The Rite Deconstruction

I found a scene from 'The Rite' to deconstruct as we are looking at the idea of possession for when we make our supernatural film opening. Also after we had completed our media survey many people chose the option of having a religious element in our opening or a religious prop to be used e.g. a bible or a cross. The Rite is a religious based film featuring possession so I thought it would be a good idea to look at it in particular to get an idea of how we could use religious elements within our own work effectively. This is the scene I chose to look at:

 

The scene begins with a man sitting down looking quite distressed, his skin is an unnatural looking colour and he seems very agitated. There is another man standing up opposite him holding what looks like some sort of cross symbol in his hand, he says "in the name of Jesus Christ I command you speak your name" he is talking very powerfully, this appears to be some kind of exorcism. Low key lighting has been used and it looks as though they are in a very dark and empty room. The camera is using a panning shot, circling continuously around the pair of them so we get a full view of what is happening. As well as the diegetic noise of the man speaking there is also low non-diegetic music playing in the background.

An extreme close up shot is used showing a metal cross symbol hanging from somewhere, this image is only on for a second but it is very effective to show us that religion is playing a key part in this scene and is a big part of the exorcism that is taking place. The man who was talking originally is continuously repeating "I command you give me your name", his voice is becoming more and more aggressive as it continues and you hear it in the background of this cross being shown. There is still non-diegetic sound being played in the background but it is very low and quiet as more emphasis is being put on the voice of the man.

We are then shown for the first time a full close up shot of the possessed mans face. His skin is an unnatural red colour and his veins are clearly shown through his skin, his eyes also clearly show that he is not in a natural state at that moment. The man next to him continues to shout at him holding the cross directly at his face "give me your name" he is becoming more aggressive with his shouting as it continues, and the non-diegetic music becomes louder.

After the build up of him continuously shouting at the possessed man and getting no response he eventually sits up from his possession and shouts loudly, we cannot clearly hear what he is shouting but he sounds as though he is in some kind of pain. He's eyes roll backwards as he struggles in his seat and throws his head backwards whilst he screams. Whilst that is happening straight cut edits speed up and begin to switch to different images around the room that have some reference to religion, a large wooden cross is shown shaking as if the noise is having an impact upon it, it is brought to the audiences attention that they are in a place of religion.