Deconstruction: 'Exorcist: The Beginning'

Deconstruction: 'Exorcist: The Beginning'

In the opening scene of 'Exorcist: The Beginning' there are many codes and conventions that signify the genre as being horror/possession.

Use Of Enigmas
In the first part of scene there is immediate action from the beginning as it starts with a close up camera shot of a man who looks disturbed and anxious. From the moment the scene begins there is a sudden, loud, diegetic sound of the wind and music in the background of high pitched religious tunes. This links to the genre being possession because it has a religious input to it. In the this shot something black runs passed the screen suddenly twice, however the audience doesn't know who or what it is, creating mystery and enigmas which foreshadows that evil is lurking and will soon do some damage. Towards the end of this shot the non diegetic music becomes louder, giving an impact on tension and we begin to hear moaning and heavy breathing non diegetic sounds which suggests the genre as being possession as it has a supernatural twist to it.
Reference to Religion 
Shortly after, there is a extreme close up of the man's hand holding a Holy Cross which is a major use of mise en scene, and conforms to the common representation that all possession horror films have a religious aspect. The editing has been used to emphasise the religious aspect in this horror because loud non diegetic singing of religious singing starts to be played.

Stereotypical Possessed Prop
This is then followed by the man encountering a dead man who seems to be dressed as if he was important because in his right hand there is an object which seems important and adds to the possession concept because props are used in possessed horrors as if they are possessed, and this may be the 'possessed prop' in the film. Another use of mise en scene in the opening is the cat which I majorly emphasised at first because we hear a diegetic, over powering 'meow' sound and a shot of the cat in the background. Shortly after this happens there is an immediate response through editing of a sound effect of someone giggling which conforms to the common representation of horror because it gives a supernatural effect and creates an enigma.

Reference To Hell
Near the end of the opening scene there is a pan/crane shot of the setting that shows many crucifixions which are upside down. This re-instates that the film has many possession conventions as the crosses are upside down which is a use of mise en scene as it represents a link to hell or any form of evil and foreshadows that something bad will happen. The music becomes louder and more fast paced when the camera zooms out creating a build up of tension.
Analysis of Title
After the build up from where the camera zooms out of all the crucifixions the tension is released with a black screen and a continuous high pitched ringing sound for a second before the title of 'Exorcist' is revealed, and is shortly accompanied by the sub-title 'The Beginning'. This conforms to the genre of the film being horror/possession because the black screen indicates evil and conventions acquainted to hell.

As a result, the conventions in 'Exorcist: The Beginning' prove that the genre is a possession horror because of the use of conventions and iconography shown in the shots from the opening scene. The major convention is the mise en scene because it signifies the genre.