Hey, I have a simple question. What style of filming would you call paranormal activity particularly the first one? Or is there even a name for it? Thanks
Paranormal Activity Film Style Question
- Thread starter bigBiscuit728
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Ah thank you now I understand
Everybody has their opinion... i call it B-O-R-I-N-G style. I got the DVd and gave up after a few minutes & I love horror
It does get less boring as it goes, but it suffers from a very common problem to most ghost/spirit films: The actions of the paranormal entities make absolutely no sense whatsoever. For me, this kills the tension and the movie winds up being silly instead of scary.
The only thing I found genuinely creepy about the first film was the footage shown of the exorcism. It did have plenty of tension but overall its not as scary as it was advertised to be.
As for this style of cinema I think that like anything it can become drawn out and become less and less effective.
As for this style of cinema I think that like anything it can become drawn out and become less and less effective.
I thought the term "found footage" - security/surveillance cams, phone cams, etc. - was currently in vogue.
It's all opinion...
I'm a film geek, with what I would call good taste in films (ha ha), and I enjoyed Paranormal Activity. It was one of the few recent films that tapped-in to a side of me I've tried to forget--evil spirits, ghosts, hauntings...I had some odd experiences as a child and this film sorta hit a few things on the head...
I think it really did a good job of creeping me out. And the way they used the specter was great.
Anyway...I hated Blair Witch FYI...so it's not the style I particularly love...it was just something about PA that hit its mark.
Spoiler:
It did somethings very well, and other things needed work. Like the scene where her leg gets pulled slowly from the bed, and she gets dragged off asleep, and then her fear as she comes to...they really hit that one right on the head. Great creep out.
I'm a film geek, with what I would call good taste in films (ha ha), and I enjoyed Paranormal Activity. It was one of the few recent films that tapped-in to a side of me I've tried to forget--evil spirits, ghosts, hauntings...I had some odd experiences as a child and this film sorta hit a few things on the head...
I think it really did a good job of creeping me out. And the way they used the specter was great.
Anyway...I hated Blair Witch FYI...so it's not the style I particularly love...it was just something about PA that hit its mark.
Spoiler:
It did somethings very well, and other things needed work. Like the scene where her leg gets pulled slowly from the bed, and she gets dragged off asleep, and then her fear as she comes to...they really hit that one right on the head. Great creep out.
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That's the term I would use, "found footage", though the terms "Gimmicky", and "lazy" might also come to mind.
Sorry to nitpick here, but PA isn't "found footage" at all. It's just supposed to look like it is. It's more of a crappy movie with a vaguely interesting post-modern take on verite style, IMO.
"Found Footage" is sort of a hot thing at the moment. I was just at a screening of some of Rick Prelinger's work a couple weeks ago. He likes to use the term "ephemera," but basically the same thing. Archival stuff, re-purposed. There was an interesting part of the discussion where he talked about folks in the academic world applying auteur theory to large collections of industrial and educational films done by the same producer/director. Someone on the panel joked that the reason may be that PhD candidates are running out of fresh things to publish about. Kind of wacky, but interesting in an abstract way.
http://www.archive.org/details/LostLandscapesOfDetroit2010
http://www.archive.org/details/panorama_ephemera2004
I became a big fan of this kind of stuff in college. "Removed" is probably still one of my all time favorite films. Craig Baldwin (I think I have that right) and Jay Rosenblatt also do this kind of stuff. Actually, if you can track down "Human Remains" by Rosenblatt, I highly recommend it.
http://www.jayrosenblattfilms.com/human_remains.php
And that's my pedantic post for today.
"Found Footage" is sort of a hot thing at the moment. I was just at a screening of some of Rick Prelinger's work a couple weeks ago. He likes to use the term "ephemera," but basically the same thing. Archival stuff, re-purposed. There was an interesting part of the discussion where he talked about folks in the academic world applying auteur theory to large collections of industrial and educational films done by the same producer/director. Someone on the panel joked that the reason may be that PhD candidates are running out of fresh things to publish about. Kind of wacky, but interesting in an abstract way.
http://www.archive.org/details/LostLandscapesOfDetroit2010
http://www.archive.org/details/panorama_ephemera2004
I became a big fan of this kind of stuff in college. "Removed" is probably still one of my all time favorite films. Craig Baldwin (I think I have that right) and Jay Rosenblatt also do this kind of stuff. Actually, if you can track down "Human Remains" by Rosenblatt, I highly recommend it.
http://www.jayrosenblattfilms.com/human_remains.php
And that's my pedantic post for today.