The Last Exorcism Possession Deconstruction

 

 

Mise En Scene

 

• The audience first denote a man. He looks rather curious, as he is shown to be looking around. This may connote that he is looking for someone. Already a disequilibrium is shown.

 

• The audience then denote a door. The door seems to be shuttering by itself. The action here clearly conveys a common convention in supernatural horror films.

• A young girl is denoted above a wardrobe. She seems to be crouched. Her body language signifies a young girl, possessed.

• A medium close up has been used to denote the girl's facial expressions. The audience can see that she is disturbed, frustrated - common facial expressions of possessed characters.
• The shot also enhances the direct address being made with the audience. The girl is looking directly at the audience, inviting them into her possessive character. This effectively fulfils audience pleasures.







• The girl then suddenly attacks the man. The audience denote a cut on his hand.

• The girl then appears to be on the floor, in a crawling stance. Her body language and facial expressions both represent a possessed girl.

 

Lighting

• Low key lighting has been used throughout. The lighting effectively meets audience expectations, as low key lighting is a common convention in a possession film.
• The type of lighting also has negative connotations, suiting the action in the sequence.



Editing

• Straight cuts have been used. The cuts enable the audience to receive a view of the action from several perspectives. This therefore, fulfils audience pleasures.
• A CCTV effect has been applied in some cases. This visual effect is a convention audience would expect to see in a possession film.

 

Sound

• The audience first hear off-screen diegetic sound of breathing. The heavy breathing makes the beginning of the sequence quite intense.
• A off-screen diegetic scream is then heard. This creates an enigma within the audience. Furthermore, the audience are curious to know who was screaming.
• Diegetic dialogue has been used throughout the sequence to add realism.
• When the characters go upstairs to find out if the young girl is okay, non-diegetic sound is used of a violin. The fast tempo creates intensity.
• The audience then hear an on-screen diegetic sound of a door thumping. This is also a common convention of the sub-genre.
• When the door has been opened, silence is used, effectively making this part of the sequence more suspenseful.
• An on-screen diegetic sound of a roar is then heard. The sound signifies a possessed character.

What to use in our opening:

The CCTV effect is rather effective. My group and I could use this for parts of our opening, perhaps when their is fast movement. However, this may decrease the realism of the opening. Towards the end of our opening, our possessed character disappears. Having silence followed by a loud on-screen diegetic roar could be effective in closing our opening, and also making our audience jump with fright.

Creating Cuts

In my group's final piece, we want to able to convey elements of possession. One common convention are cuts. In possession films, cuts or bruises usually tend to appear on the possessed characters.

 



This is an image from "The Devil Inside". Cuts and bruises are denoted in this shot.

 

 

I used an eye shadow pallet, a black and red biro, a red felt tip, a pencil and a piece of paper.

 

I firstly created lines and crosses with a red biro. In some places, a red felt tip can be used to make the cuts look more wounded.

 

 

Secondly, I used a black biro to go over some of the red cuts. This made the cuts look more deep.

 

 

To create bruise effects, I firstly decided to shade on a piece of paper with a pencil. I then smudged my finer on the shaded region and smudged the colour on my arm.

  

 

 

Instead of using pencil, using eye liner can also be effective. I used a navy colour which would connote a bruise.

Evaluation

• Overall, the task worked quite well. However, I think these shots would appear better in naturalistic lighting, rather than artificial lighting. My above images have been taken using artificial lighting, making my skin tone appear differently than in real life.

Mise en Scene and Lighting Checks

To prepare for the filming of our two minute supernatural horror opening I had to do some lighting checks for the garage which is outside of my house and we have decided will be the place we are filming, to look like a basement where the possessed girl is kept. I also had to find some scary looking houses from the outside which we could shoot using an establishing shot right at the beginning to make it look as though that is where it is being shot.

I took these pictures at about 3 o'clock before it got dark, I think this would be a good time to start our filming as in a video it generally looks darker than it actually is, and we still want to be able to see the room and what is happening. Also we can take lots of different shots so we would also get some with it being slightly darker so we can compare them to the lighter ones.

There is some work to do in the garage, we have to put some white paint over the smiley faces that have been drawn on the walls, tidy away some of the clutter that is around the floor and board up the windows to make it seem more closed in and also so that less light gets into the room so it seems more like a basement.

This is the first scary looking house I found which I thought would be good to film at the beginning of our opening, it is only round the corner from my house so would be easy to get footage of and also looks very creepy. It is called 'the long house' it goes back quite a long way, I think people live there but I have never seen anyone go in or come out and it is usually very dark and quiet. I took the picture at about half 6 which I think was a good time as there was still light from lampposts but it was dark so added a scarier effect to the house.

This is the second scary house I looked at for the beginning of our filming, it is also only round the corner of my house so would be easy to get footage of, and it has some distinct features about it that I liked which I thought would stand out for our work, such as the top arch shaped window at the front of the house and how it is shaped it is very slim and goes back quite far. It distinctively stands out from any other house on the street which would work well at fitting the convention for our genre. I also took this picture at about half 6 which I thought was a good time as it looked effectively spooky.

Creating Exorcism Script

Before I wrote the script for the exorcism part of our opening sequence, I decided to research existing exorcisms in film and cinema to acquire ideas of what to include in order to make our opening sequence as gripping and interesting as possible. The first scene I looked at was the exorcism scene from the 1973 horror The Exorcist. Although this film is quite old, it is one of the most well known and critically acclaimed supernatural horror films in history. A exorcism clip from The Exorcist can be viewed below.

• The strong references to religion ("The power of Christ compels you", "The holy spirit compels you") play a prominent role in what the exorcist says.
• These religious references are relevant as the exorcist in our opening sequence was originally going to be a priest, much like Father Lankester Merrin in The Exorcist.
• There is a lot of repetition in what the exorcist says (e.g. "The power of Christ compels you. The power of Christ compels you" etc.)
• Father Lankester Merrin uses a range of tones through his speech which is effective within the exorcism.

During my research into this exorcism scene from The Exorcist, I also looked at the script from the scene (which is available to view online) as I thought it would give me a better understanding of how to lay out a script for an exorcism scene. A screenshot from the website I viewed the script on is below.

Exorcist's script for our opening sequence

EXORCIST

     (sets up camera in the corner of the room)

Camera is on. The date is 16th of December 2013, time is (looks at his watch) 2109. This is being filmed as video evidence for the exorcism of Anna Thurman. 

     (walks over to bed where possessed girl lays) 

The Devil is inside of you. He controls you- you are him. He must relieve himself of your body.

     (shouts) 

Relieve yourself! Relieve yourself! Christ's power defeats you! Repent! 

     (normal tone) 

Relieve yourself, Satan. 

     (shouts again) 

The Lord commands you! God the Holy Spirit commands you! Give way to Christ! Give way to the mystery of Our Lord! Murderer! You are the highest of murderers! You are guilty before God! You are guilty before Christ!

              

Evaluation

• At the beginning of the script, I included the part where the exorcist sets up the camera in the corner of the room as this plays an important part of the sequence. I thought this was effective as it informs the audience more of what is about to take place in the sequence. 
• As the main character of our sequence is a priest, I made sure that most of what was said held very strong religious connotations. I felt that this string use of religious elements were effective in portraying that type of exorcism is taking place. 
• I used a range of dynamic tones within the exorcist's script, using both loud shouting and a "normal tone". I did this through italicised stage directions.

Deconstruction of Existing Amateur Production Logos

In order to acquire ideas and techniques for our own production company logo, I researched existing production company logos created by students whose work is available on YouTube under the username 'lpgsmedia'. The production company logos that I researched were made by sixth form students which I thought was appropriate as the work was created on the same level as we are on now. This means that the logos are made under the same circumstances that we are making our logo under. A screen shot of the 'lpgsmedia' YouTube channel can be viewed below.

The first production company logo I came across on the school's YouTube channel was from an opening sequence called 'The Hanging'. The production company logo from the beginning of the sequence can be viewed below.

• Like our group's opening sequence, this piece is of the horror genre which is made obvious, and is anchored by, the slasher-type imagery and the connotations of the name of the production company. This logo looks as though the main image of the blood smear is a photograph with the name of the production company super-imposed onto the image. 
• The red of the blood (or paint) contrasts well with the white background to draw the attention and focus of the audience to the blood smear. 
• However, if I were creating this production company logo, I would have made the white background black instead as I think it conforms more to the horror genre as it holds more bleak connotations linked with death.
• Similarly, I also believe that the white background holds largely positive connotations of purity, for example, which does not conform to the horror genre.

The second production company logo I came across on the school's YouTube channel was from an opening sequence called 'Kat Whiskers'. The production company logo from the beginning of the sequence can be viewed below.

• This production company logo features, I assume, a secondary piece of black and white footage of a leopard opening its eyes. The footage is in black and white which adds a certain element of mystery to the footage of the leopard.
• The fact that the production company is called 'Evolution Productions' ties in well with the footage of the leopard as they both hold connotations of nature.
• The fact that there is no sound in the clip creates the stealth-like manner of a leopard in its movements. This again adds to the mystery of the footage and clip in general. 

Editing + Bone clicking

For my practical I decided to look at possession, but in particular, the unnatural bone clicking that seems to occur frequently during this sub-genre of horror. I took inspiration from 'The Devil Inside' when a woman clicks her bones and seems to pop out of her natural body, implying possession. It also seems to 'freak' the audience out slightly as it seems like amazing special effects have been used. However, I think the true horror is down to the non-diegetic sound they use to create an illusion.

And also here, from about 1.06, in The Last Exorcism. The sudden movement with the non-diegetic sound makes a huge impact and is sure to make the audience jump.

From this I started experimenting with Final Cut Pro after having a lesson from Jack, who has produced excellent trailers and other sequences. I firstly filmed my friend Ella in the drama studio as she moved her arms in ways that might make clicking sounds for a possessed person. I went on freeSFX.co.uk (pictured below) and searched for breaking bones sounds. I also ended up using a 'snapping a bread stick' sound. After downloading these, I imported them to my project on FCP. I muted the sound on the original footage and put in the breaking noises where appropriate. It could be difficult trying to put in the sounds at exactly the right place, but after learning how to zoom and use FCP properly, it became simpler as I went along. I put the effect of a video camera over it as well as 'Bad TV', which is another effect. I altered some of the colours slightly, just to make it seem like it was a 'found footage' style sequence, with a girl cracking her bones. 

This was my first result:

After this first attempt, I decided to use other footage to see if I could sync the sound any better. I also altered the volume of the different cracks...

I think that firstly, her movement seemed scarier and more unnatural, compared to the first video. Also, the different volumes and variation in breaking sounds also made it seem more realistic and so my second attempt was generally better than the first. If I were to re-do this, I'd film in a better location to add to the horror part of the genre. However, this was an initial attempt to try and see if I could use Final Cut Pro to edit sound and visuals. I'd definitely like to try and make some of my own breaking sounds and play around further with mise en scene to try and create a really terrifying 'bone cracking' scene.

Production Company Practical

 

• The original video was filmed by Jake using a type writer he owns.
• We decided as a group to use the name 'Fright Films' as it has catchy alliteration and is also short and appropriate for genre.
• Jake gave us the video, and we cut the clip so it was 5 seconds long and less shaky.

• We then sped up the clip x2 so it was then 2.5 seconds long.
• We trialled many different sounds that had a spooky edge to compliment the clip.
• We decided on two different sounds which we layered on top of each other, after lowering the volume of the original clip.

This is an initial result.

  After having a lesson in Final Cut pro with Jack, we managed to re-do our production company sequence with a better speed and then edited it further in iMovie, here are the results:   Final cut pro:

This is how we changed the speed, instead of only have x2, there was an option to drag the speed so we slightly increased it.

On iMovie, we re-added the sound.

Evaluation

Overall we are pleased with the finished product as it looks professional. To start with we had trouble mastering the technical side of iMovie as we had few skills but we have managed to develop them in order to prepare us for when we come to edit the rest of our opening. Perhaps if iMovie allowed different speed levels below x2 we would be happier with the result as we wanted it to be slightly slower for effect, but still faster than the original. We could have also played around with more visual effects to add to the clip but at the same time we did not want to decrease the quality.

Then using Final Cut Pro, we managed to solve this speed problem and then go back to iMovie to re-add the sounds.

 
 

Research Into Existing Production Companies

For my groups' opening, we need to create a production title. Below, are a few production titles I have analysed, particularly focusing on ones which have been manipulated in supernatural horror films.

 

This is the original "Warner Brothers" production title.

 

• This production title has been used in "The Conjuring".
• Editing has been applied.
• The black, gloomy background connotes the sub-genre, supernatural horror.
• This is because black can signify ghosts, possession etc. 

This is the original "Lionsgate" production title. 

• This production title has been used in "The Possession".
• A red colour background has been used.
• The colour visually signifies evilness.
• Light is visible in the image, which may connote a sign of hope. Furthermore, in possession films, there is always hope  for an exorcist resolving the problem. 
• Note how "Lionsgate" itself has been changed to silver. The silver creates a contrast with the background, enhancing the title even further.

This is the original "Columbia" production title.

• This is from "The Grudge 2".
• The original "Columbia" production title has been edited to signify a supernatural horror.
• This has been achieved by replacing "Columbia" with "The Grudge 2".
• The icon has also been manipulated. The woman's costume has been changed to something audience would expect to see in a supernatural horror film. 
• She has also been given long black hair, connoting a supernatural character.

The Possession Opening Deconstruction

Mise En Scene

• The opening first shows the production company, 'Lionsgate'. The original colour scheme has been manipulated into connoting evilness. This relates to the genre.

• The audience then denote another film production company, perhaps synergised with 'Lionsgate' in making the film. The company also relates to the genre, more specifically the sub-genre, supernatural horror (as seen through 'ghost')

• The title is then denoted, 'The Possession'. Its white font creates a juxtaposition with the black background, connoting possession.



• The phrase "The following is based on a true story' is displayed, raising audience expectations. 

• A close up shot is denoted of an old woman. The audience can see she scared, through her facial expressions. High key lighting is used which sets a pleasing atmosphere . However, the audience identify something unusual is happening from the woman's terrified facial expressions, and so a disequilibrium is shown.

• A box is denoted. From hearing unusual sounds, an enigma is raised. The audience may wonder what this box is. 

• The audience then denote the woman's face beginning to deform. This conforms conventions audience expect to see in a supernatural horror/possession film - possessive movement.

•  The woman begins to show unusual possessive body movement, meeting audience expectations, as this is also a common convention. A low angle shot is used to focus the audiences' attention towards her level.

• A high angle shot is used to denote the woman's demonic face. The significance of the angle could either be, to signify the demonic force being above her, or to allow the audience to see her how they would do in a real life situation.

• The woman is thrown backwards, also meeting a common convention.

Camera Movement

• A steadi cam is used at the beginning of the sequence, slowly moving into the room. A woman is denoted, and so the camera movement may signify a supernatural figure spying on the woman.
• A zoom is used to zoom into the woman's face. This allows the audience to examine her facial expressions. The audience note that she is scared.
• A zoom is then used to focus on the box, suggesting that this box is a source of possession.

Sound

• Non-diegetic sound is used of a piano. The piano is slow, carrying dismal connotations. Therefore, an equilibrium is not represented, giving the audience a clue as to what type of opening to expect.
• The audience hear off-screen diegetic dialogue, one quite sinister. The sound may be from a demonic force.
• Once the audience denote the strange box, and the mysterious voice is still being heard, the audience assume the sound is coming from the box.
• An on-screen diegetic sound of a thump is heard (from the box). The audience as a result, know the box is a source of possession, helping to build their understand of the narrative. The thump is quite sudden, fulfilling audience pleasures.  
•  The sound of the clock ticking is synchronous to the movement denoted, building realism.
• The on-screen diegetic sound of the woman screaming and her bones breaking builds heavily on the climax.