‘The Exorcist: Believer’ | Anatomy of a Scene

“Hi, I’m David Gordon Green, the director and co-writer of ‘The Exorcist: Believer.’” [FAUCET KNOB SQUEAK] “So this sequence takes place shortly after the disappearance of Angela Fielding, the daughter of Victor Fielding, played by Leslie Odom Jr. And Angela has been missing for three days and just returned and starts to behave a little bit strangely.” “What you doing up, ladybug? Gotta use the bathroom.” “So with this sequence, I’m starting to establish the unnerving quality of a father that can’t quite explain the behavior of his daughter. One of the lessons I learned on the ‘Halloween’ movies is the effect of a continuous timeline. And so although the sequence is comprised of numerous shots, the effect is one long shot. And that slow burn, that time where there’s no gimmicks that you can process as a viewer, it adds a strange expectation of when something is gonna happen, slow moves, no expression from Angela. It’s almost the neutrality of her face that makes it so unusual because she is so full of charms, and smiles, and loving life. Here we’re starting to see things in a little bit of a subtler grade of expression.” [FAUCET KNOB SQUEAK] “What’d you say?” “Atmosphere is — sound design is subtle music that’s woven into the sound design. You’re a little bit on guard, you’re a little bit on edge as you’re letting that continuity unfold. And then that way, when she’s transcended this geography in a way that we know because we’ve established characters coming and going and walking in and out, it’s all the more unnatural and off putting.”