Deconstruction On Excorcism Scene In The Possession

Mise En Scene (Including Camera Movement)

• The sequence first denotes a medium close up of an Exorcist at a low angle shot. The low angle makes the Exorcist seem quite dominant.
• The audience can identify the man is an Exorcist, as seen through certain props within the mise en scene, such as the bible. Artificial lighting has made this visible.

• The camera pans showing the Exorcist repeating "Abyzou" meaning "female demon", whilst moving his body forwards and backwards. His body language notes the audience that the exorcism has begun.

• A long shot is displayed of a group hugging each other, connoting that they are the affected ones in the sequence.

• The father's leg comes down as well as his hand. The camera zooms into his hand which captures odd figure movement. The father's movement signifies that he is perhaps possessed, and therefore the audience understand that the exorcism is being performed on him.

• The Exorcist begins to shout "Abyzou". The room starts to become windy, causing objects to fly around. This may connote that the exorcism is working.

• A medium close up shot shows the father' eyes popping out. His mouth opens and it seems as though he is choking on something. He then suddenly gets thrown against a wall. The strange eye movement signifies he is possessed.

• The lights start to flicker, leaving low-key lighting present. The switch to low-key lighting has negative connotations which could suggest that something bad is going to happen such as Abyzou actually revealing herself. However because the lighting does switch back to high-key lighting, this could connote that actually something good is going to happen i.e. the exorcism being complete.

• A medium close up displays a hand appearing out of the father's mouth, connoting the demon of Abyzou being awoken.

• A low angle shot denotes a box. The box is appeared as quite dominant on the screen. The box therefore could be the source of possession, where Abyzou actually came from.

 



• The demon is finally fully revealed. The audience see that she is making her way back into the box, showing how the exorcism is nearly over.

Sound

• The audience first hear diegetic dialogue from the Exorcist. He says "Abyzou", which gets louder and louder as the exorcism progresses.
• Off-screen diegetic sounds of glass breaking is heard, as a way of showing the exorcism working.
• Non-diegetic sound in the background is parallel to the action in the scene.
• The audience also hear on-screen diegetic sounds of bones clicking and choking. Other on-screen diegetic sounds include the demon roaring.
• The sequence finishes with silence. This is an effective way in ending the climax.

What to use in our opening:

 

Our exorcist will wear dark colours i.e. black, as this is a common colour used for exorcists. We will use sound effects throughout to build on the theme of possession e.g. bone clicking.  The visual effect towards the end of the lights switching on and off is rather effective. We may manipulate the idea by having a light switching on and off in our opening towards the end (where our possessed character disappears).