What I See: 'Paranormal Activity'

A few months ago while browsing the Yahoo! homepage in hopes of finding something interest to read, I came across a news item about a low-budget indie film that is both impressing and scaring the living daylights out of audiences. Unfortunately, at that time ‘Paranormal Activity’ had still not mustered enough support from distributors to attain a theatrical release nation-wide. Intrigued not so much by the “scariest film of the decade” tag, but more so by the director’s decision to capture the film in a singular location with only two main characters – I immediately signed up to “demand” the film in New York City.

Oren Peli’s ‘Paranormal Activity’ tells the story of a young couple, Katie and Micah, who recently moved into their new house in suburban San Francisco. Through the dialogue exchanged between Katie and Micah in the opening scenes, we learn that the couple has been experiencing some rather unusual noises, like knocking and footsteps, in the middle of the night. Hoping to capture on camera whoever or whatever is haunting them, Micah decides to film their home while they are sleeping.

The concept of recovered footage has been utilized before in films like ‘Cloverfield’ and ‘The Blair Witch Project,’ but never have I seen it so well executed; especially without the help of an established crew and a vast list of production equipment. Most of the night scenes were filmed on a tripod in the couple’s bedroom with wide-angle lens and deep depth of field in order for the audiences to have a clear view of Katie and Micah, as well as the hallway outside. In the scenes that the camera is taken out of the bedroom, Katie or Micah operate it by hand and frame the shots presented on screen. With Peli directing their actions from afar, it is obvious that the two actors also take on the role of cinematographer in ‘Paranormal Activity.’

Unlike contemporary horror flicks with excessive amounts of blood and gore, Oren Peli manages to get inside of the viewer’s head with minimal special effects and improvised, realistic circumstances. His limited budget of $15,000 in all likelihood did not allow him to employ sophisticated lighting either, but the night vision add-on attached to the camcorder is sufficient to make out the ominous shadow against the door or the lifting of the bed sheet just before Katie is violently dragged down the hall by the demonic perpetrator. To ensure the realistic quality of the film, Peli’s technical choices for the visuals remain consistent throughout. It is the amateurish home video feel of ‘Paranormal Activity’ that lingers in our minds long after we leave the theater, and makes us believe that the same may happen when we go to bed and close our eyes…