Editing Deconstruction - Insidious

I decided to look at Insidious and deconstruct it with regards to editing. After watching the opening scene, the techniques which are used throughout are very similar. The main trends I noticed were:

• steadicam
• track
• zoom

One of the first shots in the opening is of a lampshade in a dark room. The camera rotates 180 degrees, so that the lampshade is the correct way up, suspended from the ceiling. During the rotation, the lampshade stays in a central position of the frame. The title also fades down into the shot saying 'A JAMES WAN FILM', where the 'A' and 'FILM' are in white against the black background and the name is on the lampshade and stays there during the rotation. It then fades out from the centre of the word.

When the lampshade is the right way up, the protagonists room is lit up enough for the audience to see. Immediately the camera tracks down, in a south westerly direction, revealing the young boy asleep in his bed, until the point where the camera is in line with the child.

The camera then tracks to the right, focusing on no object in particular, establishing the scene of the bedroom. Although it is a steadicam, there is still a sense of handheld camera within the opening, as the shots are smooth but travel between rooms in a way that looks like human exploration.

After the camera leaves the child's bedroom, it zooms and focuses on a headstone like figure in another dark room. It then immediately tracks left, highlighting more of the house. Then it zooms and tracks at the same time, drawing the focus to different objects and areas in the room, usually the most shadowed area, increasing the focus which the audience are needing to give and therefore adding a sense of tension and suspense. The fast tracking gives an uneasy feel to the opening, giving the audience an idea of what the genre of the film is and what kind of themes are going to be present within the film. 

There is a slight flicker over the title, so that the red changes shade slightly but constantly, adding depth and a more 3D effect to the title. The lack of colour in the opening is juxtaposed by the bright red of the title, although at the same time, the colour has connotations of blood and death.

Overall, the editing in this opening is very smooth but at the same time quite fast paced. This makes the audience have a sense of unease as the camera is moving too fast in a low lit house to focus on specific objects, suggesting there are a lot of secrets hidden in the unknown. This editing is very effective for this film and the genre because before the film has even began the audience are feel tense about what is to come.

Below is the opening scene from Insidious:

Deconstruction of Insidious

Deconstruction of Insidious - Psychological Horror

I first started by researching into popular psychological horrors and then chose to do Insidious, as it conformed to a number of the conventions of the genre. The conventions of a film in this genre are listed below: 

• Setting is usually in big houses, woodland, school, warehouse, hospital
• Weapons are not usually physical weapons
• Use of shadows/ silhouettes
• Usually contrapuntal sound
• Dark clothing
• Use of low key lighting
• Usually use flashbacks
• Victims are usually a 'Normal Family'
• Editing techniques include black and white or sepia effect
• Editing usually involves 'flickering' in the opening sequence

The first scene in the opening sequence is of a young boy in his bedroom at night. This conforms to many of the common conventions of a psychological horror, as the setting is in a house, and his room is decorated as you would expect a young boy's room to look. The mise-en-scene all conforms to the child's age and so there is nothing out of place in the room. The use of low key lighting adds to the effect of the genre as there are many sections of the room which are black and so cannot be identified. This causes the audience to become unnerved of the unknown.

This shot of what looks like a hallway also conforms to the conventions. The low key lighting and the use of the one lamp to light up the room suggests to the audience that there are things lurking in the darkness which cannot be seen. The setting of a normal house also adds to the effectiveness and realism as the audience can relate to being situated in these settings. The use of the silhouette adds to the eerie atmosphere of the scene, as the window of the left has shadows of an unidentifiable nature which juxtaposes the shadow on the right which is clear and can instantly be detected.  

The typography used for the title of the film, INSIDIOUS, is written in a deep crimson red colour which connotes danger, and specifically blood. The font used also conforms to the idea of danger as the edges are sharp and threatening as serif is used. The title is used to highlight the ideas of the film, so the font and colour portrays jeopardy within the film narrative. The black background connotes death which is also a key theme of horror films. The contrast between the red writing and the black background creates a sinister look and identifies the film as a horror.

The use of a low angle long shot of the house establishes the setting for the audience. This creates realism as the house is an ordinary setting which is the natural environment for the audience. The use of a low angle shot makes the house look much larger than it is which can cause the audience to feel vulnerable and have a sense of being lost. Editing the scene in black and white makes the scene creepier than it would be in colour. Also, the edges of the frame have been faded so they are darker than the rest of the shot. This creates  a frightening portrayal of a normal family setting, which conforms to the psychological horror conventions.

In this scene, the black and white effect is used which creates a mysterious shot of what are generally seen as normal items. The mise-en-scene of children's toys conforms to the common conventions of normalcy within the psychological horror genre. Using childhood toys within the opening sequence not only highlights the presence of children within the film, it also represents them as vulnerable and innocent. 

One of the conclusive scenes in the opening sequence is a photo frame with a picture of a family in it. This conforms to common conventions of psychological horror where the antagonist victimises an ordinary and 'normal' family. This is done to add to the realism and frighten the audience as it could happen to them too. The close up of the photo frame emphasises the normalcy of the victims and also shows the audience that these are the characters which are going to be targeted.

Full opening to Insidious: