Conventions of a Horror Thriller Opening

Insidious

Within a thriller opening there are four different conventions that are featured. They are storylines, titles, music and camera angles. Within the different types of thrillers, they will be adapted to suit the type of thriller that is being featured. Within this blog I will be talking about the conventions of a horror thriller opening. Within this blog I will be analysing the film opening of 'Insidious'.

Within the opening of 'Insidious' music plays a huge part in order to create the feel that is intended. At the beginning of the film opening there is low tone build up music which stays at a steady and gradual pace within the scene as the camera pans across a room. At 0.52 seconds within this scene the music then changes very suddenly and dramatically to a sharp and high pitch violin which is playing at a very fast pace. This instantly creates a lot more intensity within the scene as it makes you wonder what the music is building up to. As this begins to create to suspense, it is hard to see but there is a change with the setting in the room. It is shown that there is a shadow in the window. This is clear to see and is obvious that this influences the change in music but the whole lighting of the room is still very dark which gives the scene more of an intense feel because it is a shadow of someone standing outside a young boys window in the middle of the night. The music then builds up as the camera approaches the window and the figure standing outside the window moves away in the right direction. The speed of the music picks up and gets faster and faster. Gradually, as the camera

is panning off to the right, the music slows down and it quietens. As the camera turns right and shows the face of a very scary old woman, the music stops altogether. Then as the picture of the old woman fades away, the title of the film appears very quick and bold, accompanied by the same high pitched screeching violin as previous except it is a lot louder, almost intending to make the audience jump. This then foreshadows the rest of the film, showing that it's going to be jumpy and scary, and that the old woman is going to be a significant figure within the film.

Another convention of a thriller opening is the storyline. Within this opening the storyline foreshadows the storyline of the main film. This is down by showing a boy asleep in bed which is where in the main film he becomes within a comatose state. The camera then pans along the hallway where the old woman is seen standing. Within the main film, she is the reason as to why the boy wend up within this comatose state so this then again links to the foreshadowing. The storyline then allows the audience to se that from the off, the film is going to be very scary. This then allows for suspense to see if the rest of the film is as good as the opening and intrigues people into wanting know why the boy is in bed and why/who the old woman is.

Titles are also another convention of a thriller  opening. Within this

opening scene, there is a very small amount of title, but there is just enough for it to be effective. The first title you see is the name of the  director of the film James Wan. This is shown on the only light in the whole of the opening scene. This is then rotated around to reveal that is on the lamp shade of the light in the little boy's room. The rotation can have a connotation of how peoples heads spin and rotate 180 degrees when they are possessed by demons; the same way that the lamp rotates 180 degrees. Another section of the scene that contains titles is the final few seconds of the scene where the music builds up to reveal that title of the film 'Insidious' in blood red lettering. The bold, bright appearance of the titles shows that the film is something to be feared, with the colour red representing danger, anger and blood (pictured above). Furthermore, the font of the title is somewhat spiked. This can show some sort of foreshadowing to the spiked teeth that are seen within the mouth of the 'red demon' which terrorises the life of the family within the film.

The final of the four conventions of a thriller opening are camera angles. Camera angles within an opening are very important because they shape the impression that they are trying to give and it point your focus in the direction that they want you to look. This is seen within the Insidious opening at the beginning when there is a close up of the lampshade of the young boys light in his bedroom (pictured above). This then makes you focus and realise on the fact that as I previously explained, this light is the only light within the whole scene and setting of this opening. The next camera angle to be effectively used is the long shot that is shown of the boy laying in bed asleep. This shows the mise-en-scene that emphasises that it is a young boy because you can see he has colourful bed sheets. This camera angle also makes it obvious that he is the focus of the film because he is the only thing within the shot that is shown as colourful whilst everything else is dark. Furthermore, this is emphasised because he is in the centre of the shot. As the camera then pans away from the boy, there are close-ups

shown of his lava lamp and various other toys which again, places the emphasis on the fact that he is a young boy. Further on, there is a 180 degree rule of the living room which shows a figure standing at one of the window. As the camera continues on it's path through the house, the figure slowly walks away as the camera gets closer to the window. This shows that there is something there to focus on, and leaves the audience wondering what the figure is. The camera shot all the way through the house is a P-O-V (point of view) shot which shows what it would be like if the audience were a person walking through the house themselves. This allows the audience to get into the film better and feel more involved because they are within the film. As the camera is being walked through the house it takes a turn to the right once the figure has moved away from the window. The turn to the right from the camera shot reveals a long shot of a dark hallway with only a small amount of lighting of which comes from a candle. This candle is seen to be held by the old woman. This is only shown to the audience as the camera gets closer and closer to the old woman at the end of the hall. The close up of the old women's face reveals how scary she is and that she is quite obviously going to be a big part within the film. As the face of the old woman fades, the title 'Insidious' is shown on the screen. The titles are seen to flicker like candle light which refers back to the previous close up of the old woman holding the candle. Furthermore, the editing of the flicker can make the audience feel rather scared because if you were in a house that you knew to be haunted with just a candle light, it would be very scary.