Close Up
• We also used the handheld effect when recording, this involves the cameraman to hold camera without a tripod and running, this is because it gives the effect that its a face pace chase scene, it makes the audience visualize that the person holding the camera is chasing the person in front of them, this supports our genre of horror.       

When it comes to the editing stage of our preliminary task we will be using Adobe Premier to edit our shots, we will use the shots that we filmed on Monday to create our short scene. Moreover during the editing stage we might alter the speed/duration of one of our clips. Also we may include a piece of music over the top of our scenes to give the horror effect, we might get this music from the internet or we might create the music ourselves.                                                                                

This is my animatic of my storyboard. It will last ten shots and a about one minute. The story is based on horror where there is someone who is hiding from the monsters inside the school.

The first project for our media was to create a moodboard for our favourite film genre, i chose to do Horror.

Horror MoodBoard