'The Devil Inside' Trailer Religion Symbolism Deconstruction

Real-life style

At the beginning of the trailer, text shows  the audience that what they are about to listen to is 'actual video call' between the 911 operator and the possessed woman. This has the effect of pretending to the audience that the events are real-life. By giving the trailer a very realistic feel the terror is heightened as it feels remarkably less like fiction and more like something they themselves could be threatened by. The shot has a black background with white writing and the minimal feel emphasises the realism as flamboyant colours would probably take away from it. This is an easy method of creating terror quite quickly and effectively.

Religious buildings and relics

Throughout the trailer, religious buildings and religious relics within establishments can be seen. This is used to show the audience the theme of the film. The religious buildings are also very ancient and grand looking and this can intimidate and scare the audience. They are usually shot from a low angle in order to highlight their grandeur and importance.  In the building, the walls are white and the crosses on the walls and doors are dark-coloured. This is effective as it connotes that religious forces are causing suffering upon the innocence of people. They are never fully focused on and are only seen in the background whilst tracking characters walk along the corridors. The cross is also always generally in the centre of each shot and this emphasises its importance. 

Crosses scarred onto body

In the trailer, crosses are pictured as scars on the possessed woman's arms and mouth. This shows the audience that it is religious forces which is causing her suffering. They are repeated many times upon her arms and irregularly and this makes them seem even more damaging and caused out of anger. The use of physical damage upon a person as well as mental trauma is effective as the audience will empathise with the character and also find the marks repulsive- increasing their terror of the force which has led her to insanity. They are shown to be of a very bright red and this makes them seem even more angry and passionate. Also, by using the crosses as scars they can be seen as permanent and so the woman cannot be cured from her illness, creating a feel of hopelessness. The fear is emphasised by the lack of focus seen in the woman's eyes, showing that she has been completely taken over by some unknown force.

The priest 

The priest is seen to be the protection in the trailer and this is effective at increasing the fear of the audience as it shows that the medical treatment has failed to work and they have taken it to a different perspective. However, the audience cannot trust this new method as it could be seen that religion has already failed the woman as a demon has been allowed access to her and that it is useless trying it. This gives the audience an impression of defenselessness and lost hope increasing their terror at the circumstances. The priest is featured in mainly the colours purple and gold and this makes him stand out against the dominantly washed out colours of the rest of the trailer. 

Contortion 

In the trailer the possessed woman is shown to be contorting. She is also involuntarily moved and thrown about by the forces that have taken over her body. This makes the audience feel even more scared as they feel as though the woman has lost complete control of herself, meaning that her own body will cause her pain and she can do nothing about it. She is shown to be moved by the forces at a fast speed and this creates fear as it makes her seem like an incredible threat. The contortion of the body is also successful at scaring the audience as it will repulse them. This is empathised by the crunching sound effects which can be heard when the bones are contorted.

Captions

At the end of the trailer, a title screen is seen which says 'Between Science and Religion' and then 'Between Hope and Fear'. This can imply that religion is fear as they are stated on the same level as each other, as well as hope and science being the same. This causes an unsettling feel as they can see within the trailer that the characters have given up turning to science due to their use of the priest and exorcism. This scares them as they see science as hope and therefore that the characters have lost hope. The colours grey, white and faint red are used on the background; they are used to mimic the scarring on the woman's skin earlier seen in the trailer. The grey is used to resemble decay and this heightens the feeling of repulse and fear from the audience.