FILM 1502 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Max Von Sydow, Ellen Burstyn, William Friedkin
12 Nov 2018
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Document Summary
Adaptation of a novel about the possession of a girl by a demonic entity. Rooted in the conventions of the horror genre; formal features produce scariness. Use of boundary violations (ie. the bodily and the religious) as instigating of then never before seen horor (think the audience reactions documentary from class) 35mm director"s cut is a work of art (film grain as immersion, addition of spider walk scene) Use of close-ups of religious imagery (ie. statues) as blocking the frame and initiating both figurative and literal foreshadowing. Use of the soundtrack as disorienting and productive of paranoia (ie. screeching strings on offbeat tempos) Entry of the demon into the house as a violation of the home"s safety. Entry of the demonic face into singular frames of the film as a violation of formal conventions and a subversion of audience expectations (once repeated) (similar to the tension created by the single-frame insert of the ending of psycho)
