Mise en-scene in trailers

Mise-En-Scene in trailers

Insidious 1 & Sinister

I am looking at two supernatural film trailers to identify the Mise-en-scene. The two films that I will be refferencing are Insidious (2010) and Sinister (2012).

The mise-en-scene is crucial in thesetrailers because it contributes to how effective the moments of horror are by ensuring that the setting, lighting, costume and props are all creating the intended atmosphere.

In both of the film trailers, at the beginning there is an establishing shot of a family home. This is because the characters are typically a 'normal' family, and showing the horror occurring in such a normal place makes the film appear more realistic and scares the audience more because it suggests that what happens in the film could potentially happen to anyone and anywhere.

To reinforce the 'normality' of the situation we are then introduced to the characters which typically tend to be happy, normal families. In the 3rd Image from the sinister trailer we see the family all sat around a table eating together and in the 4th image from the insidious trailer we see all of the family sitting on the couch together

The costume's that the characters wear also support the normality of the family as they are all dressed very casually and ordinary. By showing the family as ordinary and happy it makes them appear as venerable and victimised later throughout the trailers when their children begin to become affected by the supernatural interference that both families are facing

The two images are from the insidious trailer where in both, the only lighting appears to be coming from the lamps in the room. The lack of natural lighting makes the rooms a lot more gloomy and creates a colder atmosphere. Instead of the audience thinking they have a perfect family and life, it then makes them question what is going to happen next. The darkness is used to create tension and fear when the supernatural incidents begin to occur.

Likewise, in the sinister trailer there is an establishing shot of the house which the film is set in, but instead of natural lighting in the day time, it is now during the night and the shot is a lot darker, creating the same atmosphere as in the Insidious trailer.

At the very last bit of both trailers, the audience are shown a character who appears very quickly with a loud noise, to shock them when they think the trailer is over. In the Insidious trailer, this character is a female wearing black clothes and a black veil. The choice of costume makes her appear threatening, along sider her facial expression with her mouth open, almost smirking at the camera. Before the close up of her face she is shown with her arms out as though she is going to grab the person watching.

In the sinister trailer, there is a close up of the character that we have seen throughout the trailer a few times in the moment of horror. This character is the supernatural character that we expect to be behind the storyline. It is wearing a mask which hides it's real face and is purposely worn to scare the audience.

The props are also used to create fear. In the sinister trailer there are two shots of both an axe and a large knife. This creates the impression that the villain is more professional and knows what they are doing. This creates more fear for the audience because they know that it is going to be violent and intense between the villain and the victims. It also provides an element of uncertainty as to what the outcome of the film will be.

Although in the insidious trailer there are no weapons used, there are other props included which are used to create fear and increase the tension for the viewer. For example at the beginning of the trailer there is a metronome which is ticking throughout creating the atmosphere that something is about to happen and increasing the tension for the viewer. There are also other props such as the use of the torn up bed sheets with blood hand prints on them. These make the audience question the situation and who is behind the supernatural occurrences.