Film Review: The Exorcist vs Blair Witch Project (How to make a scary movie)

"The Exorcist" 

Directed by William Friedkin

Written by William Peter Blatty

1973 

"Blair Witch Project"

Directed by Daniel Myrick & Eduardo Sanchez

Written by Daniel Myrick & Eduardo Sanchez

The two scariest movies I've seen are The Exorcist and Blair Witch Project. Actually, the only two movies that actually scared me are those two movies. But those two movies are legitimately scary because it doesn't use any cheap thrills. They instill genuine fear into the viewer, and manages to maintain suspense. You can scare anyone easily; just sneak up on them and yell suddenly. That's the trick most horror movies use, and it's stupid. The Exorcist and BWP however gives you a good reason to be scared for 2 hours.

The Exorcist starts pretty slowly and boring until Regan pees on the carpet in front of everybody and predicts someone's death, which became a classic scene unfortunately subject to numerous of parodies. Then there's the desecration of a statue of Virgin Mary. That's when the creepiness sets in and starts to build.

Then the first actual scary part; Father Karris's dream. It's almost completely silent except a very eerie white noise. And in that dream, there's the cut of Karris' mother that only lasts for a split second, then the dream continues. Then there's another sudden cut, but instead of his mother, there's a demonic face that is probably the most subtle scare I've ever seen.

There's just so many good moments in this movie. For example, the first time the bed shakes, which is a really simple image, but is very effective in telling the audience that they are dealing with something supernatural and something violent. 

Then the first time the demon exposes itself; when Regan's throat inflates like a frog, and her skin becomes dead-pale and her voice changes into a monster's. 

I could go on and on.

The Blair Witch Project deals with something also supernatural. It uses a documentary style, and you would certainly believe that it is real, factual footage until you wikipedia it. 

On a $30 000 USD budget, what can you do to make a scary movie with that? BWP has so many night scenes and terrific, naturalistic acting that is probably one of the main reasons why the film is so scary. It also uses so many unconventional tricks such as intentionally messing up the sound (for example, using a microphone from another camera, which is a meters apart since the camera used for the footage on screen doesn't have an in built microphone), and adding psychological themes, such as the trio being angry at each other, scared with each other, etc. Also, the scary moments are very believable such as seeing weird rock piles surrounding their tents, hanging dolls made out of hay, etc. It messes with your mind. 

It also has the scariest ending I have ever seen. I won't spoil it since I've already revealed a lot.

For those who want to make a scary movie, here are the do-s and don'ts, starting out with the don'ts:

Don't:

Use cheap thrills: A monster jumping out of a closet? Things like that have become so cliche and predictable and ultimately wastes the audience's time and insults their intelligence.

Have a plot twist or a ridiculous explanation: M. Night Shylaman is a devout user of plot twists. I guess it worked with The Sixth Sense, but that's it. I'm not going to reveal the ending for the Sixth Sense, but I will for the other movies because it's so stupid. 

Signs: The aliens can't tolerate water. If you pour water on the aliens, they will die because of the water. 

The Village: It actually isn't a time piece. The village is actually just a home for scared people that have been isolated from modern society. The monsters are people disguised. 

The Happening: It's the plants. Yes, the plants are killing us because they are angry at us. Seriously.

Anyway, those are the movies by Shylaman I've watched, and hopefully I won't watch another one. Plot twists can be really stupid and ridiculous and makes the audience feel like they've wasted 2 hours. And plus, it'd probably make people look it up and learn about the explanation on wikipedia before watching the movie. And rightfully so.

Have totally unrelated themes: Sometimes a horror movie doesn't seem to have the intent to scare you. They also sometimes have a side-love story, some humor, etc. Why? See the Happening with its blatant attempt for an anti-global warming ad. 

Do: 

Fear than scare: The Exorcist doesn't have the demon chasing people. In fact it stays tied down in bed for the majority of the movie. And in BWP, you never see the witch. That is genuine fear; that fear you get when walking in an empty 3 story house at midnight without any lights. The fear of a monster even though there isn't any. 

Good script: I love the game Silent Hill so I was excited for the movie version. I was very disappointed. Although it used a few scenes from the game, the script was just so bad, it was distracting. The director did a good job in creating the Silent Hill world, but the side story with the husband trying to find the wife didn't work, the dialogue was horrible, and the same psychological fear the game had on the player wasn't conveyed at all in the movie. The Exorcist had a great script, and was even nominated for an Oscar. BWP wasn't as memorable as the Exorcist, but was very appropriate for a documentary style, and it still had scenes like walking in straight line but going in circles (doesn't make sense I know but watch the film). 

Have the characters scared: In Silent Hill, the protagonist was fairly confident which made the audience confident and not scared. In the Exorcist and BWP, all the characters were petrified. How can you convince the audience to be scared if you can't even convince your own characters? This also calls for some good acting.

Anyway that's all I can come up for now. If you're making a horror flick, at least obey these rules and watch the Exorcist and BWP.

Entry #24

April 29

We didn't screen today because we watched the YR 12 drama extended production of Closer.

I watched the film version for it and I thought the drama performance was great. I guess I'm a little biased to the film version since it has actors I like: Natalie Portman, Clive Owen, Jude Law, and Julia Roberts. It was surprised that the actress who played Alice Ayres did not watch the film version because I thought she played Alice very well and rivals Portman's performance as well. 

Entry #23

April 27

Today we officially finished the film. I found a sound for Justin's hungry stomach. I found it on youtube then just deleted the visual part. I also had another layer for it with a sound Justin managed to find in a website. I have to thank him for that.

I also used a 3-part audio filter which allowed me to minimize the white noise by lowering the mid gain noise and raising the bass and treble to compensate. It made somewhat of a difference, but fortunately didn't change any voices so it still seems normal. But it didn't remove the white noise completely, but it was better than it was before.

I also added a glass-breaking sound when Justin drops the device because Joyce thinks that it wasn't clear enough to the audience that the device was broken. 

Other than the changes mentioned above, the film is pretty much the same. And we think the film is finally ready for screening.

I was an IB leaner: 

Communicator: constantly discussed with group members on how to improve the film

Open minded: Accepted criticism to the sounds.

Reflective: Self-criticized the sounds and my contribution to the film,. 

Entry #22

April 22

I haven't found any stomach sounds  I like though I made some changes to the music since Justin edited the film to make it shorter. He cut out a bit of the auditorium scene and tied some strings between some cuts which made the film overall about 30 seconds shorter.

I didn't change any songs but I had to make some songs shorter which disrupted the transitions. I cut a bit of a few songs and modified it to some extent for transitions. But overall I didn't change much, because I didn't need to.

I did change the barking sound effect to a low growl. At first it just sounded like a dog, which it was from, so I slowed down the speed to make it lower, and added a lot of reverberation so that it sounds as if it was a monster in a cave. I didn't want it to make this stomach sound too realistic, in fact I want it to be abstract to add a comedic sense to it. The barking was too much. 

I still need to find a sound effect for Justin's hunger sound but I don't think it'll be too much of a problem.

I was an IB learner:

Open-minded: Adapted to Justin's changes

Reflective: Criticized the sounds I used.

Entry #21

April 20

Over the holiday we finished a huge bulk of the editing. We're practically done aside from a few minor changes. 

Justin came over to my house where I have Final Cut Pro on my computer. It made the difference. Although he only had a few days since he went to the Eastern Europe school trip, he stayed for several hours each time and made full use of the time. I worked alongside with him with the music and sound to make the timings right.

I also helped him with editing since he's pretty new to the software but after a while he got the hang of it. So we developed this routine where he would edit a scene and I would place the music, then he would move on to the next scene and I would place the music and sounds for that scene.

But as the sound director I will focus on my role.

Freeplaymusic.com was my main resource for music. The website had tons of classical music. But honestly I'm not familiar with classical music so choosing the songs were pretty much trial and error. I must have downloaded more than a dozen songs (legally). 

But I had an idea on the progression of music. For example, for the beginning I wanted a light, playful, upbeat piano piece, so I first looked for piano sonatas. Eventually I choose Beethoven Piano Sonata 25 for the first 30 seconds since it worked well and set the tone appropriately. 

The reason why it only lasts that short is because of the transition from a peaceful piece to a loud, kind of hectic song when Justin runs out of the DT lab. I chose a symphony piece for that, one by Tchaikovsky. I also needed a kind of choir, angelic piece for when there a close up for the microphone so I had a choir piece by Handel for a second. 

The Tchaikovsky piece worked really well so I decided to have that as a musical motif. It appears four other times in the film: one where Justin goes to the sixth floor, one in the multimedia lab, one in cafeteria, and one where the teacher returns to school. It works because it has a peaceful section and a hectic section so the transitions are very smooth. 

But to transition between different songs, I would end the piece with the 'whoosh' sound effect that represents the teleportation. I feel that ending the songs this way not only emphasizes the teleportation, the suddenness in transition is less obvious or seems intentional.  

I chose specific pieces for the scenes with Daniel, the first real chase in the playground, and the auditorium scene. The pieces for those scenes are relatively similar; loud, fast paced, layers of instruments, etc. For Daniel's scene I wanted something with more percussion for more suspense and busyness. The other two I just needed it to be loud and triumphant to fit the mood. 

As for the ending bit, I felt that after Justin edited it, it wasn't conclusive enough, but there wasn't much footage to work with so Justin did the best he could. The reason why it didn't seem conclusive is because the pace needed to slow down, but there wasn't much to the scene that allowed the film to slow down. But after I added the music, I felt that it helped a lot. I used "Bach Air on a G String" for the final bit. It's actually quite a famous piece, and I have a vague recollection in hearing this piece in some movies, but I just never knew the name of the song. I had to cut a lot of the song since it lasted a few minutes whereas the scene was about 30 seconds, but it wasn't that much of a problem since I was already used to cutting songs for other scenes. And each piece seemed to have some sort of a hook, so transitions where pretty easy that way.

For music that's pretty much it.

For sound effects there wasn't much. I had a flush sound for the bathroom, a blunt click when Justin presses the button for the first time, a beeping-android-like sound for when the device works, a whoosh sound for the teleportation, etc. I'm not completely done with the sound though. For Justin's stomach, there was a barking sound that represents his stomach. It's really risky, but it'd be effective if people got the joke. I also haven't found a sound yet for when Justin's stomach is upset.

The film also has some silent scenes and some talking scenes. The beginning bit until the cafeteria scene is silent. The first spoken words is by Lucas when he asks Colin where Justin is. Also I didn't cut out the background sound of the cafeteria because if it was silent or if there was music the transition wouldn't be good. And also, the music that coincides with Justin's entrance contrasts with the diegetic sound and has a comedic effect to it.

And for some scenes I included the diegetic sound for menial sounds like footsteps, door closing, etc. The scene that I haven't really modified any of the diegetic sound is Daniel's scene since speaking itself is the joke. Also in the end, when Justin enters the bathroom and victoriously says "Yess", I didn't cut that out for storytelling purposes as well as the water splashing on his face.

I have two main concerns. One is that stomach sounds, which I'll probably figure out later. The other is that I wonder if the inconsistency of silent scenes and 'noisy' scenes would work. 

After coming back from Easter we conferred with Joyce and Elliot. They seem to like it. Ms Wong did point out the inconsistency of the silent and 'sound' scenes. Although she didn't really like the inconsistency, she reluctantly agreed that it did somewhat work. I think it's the indecisiveness in pre-production that lead to this, but in the end I think it worked.

Joyce pointed out the errors that needed to be fix in terms of editing (polishing the film), but it can be fixed quickly and smoothly.

I was an IB-learner because: 

Thinkers: Had to consider which parts of the song to cut out in order for it to be most effective and usable. 

Communicator: Worked closely with Justin in editing; constantly discussed with him. 

Risk-taker: Played and experimented with sound effects and music.

Reflective: Often criticized the film and how effective the music and the sound was.

Film Review: The Fountain

"The Fountain"

Directed by Darren Aronofski

2005

The consensus on the greatest love story ever told is Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare. Since then there has been so many depictions of love and very few has been convincing. The English Patient? The Notebook? A Walk to Remember? Sure, they're not bad, but it basically has the same plot as a sports story: like how either they lose or win the big game, the girl (only the girl, never the guy) would either continue living or die at the end. But ultimately it doesn't matter because both endings are cliches now. 

The standards for romance have been raised. There have been so many romantic comedies done, that it's hard to convince today's generation of audiences of true love ("How to lose a guy in 10 days" is not love.) The question aptly imposed by Shakespeare In Love "Can true love be depicted through stage?" We have yet to find an answer since Romeo and Juliet written 400 years ago.

Then Darren Aronofsky wrote the Fountain.

It's hard to give a synopsis of the Fountain. It merges Sci-fi with real life with a time piece. It goes to space, to the living room, to the deep forests of South America in the 16th century. In short though, it's a love story. Hugh Jackman plays a husband-scientist, a monk-like space traveler (I wouldn't say astronaut because there are no spaceships or rockets but a ball with a tree in it) and a Spanish conquistador. Rachael Weiz plays the wife-cancer patient and the Queen of Spain. It is 3 stories in one.

I guess the main story is about a scientist trying to find out the cure for cancer as his wife has as tumor that gets worse as time progresses. It sounds like the typical love story I just mentioned; how the girl either lives or dies. But it's far, far more complex and sophisticated than that, that it needs 3 different stories in 3 different time periods and in 3 totally different contexts. 

It's as if Aronofsky views love as no one else does; something so complex and sophisticated that one simple story line will not do it any justice. The movie is profuse with visual as well as spoken metaphors and imagery. While most movies can be condensed into a novel, the only adaptation this can be is poetry. 

The writing is incredible. The story is complex and beautiful while the dialogue keeps you intrigued all the way. There aren't really any memorable or catch phrases, but everything is so subtle and, well, poetic. The line "Together we shall live forever" repeated throughout the movie would usually be used in some corny, sappy love song. Never has that line been said with so much conviction.

Of course that could not have been done without powerful acting. The movie is willed through by Hugh Jackman (who I keep forgetting is Australian), and one of my favorite actresses, Rachel Weiz. Both of them give career performances, displaying so much emotion that, even though we only know these characters for 2 hours, it seems like they've been in love for an eternity.

As for the visuals and imagery, it's as if each frame is like a painting. It shows that Aronofsky evidently had a vision while writing this movie. And when it's on only a $35 million budget, I wonder how much better it could've been if more attention by the studios were given. 

The music for this film is flawless. Clint Mansell, who also composed music for Requiem for a Dream (he wrote the famous piece, Requiem for a Dream, which was used for Lord of the Rings the Two Towers). It contributes so much to the already poignant movie. People sometimes say that silence is a sound. In The Fountain, without the music, it would've been so much lesser as a movie. Performed by the Kronos Quartet, each note sounds so ethereal and surreal, like an omniscient voice.

And finally, the directing. Aronofsky proves to be one of the most visionary directors of our generation. Each shot is beautifully and meticulously executed, it's pretty much perfect. 

The one flaw of the movie? It's hard to watch. There is not one moment where the audience will laugh. There is no comic relief or joke throughout the entire movie. And that may be a problem. For what it an hour and a half feature may seem a much longer experience. You'd have to be really attentive and really captivated in order to appreciate the movie in its entirety, and perhaps watch it 2 or 3 times. But that's not really a problem. 

So in the end, in all aspects, the Fountain was a brilliant movie, and the complexities and profoundness of love is finally captures through a medium. This is not an ordinary love story.  

Entry #20

April 8

We finished filming today, which is very fantastic. All of the footage has also been uploaded and put in Justin's and my hard drives so that when Justin gets back from Europe we can edit it using my home computer, which has Final Cut Pro.

The important scene we finished was the ending scene where Justin gets cornered by the girl, the Nerd, and the teacher. Other than that, we basically filmed gaps, like a close up of the device getting dropped, the eating scene, etc.

As for sound  I am very lucky that freeplaymusic.com has classical music. It's just going to be difficult to cut it and match it with the clips. We'll see though.