Rory Giddings

Film Opening Analysis – Insidious (2010)

From the film’s very opening scene, a panning shot is used right at the beginning of the film which allows the audience to establish where the film is taking place, which in this instance, is a traditional suburban home, which also helps the audience to familiarise themselves with the surroundings of a normal house. The panning shot starts in a child's bedroom at night which reinforces the dark/eerie atmosphere by showing the audience the innocence/vulnerability of the boy as suggested by the positioning of him on the screen, placed in the middle of the frame and completely by himself. As the camera continues panning around the child’s bedroom, it shows the audience dark and gloomy surroundings which could emphasise the contrast between good and evil in not just the film, but perhaps this very room as the child is likely to be a key character in what will later unfold. This is suggested by him being the first character the audience is shown.

The camera then zooms into and follows a dark shadow until the audience gets a quick look at a ghostly figure, from which the audience can infer that this character is most likely going to be the main antagonist in the film, as implied by the darkness surrounding the figure and the ghostly/creepy white face which is darkly illuminated by the candle it is holding. After this, the film’s title is suddenly displayed in capitals in a big bold red font which erratically flickers, giving the audience negative connotations of blood and evil/demonic entities, paranormal settings to the viewer. It then cuts to a slow and eerie title sequence in which many different parts of the house are shown, again reinforcing the main setting for the audience. This makes the film much more engaging as they may relate the similarities between their own house and the one shown on screen. Furthermore, non-diegetic sound is constantly used to create a tense atmosphere, such as the use of high pitched violins and sudden tense sound effects which are also included in the opening sequence. Furthermore, shadows are constantly shown throughout the opening scene, which again serves its function in the purpose of creating tension and building up suspense of what could happen next.