Deconstruction: Paranormal Activity

Paranormal Activity Trailer

The trailer begins with the production company filming the audience entering a cinema screen. This is done in order to show those who haven’t seen the film, just how scary the film is. Their reaction is filmed constantly throughout the film, with little snippets shown during the trailer. Although the night vision scene of the audience is green, the night vision used in the film is blue.

There is a shot where the cameraman stands facing a mirror, allowing the audience to see that he is a character within the film. This adds to the realism of the piece because in a standard Hollywood blockbuster, the cameramen are never normally seen as characters.

Throughout the length of the film, there are constantly dates and times in the bottom right hand corner so that the audience can keep track of how the events are panning out – is there a key clue in between the time these events are occurring?

The trailer also includes a wide range of about 5 different magazine or newspaper reviews. This shows the audience that the film really is as good as it looks. It also gives the audience a small insight into the film, that the trailer doesn’t, it adds extra-unseen detail.

A key part within this trailer is the storyline. By showing the audience small occurrences that are happening due to this entity, it builds up the audience’s adrenaline and makes them want to see the film even more. E.g. footprints in the house, bite marks on the victim and swinging chandeliers.

At the end of the trailer, the title appears. Although this doesn’t specifically relate to the colour scheme like Quarantine did, the simple grey colour scheme, adds a child sense of eeriness and horror to the title as well as the film itself.

Sound:

At the beginning, as the audience is filmed entering the cinema, there is non-diegetic sound of a quiet, deep drone. This adds tension to the footage that the audience are about to see. This drone continues throughout the whole trailer however, other diegetic sounds are added in over the top such as talking, shouting, screaming and doors slamming and foot steps. This adds to the realism of the film. One thing I did notice was that this film didn’t have camera static like Quarantine. This is a benefit as the high pitch static noise can become uneasy to listen to after a while.