The idea for this short came up when I was trying to work on an essay for one of my classes. I usually listen to video game soundtracks to keep me focused on these suffocating assignments. One time, I was listening to a mix of music from various Nintendo games and soon as I heard Moo Moo Farm from Mario Kart 64, I had to take 2 minutes of my time to dance like an idiot. The child-like energy came by really suddenly and left just as quickly. I sat on the idea of making a zany short where you see me become euphoric when the music starts playing but I wasn’t sure if the idea had enough substance. On my desk are two toys from my childhood: A Woody doll I bought for $2 at a garage sale and a Sonic toy I bought at a comic book convention in 8th grade. I’ve brought these toys for every single semester of college but because of various life distractions and obligations, all they have ever done is stand awkwardly against a wall or on my alarm clock. They were just what I needed to make the short work.
The original idea had the College Student(CS) character dive quickly into madness with the music playing although the space around him would reflect on his bleak lifestyle, with brief shots of an unmade bed, debris all over the room, and in hindsight, a depressing shot of someone texting him “STOP CALLING ME”. The original ending cuts from CS leaping in the air with his toys to a medium shot of the back of his head intently typing on the desk, with subsequent shots showing how isolated he is from everything else, and how the toys he interacted with are nowhere to be found. I shared this concept with one of my suite-mates who was worried about how I always injected depression in everything I work on and was troubled by how depression was the punchline of the short.
I retooled the entire idea and tried to maintain a purely comedic tone, making sure that filming the short was as loose and fun as possible. Because of how silly the idea is, I wasn’t completely sure if I was going to follow through with it, especially since the semester's almost over. It was exactly that realization that caused me to take action since, in the past, waiting guaranteed failure. I certainly felt more relaxed filming this than any other project since the focus was on having fun, and I hope that is displayed in the short. I also gave myself some technical challenges to deal with such as making sure the edits were rhythmically in tune with the song and that I was able to have all three of us (Sonic, Woody, and I) onscreen for the penultimate shot. My biggest challenge, though, was pushing down my pretentious filmmaking attitude and telling myself, “Don’t take this seriously. This is supposed to be silly.” This is, perhaps, the most fun I’ve had working on a project in a long time. Completing this has already got me excited to write and film more ideas, including a shelved idea that I think deserves a second chance. I won’t mention what it is since it’s better to receive surprises (and it puts less pressure on me). Although I do act like an idiot in the short, I wanted to make sure that this could make anyone in the college community, CWRU or otherwise, suffering through projects and exams take a breather for a short while. We don’t have to take everything so goddamn seriously all the time. Sometimes, we just need to play with our toys. Music was created by YouTube user Bulby. His channel is filled with fantastic remixes of classic video game music and he even has has his own EP, Bite the Bullet, on his Bandcamp page. Check him out when you've got the chance!
The headline is correct. For the fall semester, I will be going to the University of Carlos III in Madrid to study film-making. It’s been my dream since sophomore year to be able to officially study filmmaking under an official curriculum. Officially. With all of this going on, I must be one extremely excited to go. Right? I’ve completed three years of college (a massive accomplishment, in and of itself) with only one left to go. Then what? To be honest, I’m not completely sure how I’m supposed to feel right now, especially with the beginning of my professional career looming closer and closer. I’ve also chosen to participate actively in the film industry where there is not a guarantee of financial security. It’s also incredibly competitive and I will be going up against other ambitious and creative filmmakers pushing to have their own ideas produced. I am very much aware of these difficulties, especially if I pushed myself to create my own film major, but now that I’m closer to the goal, I couldn’t be more frightened as well. The most anyone can say is "if you’re passionate about something, pursue it endlessly" but at what point should you admit that you’re abusing yourself too much to achieve your dreams? Maybe that’s what’s worrying me the most. This fall, I will be able to prove, once and for all, if I am capable of doing film. I’ve done it before (to mixed results) but can I do it under an academic program? Should I even be asking this question if only to ruminate on it for the rest of the summer? …I guess I’ll find out a few months from now. I made some promises that I did not adhere to, College Student: Nutrition for example, so I apologize to you all for not keeping up with them. I won’t say what I’m working on now since that puts more pressure on me but I will say that stuff is coming, sooner than you might think. With yet another year of working on this blog coming and going, I’m always surprised by the small yet devoted following that I somehow maintain and could not be more grateful for your support especially when I ask for absurd requests like this one: "So, I'm currently writing a script and one of the characters is a ghost. Do you have suggestions for comically tragic ways that the character died? I'd really appreciate it!” Thanks for being with me on this crazy journey. -Arlill “Arley" Rodriguez
Before we begin, I should mention that the previous essay on Early Summer was a similar assignment in format and content. Basically, we had to examine a continuous 3-5 minute scene and, using the film as evidence, formulate an argument about the entire film that the scene represents. I took a class on the Horror Film, hence why the trailer above is for The Exorcist, the "scariest film of all time." Before watching this movie, I did hesitate in watching it (again and again) for the purposes of a paper, mostly because of the infamous maze game (not the actual video) that rewarded its players with an extreme closeup of the possessed child. To me, The Exorcist was basically this image for 75 minutes. After finally watching the film, I found it to be one of the more forgiving horror films I've seen. Let me explain. Unlike the original 1974 release of the Texas Chain Saw Massacre, which from beginning to end, induced a relentless mood of dread and grotesqueness, The Exorcist frightened you for one minute then had 5 minutes of exposition, allowing the viewer to process the previous scenes more easily. During the brainstorming process for this essay, I thought about interpreting the film as a metaphor for puberty, but upon realizing how little I know about pre-teen girls in that age, I thought about how the film relegates the "monster"(Linda Blair), if we wish to call her that, into a single location that the other characters, specifically the mother (Ellen Bursytn), has to constantly return to throughout the film, making me consider the film's subtle critique about the security of the household. Without a doubt, however, The Exorcist is one of the most disturbing films ever made and if you can look beyond that creepy face, you might enjoy this horror classic.
The Exorcist (William Friedkin, 1973) in the guise of being a typical horror film, is also a reinterpretation of the creature, established in early horror cinema, as a contained beast. In the film, a young 12-year old girl suddenly becomes more aggressive, violent and profane much to the concern of her distressed mother. The film introduces a conflicting dynamic with the mother locking her daughter in her room, always coming to her daughter's aid when she desperately needs it but becoming more and more horrified at what her daughter is becoming. The issue of security in the household is demonstrated in The Exorcist via from the film's display of the safe home.
The scene [10:27-12:25] opens with an extreme long shot of the city of Georgetown and the sound of a plane flying overhead. The camera zooms in to one of the many buildings in Georgetown as we hear car honks and kids playing nearby. We then cut to Chris's room where she has turned on her lamp and hears a noise. Chris puts on her orange robe over her white nightgown and walks to the banister. She hears the noise again, and a low angle shot shows Chris assuming the noise is from the attic. She opens the door to her daughter Regan's room and from a POV shot, we see Regan sleeping and the window open. The camera then slowly tracks Chris as she closes the window, approaches Regan's bed, and kisses her daughter on the forehead, telling Regan that she loves her.
The film presents the ideal of a secure community and establishes the risks present in giving too much confidence in it. In the establishing shot of Georgetown [10:27-10:50] we are introduced to a more pleasant and familiar setting of houses rounding out the block. With this brief glimpse, we get the feeling of how diverse and historical the city is with large mansions peeking out in the background and a tall clock tower that is barely visible from the hazy sky. We also see the cars are traveling at just the right speed, almost as though the drivers were coordinated and in less of a hurry, a casual drive across the way. As the camera zooms in and tracks Chris' apartment, we hear many of the noises associated with urban life: an airplane zooming, cars honking, buses hissing, and children playing nearby. With the camera zooming in as slowly as possible, it lures the viewer into the peaceful nature of the city and assures us that there is nothing wrong. When Chris goes to her daughter's room, [11:40-11:50], she notices that Regan, wearing a bright yellow pajama, sleeps without the covers on her and tightly holds the pillow close to her, unaware that her room is getting colder. With the window open, we get reminded of the noises of the city, but also notice that they are much louder than before. The city noises are a brief reminder of the numerous threats that exists from outside of the window and outside of the home. Regan is left vulnerable to any potential threat and in turn, reminds us of the possibility of intrusion into our own homes. To further validate the idea of false security, Chris, after brushing Regan's hair, appreciatively says, "I sure do love you" and kisses her on the forehead. It is a parental instinct to kiss our loved ones when they get injured or scratched and is an effective placebo although nothing actually changes; the child still has the scratches and the brief trauma of their injury.
The film utilizes the screen space to begin stirring up dubious feelings about the security of the household. The film constantly pairs up scenes that have noticeable size differences to create a startling effect that keeps the viewer alert. One example is how immediately after zooming in to the house, the film cuts to an extreme close up of the lamp pointing away from us. The film also plays around with space, using very stark shapes to orientate the perspective and direction we intend to look at but the following shot contradicts it. This conflict creates a type of unfamiliarity with the space that unbalances the action-taking place. The film, cutting from a less distant shot to a further one [11:17], also emphasizes the distance between Chris and Regan's room. In this case, it makes it appear longer than it really is, increasing the suspense Chris has as she walks toward the noise, and making it clear that there can be doubt and tension from walking a short distance, even from within a familiar place. In the same shot [11:17], the camera is placed right where two bars of the banister, out of focus, enclose Chris within a space until the camera moves up and tracks Chris' movement, giving the impression that Chris is being watched. After hearing the noise again, Chris becomes much more reserved and ties up her robe, anxiously looking in all directions for the source of the noise. Shortly after [12:01-12:04], Chris walks more hastily to her daughter's room where she has a bit of trouble opening the door.
Doors, as a form of security, are shown to be a frightening aspect in the movie when it accomplishes the opposite of its intended purpose. After hearing the noise, we cut to an extreme close up of the doorknob [11:03] then cuts right back to Chris. For a brief moment, the film makes it unclear as to which door the doorknob opens and even creates anxiety when it appears that the doorknob jiggles for a split second before the camera goes back to Chris. This accentuates the uncertainty created from a doorknob delaying the viable danger, as it is made very unclear as to when the doorknob shot was intended for and, in this case, being a literal delay from the film allowing Chris to get up and open the door. The door is the only thing dividing Chris and her daughter after Regan becomes possessed later in the film [44:35]. For Chris, her daughter becoming possessed is no different from discovering a burglar has broken into the room as it is an unexpected breach of her indemnity. The door and the window are both meant to keep the characters safe but the film conditions them as potential hazards.
The window is another example of when security is put into question as to how effective a window can be as a form of protection. The window is meant to protect whoever is inside, but unlike the wooden door, it mostly made of very fragile glass. To the homeowner, the window becomes an illusion of security that is only intended as an aesthetic inclusion that cannot protect the home without reinforcement. In the film, the window is at the opposite side of the door, increasing the tension created from Chris walking across the room to close the window and inspect the room. The moving curtains [12:05] also emphasis another fraudulent form of security as a transparency that appears to make the room more private and disregarding that any stray rock thrown instantly shatters the illusion of a protected house. At the end of the film, Damian, the priest, deliberately dives through the window to stop the devil from possessing him, killing himself in the process [2:01:30-2:02:40].
A horror film is designed to make the viewer dread the unknown or the misunderstood, whether it is a monster or an abandoned cemetery. The Exorcist, however, considers another potential source for fear, the room where your loved one resides, transformed against their own will. As previously mentioned, the door gradually becomes conditioned as a tense hesitation. However, the film also recognizes how an unstable bond or a lack of understanding within the family can also be a horrific element. For any parent in a caring relationship with their child, nothing could be more terrifying than coping with your loved one's sudden transformation without understanding it. Despite Regan's conversion via the devil's possession, a concerned parent would never regard her or their loved one as a "monster", believing wholeheartedly that their child's innocence is still preserved within. The other question is whether it would be better to strictly enforce the house's security by reducing the connection to the outside world to only the front door or believing the illusion of a protected house if only to get a glimpse of something pleasant outside every now and then.
Works cited:
The Exorcist: The Version You've Never Seen. Dir. William Friedken. Perf. Ellen Burstyn, Max Von Sydow, Linda Blair, Lee J. Cobb. Warner Home Video, 1973. DVD.
