‘The Exorcist: Believer’ | Anatomy of a Scene

“Hello, 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, Victor Fielding’s daughter, played by Leslie Odom Jr. And Angela has been missing for three days and just comes back and starts acting a little weird. ” “What are you doing, bug? I have to use the bathroom.” “So in this sequence, I begin to establish the frightening quality of a father who cannot fully explain his daughter’s behavior. One of the lessons I learned from the ‘Halloween’ movies is the effect of a continuous timeline. And so even though the sequence consists of many shots, the effect is one long shot. And that slow burn, that time where there is no gimmick that you can process as a viewer, it adds a strange expectation of when something is gonna happen, slow moves, no expression from Angela. Almost the neutrality of her face is what makes it unusual because she is full of charms, and smiles, and loving life. This is where we begin to see things on a relatively subtle level of expression.” [FAUCET KNOB SQUEAK] “What did you say?” “The atmosphere is — the sound design is subtle music woven into the sound design. You’re a little on guard, a little lost as you let that continuity unfold. And in that way, when he transcends this geography in a way that we know because we’ve established characters that come in and out and walk in and out, it’s more unnatural and less beautiful.”