Paranormal Activity
(Psychological thriller genre – 5 minute clip)
The opening sequence starts with a few seconds of plain, pure black background and silence, this ensures the audience is kept in eager bewilderment and kept at the edges of their seats, thrilled to see what happens next. Then slowly a simple white caption stating, ‘Paramount Pictures would like to thank the families of Micah Sloat & Katie Featherston and the San Diego Police Department’, appears in the middle frame of the screen with a fading in transition, and fades out after a couple of seconds. The simplicity and vague content within this statement can be intentionally developed to create confusion and speculation amongst the audience. Also the use of documentary style format is generally associated with police investigative files/cases, which further enigma codes a major/serious event lays ahead.
Moving on, the audience is then startled with the sudden burst of diegetic sound appearing of the music coming from the television where we view a medium-shot of the television, which seems to be among an environment of a home. We notice the realism within this movie straight away, once we see this home is existent, and is just as similar to any other home, this mise-en-scene suggests a sense of ordinariness. Also considering the fact, up to this point, there has been no special use of instrumental music as such to influence the film’s mood, however just capturing the audio which is heard in the atmosphere.
Moving on, the audience is then startled with the sudden burst of diegetic sound appearing of the music coming from the television where we view a medium-shot of the television, which seems to be among an environment of a home. We notice the realism within this movie straight away, once we see this home is existent, and is just as similar to any other home, this mise-en-scene suggests a sense of ordinariness. Also considering the fact, up to this point, there has been no special use of instrumental music as such to influence the film’s mood, however just capturing the audio which is heard in the atmosphere.
A panning motion of a segment of the room is shown, where we immediately discover this element is being captured from a hand-held camera, where then we see a cut to the character who is holding the camera as he films himself in the mirror, this could have purely been sequenced this way in order to allow the viewers to acknowledge what type of movie they are watching, which begins to connote a documentary style conventional film, considering the non-professionalism in the type of film work, with the titled, shaky angles of the camera position, which can further suggest a sense of mass disorientation.
More so, the lighting within the house denotes natural lighting as the uneven consistency in the spread of darkness to light can connote uncertainty, and also further solidify the fact this is an objective home video, in a sense of, what we see is what we get, which can begin to alert the viewers, as they begin feeling the events that unfold in this film could actually reflect supposed reality, due to the natural features in this film. There is an enhanced use of ambient sounds of the atmosphere in the background; the intensity of the sound seems to be purposely deteriorated in volume to build an unsettling effect. Also the heightened sound effect of his footsteps accelerates the rising tension amidst the eery silence. Furthermore, the perplexed panning shots with the use of irregular editing, confirm filming of improvised instinct, where we begin to hear the sound effects of a phone ringing, this is bound to alarm the audience, as this can be generalized as a typical convention of a horror thriller.
More so, the lighting within the house denotes natural lighting as the uneven consistency in the spread of darkness to light can connote uncertainty, and also further solidify the fact this is an objective home video, in a sense of, what we see is what we get, which can begin to alert the viewers, as they begin feeling the events that unfold in this film could actually reflect supposed reality, due to the natural features in this film. There is an enhanced use of ambient sounds of the atmosphere in the background; the intensity of the sound seems to be purposely deteriorated in volume to build an unsettling effect. Also the heightened sound effect of his footsteps accelerates the rising tension amidst the eery silence. Furthermore, the perplexed panning shots with the use of irregular editing, confirm filming of improvised instinct, where we begin to hear the sound effects of a phone ringing, this is bound to alarm the audience, as this can be generalized as a typical convention of a horror thriller.
However this interpretation is juxtaposed when we see a mid close-up shot of the man’s phone ringing; where when answered, he initiates the conversion with an informal ‘wassup’, which signifies this casual manner of conversing conveys a close-relationship, of the participant on the other side of the phone. We then see the man approaches the door to supposedly greet in the person on the phone,(considering up to this point, and at random times throughout the clip he has used the camera as his point-of-view shot), where as we see a medium-shot of the setting outside the door, showing a clear, blue sky, and calm surroundings, when yet again the same type of format in which the statement at the beginning of the clip had occurred, a white font caption had faded in and faded out stating; ‘San Diego, CA September 18th, 2006’, this allows us to recognize, the location and the time in which these actions are taking place, also highlighting a documented theme.
At this point a car drives into the front car park, and the camera shot slowly zooms into the other character, while approaching, when we are introduced to a female character, as they begin bantering in a friendly way, with dialogue references to each other such as ‘baby’ indicating there is an intimate relationship between the two characters is due to the fact they are a couple. These mundane actions link to reality as being as normal as any other day, further drawing in the audience, as they can similarly relate to these characters. The clip uses a few jump cuts and continuity editing throughout this clip, suggesting the film camera is manually stopped and recorded in different intervals of the day, which can also be interpreted as a slight use of minimal ellipsis.
The clip progresses for a couple of seconds with this use of technique, as the couple tour their new house and converse warmly. At around 1 minute and 30 seconds into the movie clip, the audience begin to acknowledge the purpose and concept of this documentary style home video, as we begin hearing dialogue of the male character, who begins talking about the reason behind filming, as there is a first reference to the title of this film; ‘paranormal phenomenon’, and he further elaborates while in the kitchen on the fact that if any bizarre activity happens within the house, it will be detected on camera and light-heartedly says he will take care of it, while gesturing with a knife, where this is a use of non-diegetic sound, amplifying the aggressive motion in which he is moving it, implying a certain level of threat.
More over, whenever both characters are talking into the camera, it seems they are indirectly talking to the viewers; this assures that full attention can always be drawn in, especially when Micah approached the camera, and personifies the camera by making references such as; ‘are you ok’ and such, firstly showing his attachment to this camera and also secondarily check whether their audience still hold their interest, which personally creates a bond and comfort zone immediately with the viewers and themselves, as we begin recognising these couple, as the protagonists. This is represented by their occasional share of affection when kissing each other, connoting their deep caring and love fore each other, as we primarily feel empathy for them. Nevertheless, the conversation slowly begins entwining into the notion of the movie, as Micah begins mentioning, setting off any ‘paranormal activity’, yet again in the somewhat carefree manner, without realising the seriousness of the situation, which by Katie questions him, ‘you believe me right?’. This enigma codes the entire sequence of the film, considering the psychological aspect involved in this type of genre base, allowing the viewers to take a minute to venture on their own beliefs, guaranteeing the audience’s focus is sharper at this point.
We begin to sense a change in the atmosphere around 4 minutes and 40 seconds into the clip, as the couple are seen to carry on with their leisure/everyday life, when Katie suddenly turns her head to the left portion of the room, connoting the hidden panic to any type of encounter with indistinct movement or sound in the house, showing us how Katie is put on edge, as she taps Micah to direct this sound, making them both nervous, leaving us anticipating to see what this may be, since the camera is only facing them. There is a jump cut, to the camera being faced in a different area of the house, where the couple are trying to trace this sound of movement, which denotes the fact that the camera was yet again switched off and back on, to create a genuine effect, however in terms of editing, I believe this specific jump cut, could have been deliberate to play with the shaky threshold of fear we experience, once we realise there may be some sort of peril in the house. Tension slowly builds and rises, amidst the overwhelming lingering silence, the camera is touring the part of the house to uncover the truth behind the specific noise or movement, the natural effect of the camera motion, connotes the inclusion of viewers, while altering camera angles, from a high level to a low level, almost juggling the apprehension in the viewers’ emotions.
We begin to sense a change in the atmosphere around 4 minutes and 40 seconds into the clip, as the couple are seen to carry on with their leisure/everyday life, when Katie suddenly turns her head to the left portion of the room, connoting the hidden panic to any type of encounter with indistinct movement or sound in the house, showing us how Katie is put on edge, as she taps Micah to direct this sound, making them both nervous, leaving us anticipating to see what this may be, since the camera is only facing them. There is a jump cut, to the camera being faced in a different area of the house, where the couple are trying to trace this sound of movement, which denotes the fact that the camera was yet again switched off and back on, to create a genuine effect, however in terms of editing, I believe this specific jump cut, could have been deliberate to play with the shaky threshold of fear we experience, once we realise there may be some sort of peril in the house. Tension slowly builds and rises, amidst the overwhelming lingering silence, the camera is touring the part of the house to uncover the truth behind the specific noise or movement, the natural effect of the camera motion, connotes the inclusion of viewers, while altering camera angles, from a high level to a low level, almost juggling the apprehension in the viewers’ emotions.
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