Incidious (mise-en-scene in the trailer)

In the Incidious trailer mise-en-scene is used to it’s fullest potential to ensure audiences are engaged.

Through watching the entire trailer, you can see that all the colours seem to be washed down and de-saturated. This makes it seem like the movie is raw and real, as in real-life not everything is saturated and aesthetically pleasing.

Another trope that all horror movies as well as their trailers seem to follow is every scene and frame is coloured with a light blue, the colour blue represents something cold which is something audience members associate with haunted houses and ghosts. In one of the scenes in the trailer there is a shot where the demon is first revealed, it is set in front of a blue wall which shares the connotation of the blue being associated with the horror genre.

The location for this film is again a common trope. The film is set in an old house which is key for horror movies as people associate ghosts living in big old houses. The old houses seem to be a common setting for horror movies as they convey a certain sense of mystery.

On the subject of setting, the props used are also very old fashioned which is a reflection of the setting. Also with old objects and props you can have a good soundscape to go along with it such as creaking sounds.

Due to clothing the characters are wearing we can tell that the film is set during the modern day. Most horror films tend to have modern day people living in old houses, this is because the filmmakers can use their soundscape and location to it’s full potential.

A common shot type that this trailer tends to use quite a lot are close-ups, this shows us how the characters are reacting to the events taking place before them. In close up’s we can see the fine wrinkles on people’s face or a tear beginning to build up in someone’s eye, this shows the audience raw emotions that characters are feeling.

As the trailer progresses the colours seem to get more intense, the blues become a lot more prominent in the scenes they are used in. This brings out the intensity in the trailer and also assists in building suspense to further engage the audience. This is used to leave trailers on a cliff hangers so that the audience will go to their local cinemas and find out what happens next.

In the trailer there is a second antagonist, this second antagonist is red, red gives out the connotations of danger but also of something demonic and hellish. To have a demon being red, tells us via non-verbal communication that this is bad and is demonic.

Overall the Insidious trailer uses connotations of mise-en-scene to become appealing to audiences, this is done through use of location, costume, setting and lighting, it becomes obvious that this is a horror movie.