The exorcist- William Friedkin

Analysis of horror classic

Background Information • Released in 1973, June the 19th. Although it was banned in some towns of the UK, some

people had to travel to the nearest town which hadn’t banned it if they wanted to view it in the cinema.

• Release- The film was only released on Video in the UK in 1999. • It also received good reception from film critics being nominated for several awards and

winning some as well in countries all over the world. The awards won include:• Golden Globes USA ‘best director, best motion picture (drama), best screenplay (motion

picture), best supporting actress (Motion picture, Linda Blair)- 1974.

• Golden Reel Award-1974- ‘best sound editing (sound effects and dialogue’.

• WGA Screen Award- USA-1974- ‘Best Drama adapted from another medium’.• 1975- Golden Scroll USA- ‘Best horror film, best make-up, best special effects, best writer’. • 1978- Golden screen- Germany • Empire Awards UK ‘Movie Masterpiece Award’- 1999• Often referred to the scariest horror movie off all time.

More background Information• Rated as an 18. • It is rated as and 18 because it has the following elements

included in the film: -Alcohol is seen in the film with a character drunk -Drugs are mentioned -Sex is mentioned verbally in narrative context and sexual

gestures are made in the film. Violence- There is a strong sense of violence in the film. Bad language- There is a strong element of swearing in the

film. • Genre of horror/ Classics

The plot

• The plot of the film is: A visiting actress in Washington, D.C., notices dramatic and dangerous changes in

the behavior and physical make-up of her 12-year-old daughter. Meanwhile, a young priest at nearby Georgetown University begins to doubt his faith while dealing with his mother's terminal sickness. And, book-ending the story, a frail, elderly priest recognizes the necessity for a show-down with an old demonic enemy. (from IMBD.com)

• The story comes from a novel written by and been adapted into a screenplay William Peter Blatty, who was an american screen play writer.

Editing

Cuts- The cuts are of a medium to long length which means that the introduction flows at a slow pace, this means that when things do start to go wrong for the characters the audience are less likely to expect it because it is almost like you are looking through someone’s eyes and seeing their perspective and not like you are watching a film with fast cuts straight away.

Titles0.49-’A William Friedkin Film’ – Red type-The directors name is placed as the first title this is because it is important that it is clear who made the film so that the director gets the credit for his work. I think the text has been placed in a red font because it signifies danger because red is associated with blood, so it implies to the audience that there is going to be danger and violence in the film. -0.55’A WILLIAM PETER BLATTY’S -(goes from red to pink type)-I think the font has been made to change to pink because it is commonly used to symbolize females, it could be implying that the girl will be harmed with the use of the red and pink transition.

-0.59-’THE EXCORCIST’ (from pink to red)- red could connote the blood later seen in the film and the pink could imply the girl who is harmed.

-Font used for all of the titles--Is unclear has a kind of blur to the edge of it and the shape of each of the letters are not quiet even and slightly curved out kind of like they are distorted or misshaped but it also has sharp angular shaped serifs, this creates a tense atmosphere and isn’t implying that the film will be relaxing to watch like a smoothly edged font would which would be used in a romantic comedy.

Lighting

Low key lighting- At the beginning of the introduction low lighting has been used to set create a moody atmosphere and to make it seem eerie. By using low lighting it puts the idea in the audiences mind that something could in the storyline later on, this is because by using the low lighting it creates the connotation of danger in the audiences mind because the night is associated with crime and with sprits/ ghosts. Also people are more weary when walking outside at night on street corners because they cannot see as well as in the day time so it brings a sense of the unknown into the audiences minds. High key lighting-

Sound

• It opens with a distorted soundtrack which is music with elements which sounds like diegetic wind. This also adds to the eerie/creepy atmosphere which has been created because the wind sound creates the connotation of a haunted night implying that there are sprits around

Narrative context

There is no narrative context in the introduction of the film, I think the producers have done this on purpose because they want focus the audiences minds on the setting of the story to create a creepy atmosphere so that they can build the tension up slowly to create shock for the audience when things do go wrong and things start happening out of the ordinary, even though it has been implied.

Location and Setting

• Isolated house- A modern house is shown which is located in a town but slightly isolated away from the rest of the town as it is placed right on the corner of the street. This is a usual code and convention of films in the horror genre.

• Church area- this connotes sprits and ghosts because around a church you will often find a graveyard.

Props

• Religious statue- This represents the religious element of the storyline, this is seen at 0.45, it is in a high key medium shot, I think this has been used to create an obvious contrast so that the statue is brought to the audiences attention. It creates an effective contrast because the first shot is a low key tracking shot which creates a tense mood and an eerie effect. The shot is still moody because of the colour tones used like red which connotes danger and blood.

Shots • 0.15- W.B production studios logo but in greyscale and with a grainy effect. • 0.24- panning shot going from high to low angle. This is showing the isolated house• 0.41- Fades into new shot • 0.45- New shot of religious statue, close up. • 0.49-’A William Friedkin Film’ – Red type • 0.49- music gets higher with squeeky sounding violin • 0.55’A WILLIAM PETER BLATTY’S -(goes from red to pink type)• 0.59-’THE EXCORCIST’ (from pink to red)- red could connote the blood later seen in

the film and the pink could imply the girl who is harmed. • Then Indian music is heard and a sunset is seen when the film goes into the main

part to the first scene.

Conclusion

• The exorcist fits the rating of 18 well because it would be shocking and disturbing for a younger audience to see, it would be inappropriate to expose them to the sex, alcohol and mention of drugs for very young audiences.

• The film does not go straight into the violence I like that they have established the mood and atmosphere of the film by introducing the audience to the setting and the storyline slowly by using mise en scene to imply the danger which is approaching.