Editing research: Possession

Films I have looked at: 

• The Exorcist 
• Constantine 
• The Rite 

In these films there seems to be a lot of acting to show possession rather than editing, there is also much make up use to create an inhuman look (demonic look). 

However in Constantine there is a demon coming out of the woman, here editing could be used to morph the woman's skin on her neck with the face of a demon to show that she is possessed. 

Apart from that the actor seems to be doing much of the work by writhing around on the bed and using extravagant movements to show her body is being taken over. Make up is also used to show that her skin is different than it normally is (we see how her skin is afterwards when she is no longer possessed) an editing technique here is used to have a smooth transition between, this is a graphic match. They could have also achieved this by editing her face to look greenish rather than using makeup. 

In the exorcist not much editing is used and the possession is more due to the acting of the girl, however the demonic voices are put in during editing. The camera is also used to give a disorientating effect as many close ups of her face and body parts are used to give the impression that she is in the air. Makeup is also used here as her eyes go white which shows blankness of the body and that it isn't her but something else. 

In The Rite acting and makeup is used to show possession. The actor does not do much except shout however the makeup shows that it is not him doing this but a demon inside him, the green in his eyes suggests this as it tells us that  he has been corrupted by an exterior influence. The black around his eyes shows the evil trapping this corruption inside and therefore hints to the audience that he is being possessed. 

Our opening sequence:
However we do not have actors that are able to do these possession scenes in our opening sequence therefore it is more likely that we'd use editing to portray this. Here we would use jump cuts to create an edgy scene and we would speed up or slow down certain parts to put emphasis and to disorientate the audience. We'd also use awkward camera angles and use close up shots (of for example their eyes) to give the impression that the actor is doing something out of the ordinary or unusual. We are also using makeup to emphasize the idea that the character is possessed/not their usual self.