1. Analysis of the ‘Insidious’ trailer
The film trailer that you can see above promotes a horror movie called ‘Insidious’, which is a film
belonging to the supernatural sub-genre. The reason why I have decided to analyse this trailer is
because I am also going to produce a film trailer of a supernatural sub-genre. Furthermore, I feel
that it is really effective in promoting this horror film, through its use of appropriate and effective
horror iconography and general & technical codes and conventions.
Throughout the trailer the audience are constantly reminded of the genre and sub-genre that this
film is promoting. This is achieved through the use of appropriate codes and conventions, both
general and technical. The iconography used within the trailer ‘Insidious’ includes horrific imagery
ofthe demonic faces and silhouettes that haunts the family and eventually possess the little boy,
furthermore, the use amplified diegetic sound within the trailer makes it look even scarier. Those
conventions will allow the film to appeal to the target audience as they would be excited to watch
the scary scenes, especially where the sound is used exceptionally well. Furthermore, in this trailer
the audience are also presented with a possessed child, which seems to be common among this subgenre. This will also appeal to the target audience, as they would find it terrifying to know that
someone as pure and innocent as child could get possessed and become the source of evil. Another
important thing that signals the supernatural sub-genre of the film are the feature of ghost hunters
and ghost hunting equipment, who are there to help the family to get rid of whoever it is that s
haunting them. This seems to be a common convention among the supernatural horror films. In
addition to that the sub-genre of the film is also signalled to the audience through the use of
appropriate mise-en-scene that is presented to them. It is very common for the scene to be set in an
isolated/suburban location and ‘Insidious’ is no exception. The reason why this setting seems to be
common among the supernatural sub-genre is due to the fact that the isolated locations means that
there is no help available when the evil strikes, forcing the characters to fight it themselves.
Non-diegetic text is used very effectively within the ‘Insidious’ trailer. The trailer begins with a green
rating screen, which is a very common trailer convention. It straight away signals to the audience
that it is a 13+ film, therefore, suggesting to them that the film will be not too scary, thus giving
people reassurance and encouraging them to go and watch the film. The audience are then
presented with the company logo, which is also an effective way to persuade the audience to watch
the film, as the fact that the big institution has produced this film will give the film further credibility.
Those two screens seem to appear commonly at the start of film trailers, one after, another, and
‘Insidious’ trailer does follow that convention. The next non-diegetic text that the audience are
presented with is the title of the film. This is quite unusual and it’s a sign of breaking off a typical
trailer convention that states that the name of the film should be shown at the very end of it. The
title of the film is then shown repeatedly throughout the trailer, which could be seen as a good way
to familiarise the audience with the title and really make it stick in their heads. Furthermore, the
repeated feature of the title also acts as replacement for any sort of straps, which could have
explained the narrative of the film. Once again this can be seen as a good strategy to make the
audience feel curious and, therefore, luring the audience in to go and watch the film in order to find
out. . References to other successful horror films are also very among supernatural films, and the
‘Insidious’ trailer is no exception. Closer to the start of the trailer the audience are presented with
the following non-diegetic text: “From the makers of Paranormal Activity and Saw”. This will make
the film more appealing for those within the audience who have seen or heard of these films and

2. know how enjoyable and scary they are. Finally at the very end of the trailer the audience are able to
see the film title for the one last time, before they are presented with the release date and
institutional information. By that point the audience would have been already persuaded to watch a
film so, therefore, the next thing that they would want to find out is the release date.
The narrative structure of ‘Insidious’ trailer follows the narrative convention of film trailers in
general. The trailer has a slower start as the audience are presented with were the film is going to be
set and the characters equilibrium i.e. the audience can see a happy family who are absorbed by
their every day life. However, then the audience are made aware of a disruption to this normality by
presenting a shot of a little boy falling from the ladder, which creates the audience intrigue and
make them wonder what will then happen to the boy. This is also when the trailer starts to pick up
pace, showing the characters reaction to the disruption. A fast montage of edits then follows
showing the horrific imagery of the demonic figures haunting the family and the little boy, which
creates tension and builds up the audiences excitement, as they would want to find out what would
happen to the family in the end and would the boy eventually get possessed by that demonic figure
that follows him. At the very end of the film this, however, stops and the audience are presented
with the film title, which is then followed by a sing of the demonic figure coming straight at the
camera, giving the audience the last injection of horror, before they are presented with the
institutional information. With regards to Todorov’s narrative structure, as with all film trailers, the
‘Insidious’ trailer does not complete all stages of the structure; the audience see as far as the
character’s reaction to the disruption. This makes sense, or course, as the audience will not want to
see the repair or new equilibrium as this would spoil the ending of the film.
The representation of characters within the trailer matches the narrative of the film very well. For
example, the children are presented as very pure, innocent and week character, who are unable to
fight the evil and, therefore, they are the ones who begun to get haunted first and, consequently,
making their families very worried and scared. This could be especially seen in a shot where the child
is laying in bed and a demonic figure is standing next to him or when the child is lying in the middle
of the room that has been wrecked and there is blood hand prints on the sheets. When it comes to
the representation of females within the trailer, the audience are able to realise that they seem to
be represented as very caring and determine characters, who even during stressful situation are
prepared to fight and stay strong for the ones they love. Yet even though they might be presented as
very determine character, their weakness is also shown, especially through the worried and scared
facial expression. Furthermore, the older female character seem to be presented as a very wise
woman who knows what she is talking about, which once again reinforces the idea of women to be
presented as very morally strong characters. Male characters, on the other hand, are also presented
as very clever characters, who know exactly what they are doing; they are also presented as very
strong characters, who are not easily scared.
The use of the camera within the trailer is also very effective in creating meaning. The trailer
begins with a medium close-up shot of the protagonist, which is quite unusual for a trailer since
it usually, begins with an establishing shot of the location where the film is going to be set,
which is a sign of breaking off the general trailer conventions. However, this can be seen as an
effective way to inform the audience that this charter would play an important role within the
trailer and who is probably one of the protagonists. Furthermore, this shot is then closely
followed by an establishing shot of the huge house where the film will be set, which seems to be

3. popular among supernatural horror films. The audience are then presented with a number of
medium and long shots, which introduce the main character and their equilibrium. After that
the audience are presented with a long low angle shot of a boy falling from the ladder; the use
of the low angle here creates the feel that the boy is falling from higher height than he actually
is. The effective use of the camera and the colours here enables the audience to guess that this
is a breaking point within the trailer, which would cause the disruption to characters
equilibrium. The tension is then created through the use of medium and long shots, which show
to the audience how characters get more and more aware of the evil presence within their
house that is haunting them (for example, when the female is walking into the room where she
sees a rocking horse rocking by itself), signalling to the audience that the main action is about to
take place. After that the trailer really starts to pick up pace and a fast montage of quick edits
then follows, where the audience are presented with a number of different shots that help to
explain the narrative of the film even further. For example, the audience are told that it is not
the house that is haunted but the protagonist’s son. During the fast montage the audience are
also finally shown of the face of a demon that haunts them.
Within the trailer, mise-en-scene is used very effectively to set the atmosphere. As I have mentioned
before the film is set in a quite and isolated location, which mean that when the characters
equilibrium is destroyed they will find it difficult to reach help. Furthermore, the fact that the main
action will take place in the house is quite ironic since people usually consider their homes as a
safest place to be in. The house also looks like a newly build house, which is a clear sight that the
film is breaking the convention that a demonic spirit can only exist in very old Victorian style houses.
This would scarier the audience even more, since they would come to realise that even though their
house might be new it is still possible that it could be haunted. However, despite all that, the choice
of the house is typical as it is relatively large, detached and is located in a suburban environment and
it has an attic. The room within the house are always well lit, revealing just how huge they are. The
fact that the trailer is mostly set during the day or an early evening, is an another clear sign that the
film is breaking another supernatural horror film conventions, as usually those types of films are set
during the night or when its dark. However, this might scare the audience even more, as they might
realise that even during the day they are not safe in the house. Furthermore, this idea of the
terrifying events happening during the day makes the film appear more realistic, since the audience
wouldn’t know what to expect as appose to if the events were happening during the night like in any
other horror film. Throughout the trailer lighting was also used in a quite unusual way i.e. the trailer
was mainly dominated by ambient lighting. This concept once again made the film look very realistic
and, therefore, much more scarier. Furthermore, due to the use of the ambient light the audience
are constantly able to see the characters facial expression. Even neared the end of the trailer, during
the fast montage, where the there lighting gets darker, the characters facial expression are still very
visible. The use of the body language and facial expression was used very effectively within the
trailer to create meaning and set the atmosphere for the film. At the beginning of the trailer the
characters body language is very relaxed, while their facial expression stays cheerful. For example,
when the whole family is sitting on the sofa their body language seem to be relaxed and they all are
laughing and are happy. As a result of that, the audience are able to conclude that they are just an
ordinary family who are very much happy with their life and where they are at. However, when the
protagonists child falls from the ladder, the whole atmosphere changes, which could be seen in the

4. body language and facial expression of the characters. After that scene the audience are able to see
more tension in characters body, thus showing them that something must be wrong. This could be
seen through worrying and scared facial expression. For example, when a female protagonist walks
through the door to find a rocking horse moving by itself, her body language looks tense and
through her facial expression the audience are able to she is scared and confused. Closer to the end
of the trailer, just before the sting, the audience are presented with looks of terror on characters
face as they witness the demonic figures that haunt them. This creates excitement and anticipation
for the audience, persuading them to go and watch the film so that they could find out whether or
not the characters have managed to get disposed of those demonic figures. And finally, when it
comes to costume and make-up, I could say that it was chosen effectively to set the appropriate
mood for the film. For example, all of the characters are wearing simple modern clothes, such as tshirt, jeans and trainers, which makes the film look realistic and almost gives it a feel as if the actions
within the film are happening in real life. This is an effective strategy to scare the audience as they
would realise that even though you might live an ordinary life and look just like anybody else, you
can still be haunted by demonic spirits. The use of costume and makeup on the demonic figure is
also very effective, as his face is red and black and his eyes a red. The effective combination of red
and black is vey symbolic as his face almost looks like the face of the devil, which instantly makes the
audience feel terrified.
Another way through which the mood of the film was set and the fear, anticipation and excitement
in the audience was created, is through the use of effective and appropriate sound and clever
editing. The trailer begins with a very sinister non-diegetic sound, which straight away sets the
sinister mood of the film, encouraging the audience to carry on watching. The next sound that the
audience hear is a sound of pendulum ticking, which can be then heard for a significant amount of
time throughout the trailer with exaggerated echo added on to each tick creating a sinister
atmosphere. Along this the audience are presented with a number of establishing shots showing the
stock location and the characters equilibrium, the audience can also hear a happy dialogue between
the character, reflecting their good mood. This is quite ironic since the sound of the pendulum
ticking can still be heard on the background, straight informing the audience that the characters
horrible fate has been already decided. The next thing that the audience can hear is an amplified
sound of the ladder breaking and a boy falling from the ladder, which straight away indicates to the
audience that this is a breaking point within the trailer. For the next part of the trailer the audience
are presented with lots of cuts and some fade ins that feature the characters who are getting aware
that something or someone must be haunting them , during this section the diegetic sound is also
seems amplified, which can be seen as an effective way to add on emphasis to certain things. For
example, when the female protagonist is walking through the door the sound of rocking horse
rocking is amplified making it sound more chilly and nerve-racking. Another example is when the
protagonist hears a male’s voice through a baby radio, yet there is no one in baby’s room except for
the child. In the meantime the non-diegetic sinister sound on the background continues, which is a
good way to keep the audience tense and scared. Closer to the end of the trailer the audience are
presented with loads of quick cuts, which feature horrific imagery and the characters despair. During
the fast montage there is a voice of female character who says that she wants to leave this house,
thus showing to the audience her despair and how scared she is, which in turn build up audiences
excitement and gets their adrenaline running. Throughout the fast montage the audience can also
hear the sinister non-diegetic sound playing on the background, which adds to the scare factor of

5. the audience. However, closer to the end of the trailer, for a moment, every single sound seem to
stop and the quick montage also come to an end, the only thing that the audience are presented
with is a dark long corridor. Then the audience are once again able to hear the sound that they heard
at the beginning of pendulum ticking, which once again results in tension building up. The audience
can also hear a voice over of a woman saying that it is not the house that is haunted, but a
protagonist child, thus confirming to us that it all started when the boy fell from the ladder. His is
then followed by another, even quicker montage of shots of horrific imagery, followed by a very loud
non-diegetic sinister sound that gives that last bit of injection of horror to the audience.
Overall, I believe that the ‘Insidious’ trailer is very effective in luring in the audience and encouraging
them to go and watch the film. The reason why I think so is due to the fact that the trailer does
follow the general supernatural horror conventions, the sound is used very well and it is very
cleverly synchronised with the editing. There is also evidence of horrific imagery that made the
audience feel scared but at the same time excited. One thing that especially inspired me in the
trailer is the effective use of lighting. I have come to realise that even if within the trailer only the
ambient light is used, the trailer can still look very scary plus it adds a sense of realism to it as well.
With this in mind, I will make sure that in our trailer the lighting is also used very effectively.