The Exorcism of Emily Rose – Set Visit Report, Pt 2 of 4
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Q: How realistic is the approach in the movie, to an actual exorcism?
PHB: I guess [it is], and maybe a serious dramatic approach to the subject. Um, yeah, we felt like the subject matter merited that, you know. Obviously several -- even THE EXORCIST was based on a true story, um, and that-- and they took that pretty seriously, I think. It wasn’t a completely exploitative kind of film, um, again despite how some people remember some of the more lurid things about it. I think we felt like because of the, the court case, the themes involved in-- and as we talked about it, um, that it merited that approach and we felt like that also would give this movie something to say, uh, that would be different and we could come at it in an intelligent way and give a broader audience a chance to deal with this, um, and reach out to a bigger audience.
I think the audience for this movie should range, um, from people who-- a younger audience that might go to horror films maybe more for the, you know, the ride, the thrills of it. Although I hate to underestimate those audiences ‘cause I just-- I still think the fifteen year old precocious horror film fan who's very bright is also going to think about some of these other themes, even if he's mainly talking to his friends about how cool that was when, you know, this thing happened. I mean it's all everybody starts thinking about these things, so we don't think that's an audience we don't want.
But I think the audience for this could -- because of the, the kind of movie it is and then the cast we brought -- we hope that it'll also reach out to people who are just the, you know, thoughtful filmgoer in their twenties/thirties, you know, or older if those people go to the movies, whenever they rent it or whatever. Whatever that audience can be, um, because I do think if they can handle the intense visceral scary stuff then there's enough drama in it that a wide variety of people should enjoy it.
The only thing I can think of is that some of them will be scared away because I certainly have some relatives who won't see a movie that's this scary, and they'll be like “Oh, I’d love to see it, but I can't watch that, you know.”
Q: I understand the movie is shown from different points of view, kind of like RASHOMON.
PHB: [It’s like] RASHOMON that's really based on a court case. That’s once they start, you know, going to these men giving their testimony that you really go into the flashbacks, and in that sense our film is structured that way as well. So once-- the court case starts pretty early and runs throughout the film, um, so once it gets going, which is in the first act, then we start interweaving, interlacing the past and the present for the rest of the way, and we just try to balance it.
It was a very tricky thing to do too in the writing and in the filmmaking has been to do justice to both of those stories and then weave it together in a way that's balanced and, and builds tension in both as you go through both the past story and the present story, and how they're connected.
Q: Is the film supernatural?
PHB: Um, the question I guess about whether the true story basis has any effect on what the film is trying to say in terms of assumptions about the reality of the supernatural or not, and also just that in a general sense what are the movie's assumptions about that? Um, the-- in the true story I think it was, you know, people had enough ambivalent responses to it that that really wouldn’t have had an effect in the-- ex-except just in the sense that because the true story had both arguments made so coherently that we wanted to do that as well, but that appealed to us anyway. And our idea in the film is definitely not to, um, make any previous assumptions about the validity of, uh, possession or the, you know, or the lack of that and the fact that it's always mental illness or it's always, you know, that they should have just done a medical approach.
We want the movie to really have both of those things articulated very well and shown very, very well in the film and, and compellingly so that the audience will walk away and make their own decisions. Uh, we just want to get people thinking about it and, uh, and create discussion about it and also just people examining, you know, the world like a movie like that might make you do. You go out and look around and see if maybe there's magic in the world -- something in the world that I'm not always aware of or could be there and, and it's a provocative thing to think about. Something beyond what we always pay attention to.
Q: What’s the timeframe here?
PHB: This film, I mean, compresses the experience, her whole experience, into a much shorter period of time than in the, in the underlying case which, you know, took place over many years, like you said. For dramatic purposes I mean it's a-- we made it, um, and some people do have much more intense and faster on-set experiences of these sorts of things, both in the Catholic tradition and in other countries where they have these sort of ecstatic experiences and transported like this. So we felt that was valid, but also dramatically it was a lot more effective to do that.
Q: Have you found a composer yet, or have you picked a particular musical style?
PHB: We, uh, in terms of composers we have not found one yet. Um, we have, you know, gotten tapes from people and, and resumes and had some discussions, but it's, it’s pretty premature ‘cause I know that the last time Scott and I talked about it it's-- he's still got a lot of ideas and we have ideas that we've talked about and it's, it’s been a little bit put aside now until we finish ‘cause we're so close.
Um, that'll be probably one of the biggest things we jump into as soon as we wrap, is thinking about the composer. And we agree a hundred percent that it's hugely important. Sound and music are things we're really interested in, in using, uh, to the fullest in the film.
Q: What are hoping viewers will take from EMILY ROSE after having seen it?
PHB: It's not a specific thing. It's not any, um, it’s, it's almost easier to define it first in terms of what it's not. Uh, there's no overt political or, or overarching political doctrine that we're trying to say, or religious doctrine that we're trying to say is valid, more valid. Um, or even having a religious doctrine at all. It's much more about if you think about the journey of the main character she, she has a journey that is about examining the life she's living, ethical questions, um, and, and, and how this story of what this girl goes through and what she sacrifices and experiences because of her beliefs in something bigger than herself, um, effects the lead character in terms of her own value systems and looking at her life. And I think if anything that's what it is.
It's these kind of movies that draw back the curtain on a world that maybe you believe in, maybe you don't, but that is more than just the reality of getting up in the morning, going to your job, whatever, you know, and, uh, trying to get ahead, trying to do whatever we do -- it's a way to sort of awaken you to the idea that life, an examined life is worth living. Maybe there's more to our experience than what we always see. There's-- like I was saying before you open your eyes to a more magical world, that there's something there.
And in the end if you don't believe that any of it exists on a supernatural level it's still worth thinking about in terms of taking a step back from the quotidian reality of your life and thinking about bigger, bigger issues that could inform your life: your choices, your decisions and stuff, being inspired by that. And I think there is something very inspiring in this story beyond the scary movie that could make you, you know, think hard about your own choices and your own life.
Q: Can you talk a little bit about the process you and Scott Derrickson have gone through to date?
PHB: Uh, the creative collaborative process. It's been very good. Scott and I actually met in film school and we've been working together for quite a few years, um, and in our case it's, it’s really good, you know, it's one plus one equals more than two kind of thing. Um, if you don't find a good collaborative partner I think it-- one plus one equals negative two and chaos and, and violence and whatever. It can be very difficult. I've seen partnerships where they slow each other down a lot.
I think we have a partnership where we definitely both do things we would never do if we didn't work with the other person in terms of subject matter, in terms of how we approach it. Um, we collaborate very, very fully from the beginning to the end, and that's our ideal on films we get to make, you know.
We've written for some time together and on those you-we collaborate on the screenplay from soup to nuts and then we have to let it go. Um, our goal has obviously always been to get to a point where we had sort of a, a partnership where we could make films, and in that sense we, um, so far it's been really good. We've been able to, uh, collaborate the way we always do on the screenplay and, uh, work together very much on that and then in the film process kind of divide up our creative, uh, contributions in that as well, and sort of each one watch the other-- the things the other person, you know, doesn't have to focus on as much. And it's worked out very well.
I think Scott and I both were kind of storytelling people for a long time. Um, I was probably more experienced in writing per se and he was more experienced in filmmaking, uh, when we, when we met at film school. But we both were doing both, um, and at USC you get to do all of that. You get to write scripts and you get-- if you choose to do the production program you get to actually make the films as well.
My own background was, you know, English major, uh, creative writing studies at Hopkins and then USC film school. Um, no screenwriting until film school, so I had done other types of writing and then had to learn that, you know, that medium, that, um, the craft of screenwriting specifically, but had done some playwriting and, and poetry and fiction writing and that sort of thing. Um, and, uh, and I think Scott's background as well -- he had done some theater and, and different things related to film and then he'd also made films at Loyola where he went as an undergrad.
Since then our experience has been, you know, working together. We've studied some of the courses that are out there. We've, uh, we took courses at film school. We’ve read the books on dramatic structure. I think all that's very valuable. Um, written a lot of scripts and gotten feedback from each other and other people, which is very valuable.
Um, you know, the-- one of the hardest things about screenwriting is to sit down and really do it and finish and do the next one, uh, not just talk about it or think about it. So that's the big step. But I do think doing your homework and, you know, going to film school is valuable, but we also learned a lot outside of both before we got there and since then, um, through the process of doing it and also, you know, certain select courses we've taken and things like that.
Continue to part 3….
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Staci Layne Wilson Reporting