Paranormal Activity

1. Paranormal Activity
Jodie Birkbeck

2. P a r a n o r m a l A c t i v i t y
The movie: The film ‘Paranormal Activity’ was
directed by Oren Peli in 2097. The film wasn’t
released straight away because it was bought
by Paramount Vantage who wanted to remake
it with stars; budget and FX, however plans to
remake it were scrapped because Paramount
made cutbacks and closed down vantage.
Despite this, news was leaked on forums about
the high-profile interests of Steven Spielberg
who allegedly suggested the ending that the
released version has.
The studio rolled the film out on several midnight screenings across the
country on September 25th to help spread the word. Paramount also took
a risk and used a quote from Dread Central which is the premier website
for breaking news, original content and active community in the world of
horror, covering movies, DVD’s and games. The quote was that it was the
‘scariest movie of all time’ which was to try and get people interested.

3. P a r a n o r m a l A c t i v i t y
Paramount started a ‘viral campaign’ by using
social networking sites such as Twitter and
Facebook asking them to ‘tweet their screams’
which also helped spread the word to everyone on
the sites as they are guaranteed to see it
mentioned a lot.
Paramount also asked fans to determine where the
film would show next by clicking the ‘demand’
button on the website and some people
demanded it to be shown in their hometowns so it
gives the fans a sense of ownership because they
believe they helped spread the work making them
want to go and see it.
The movie made around 5 million dollars that weekend, pushing it to the
top 5 while playing on only 15 screens. The film was only made with a cost
of $15,000 although after the success in America, the movie was released
worldwide and by January 2010 the movie had made a total of
$193,355,800.

4. P a r a n o r m a l A c t i v i t y
The trailer: The trailer for ‘Paranormal Activity’
attempts to persuade the audience to see the film
by using several typical horror convention such as
fast editing; high angle shots; low angle shots;
diegetic and non-diegetic sound; crescendo's and
dinmuendo’s . This all has an impact on the trailer
and the audience by making us wonder what is
going to happen. Other conventions that are used
are title, card, dialogue and representation.
At the very start of the trailer Equilibrium is created
by a very bright mise-en-scene which is an
example of generic memory as it makes us predict
something is going to happen. This is ironic as it
never returns to a peaceful and balanced mise-en-
scene and it all goes downhill from there. This is also
a slight muffled sound which makes the audience
wonder if someone may already be in the house;
watching over them.

5. P a r a n o r m a l A c t i v i t y
The trailer: It is undercut as the titled, hand-held
camera gives the sense of instability in the
characters. It makes it seem as though we are
looking through the eyes of someone else and they
are vulnerable and being watched. The use of
hand-held camera is used to give more of a
realistic feeling to the trailer which emphasises the
fact its meant to be based on a true story. It also
gives us the impression that there is something
unstable and uneasy about the characters which
happens to be significant about the ending. It also
makes us think whether or not there could be
something wrong with their relationship because he
is constantly following her around with the camera
and he is obsessed about filming. There is
something said that makes the audience wonder
about are asleep and aren't filming themselves.

6. P a r a n o r m a l A c t i v i t y
The trailer: The camera is looking down on them
making both characters look weak. When they are
asleep there is a dissolve shot in the middle of the
night as well as the code changing too which
implies time is passing. At this stage the mise-en-
scene is darker and more at ease although it
dissolves later into the night with the crescendo
building up to the sound of footsteps which is when
they wake up. Dialogue is then used as the
evidence shows there are “footsteps in but no
footsteps out” making us wonder that whatever it is
may still be in their bedroom.
It then cuts onto a title card with a sforzando which
says “one of the scariest movies of all time” which
id a recommendation from the American Horror
website “bloody-disgusting”. The sforzando gives
the transition impact which is also created by the
interference of the screen.

7. P a r a n o r m a l A c t i v i t y
The trailer: The editing speeds up to create
excitement and suspense along with the sound of
non-diegetic heartbeat which gradually grows
faster as they become more scared and aware of
what's after them. There is a voice over of
supernatural investigators “you cannot hide from
this” which is guiding us along the story and making
it seem more intriguing to make us go and see it.
During this Katie is being shot at a high angle
making her look even weaker which is ironic as it
ends with a long shot of Katie sitting screaming on
the floor rocking back and forth as the non
diegetic sound fades away. This is what the trailer
has been leading up to.
All of these factors make and attract the audience
to go and see it because it plays with our generic
memory and puts a lot thoughts and questions into
our head that need to be answered.

8. P a r a n o r m a l A c t i v i t y
The trailer: the next shot fades away to black and then fades up. During
this there is no non diegetic sound and the fixed camera is used to tell us
what is happening when they are not filming evidence themselves. They
are both asleep in bed while we are looking down on them to indicate
they are both targets which is significant as the sheets blow across the bed
by a supernatural wind while there is a crescendo to give impact to the
door slamming shut. It then cuts to a little card as it doesn’t want to give
too much away. The voice over over the title card guides us along an lets
the audience know more about the film.
There is a quick dissolve into the final scare which makes it more exiting as
we were expecting the trailer to be finished. The final scare is the sound of
Katie's voice ,please, please as mika flies out towards the camera and hits
it as another crescendo reaches its peace to emphasise the impact. The
last cut is the billing block and the voice over points out it is showing in
theatres everywhere because you demanded it .it ends with short, snappy
words to make it sound vague and exiting without revealing too much.

9. P a r a n o r m a l A c t i v i t y
Codes and conventions of the trailer:
• Studio information
• Slow pace, gradually builds up to a climax
• Title of the film itself
• No mention of actors names unlike other trailers
• Eerie non-diegetic music used
• The trailer itself is only 1 minute 26 seconds, where as
most trailers are around two and a half minutes.

10. P a r a n o r m a l A c t i v i t y
The sound:
Obviously the sound of a horror trailer significantly enhance whether the
trailer comes across as the director hopes it will. One of the main sounds
used throughout the Paranormal Activity trailer is the “fuzz” sound that is
repeated one numerous occasions throughout the trailer.
The sound:
The audience reaction is also used throughout this
trailer which isn’t a common feature amongst most
trailers. The audience reaction used throughout the
trailer stimulate a response from the director point of
view. This also indicate how scary, in fact, the horror
trailer is.