Creating Possessed Characters

For my groups' final piece, we want to represent a possessed character, ideally a young girl. To help carry out my practical, I have looked at possessed characters from other films as a source of inspiration. Below are some examples.

The Grudge

The Devil Inside

The Ring


As my group and I have decided to show an opening with a regular child becoming possessed, we thought it would be better to not reveal a possessed character similar to the one in 'The Grudge'. This is because the use of white make-up, may connote a supernatural character from the dead, rather than a possessed one. Below are shots I have taken to represent possessed characters.

• In supernatural horror films, possessed victims may sometimes make strange eye movement, such as eyes being rolled above. The eye movement helps to show possession, as the look has negative, scary connotations.

The use of under lighting helps build possession further. The lighting connotes evilness.

Our possessed character is meant to be a young girl. I took camera shots of my sister, wearing bright coloured night wear. The use of colour helped to show innocence, something an audience normally associate with young girls in supernatural horrors. To represent actual possession, I thought the idea of her hair being rested over her face was appropriate.

The high angle helps to portray a young girl, with long hair falling over her face.

 To also portray possession, I thought the idea of eyes being made bigger helped.

Low angle shots help to show the possessed characters to be dominant.

A direct address can be used to invite audience into the possession within the victim.
This therefore, fills audience pleasures.

Usually the possessed are seen to be screaming, throwing themselves around. To show this, my sister opened her mouth wide, which implied she was screaming in the camera shot. To represent possession, she also had her eyes enlarged.

 Evaluation - Strengths And Weaknesses

• Overall, the task was simple in a way that I could form possessed characters without the use of editing, such as Photoshop.
• However, I could have thought about costume even further. For young girls, a nighty would be more ideal, as they are commonly seen in supernatural horror films. Therefore, I could have made use of costume more, in order to develop my representations of possessed characters.