Analysis of opening scene- The Exorcist (1973)

The opening scene involves presenting the company which made the production, ‘Warner Brothers’, which was firstly shown in colour. After the transition of fading out, the same company logo is repeatedly shown again, however with a black and white filter. This implies to the audience that the film is set in the past or is associated with past events, which are vital in the film. This follows the conventions of a horror, as they usually involve a significant event, which is the cause of the horror and devastation, which takes place throughout the film.

The fading transition shows the establishing shot, which is showing the location of where the film is set as they use a low angled shot with panning movement of the camera. The use of the camera starting at a low angled suggests that the building is significant as, we as an audience, are looking up at it, causing it to make the audience feel less superior. However the panning effect suggest that the audience are looking through their own eyes as if they are examining the location. The use of the everyday looking buildings suggest the normality of the day, which allows the audience to relate to the film due to living their everyday lives. This can make the audience also feel uneasy because having the setting in such a normal place can make them feel as if the horror which will commence in the film can happen in their neighbourhood. The lighting of the shot is fairly dark and is lit up by a lamp post in the street, which casts many shadows on the building implying that the horrifying events of the film will take place there. The camera panning movement allows the audience to see and examine the location but stops when the couple in the street are laughing and walking away from the camera, which could suggest they may have some importance to the film.

The next shot is then a close up of the face of the virgin Mary. The white statue's face suggest purity and innocence, however involving this in a horror film usually means that religion is involved meaning there are paranormal events such as demons and spirits present in the film. Having demons and paranormal events in a horror ensure the audience are scared as no one can prove if they are real and not, so the uncertainty causes the audience to become scared.

The makers of the film then fades onto the screen, ' A William Friedkin Film'. The red font suggest blood and is stereotypically associated with horrors. This style suggest that it is a less modern horror film and films now-a-day use white fonts for horrors as it emphasises that horrors could happen to anyone due to the simplicity of the font. Another transition shows the name of the film ' The exorcist', which is twice the size of the font before, which suggests that it is more important then the knowledge before but also the hugeness suggest that 'the exorcists' can affect a large about of people or is a huge problem in this film.

The slowness of the editing throughout the opening produces a tension as the shots are fairly long they causes the audience to have suspense as they are expecting something sudden to make them scared. 

The final shot of the opening scene is a extreme long shot of a sunset in what seems to be an abroad location due to the music being in a different language and in an indian theme of music. The contrasting location in the opening scene suggests that the first location is where the film is directly set as it was shown first in the scene, which is where the horror would take place. However the second location suggests that this could be the origins of the evilness as unknown exotic places are usually where horror elements begins.

The music changes four times in the opening scene. The first music is digetic music of the wind blowing and a sense of eeriness. This begins to build up tension as it leads to the next music, which is the use a violin played unevenly, which when heard makes you feel very uneasy and scared due to the jaunty sharpness of the sound. The next background music is the sound of demonic language, which is used when someone is possessed, which tells he audience that it involves demons and them taking over people. This demonic music then links into an Indian music, which is where the scene finishes.