This document provides descriptions of scenes from a student film project that aims to replicate the storyline and scenes from the movie "Paranormal Activity 1." It summarizes various scenes shot by the students involving a possessed main character named Casey. These scenes become increasingly ominous and dangerous, with the use of certain colors, camera techniques, unexpected events, and references to religious iconography to build an atmosphere of horror and suspense.
2. Our storyline is very much like the ‘Paranormal Activity 1’ storyline which features a woman and
her husband.There has been a curse placed on the woman who eventually becomes possessed
and sacrifices herself and her husband. In this scene, Casey is possessed and is standing at the
foot of the bed where Michael is sleeping.We thought it would be good to replicate this scene
as it is very recognizable and shows that Casey is possessed.The difference between the two
scenes is that the ‘Paranormal Activity’ scene is being recorded on a video camera. It shows the
time in which it is taking place.The atmosphere is also darker in contrast to ours which is much
brighter. ‘Katie’ is also wearing a white top which connotes purity and innocence but our group
decided to make Casey wear a black top as black represents the evil that is possessing her.The
red blanket at the end of the bed was also purposely placed there to complete the mise-en-
scene as red connotes blood and danger which is significant because it seems as though
Michael may be in danger.
3. In this scene, I am bringing in a box with the last few bits from
our old house. Our prop is the box which makes it clear that
we have just moved into a new home.We had already moved
in together but there was just a last box that we had forgotten
from the other house that I had to bring in.
Initially,Casey was meant to move in with her husband
Michael but unfortunately it was quite hard to get our male
actor in the daytime so instead, we made it clear that Casey is
on the phone to Michael whilst he is at work on his lunch
break.
We used different angles in order for the audience to
understand what was going on in the scene.The music also
begins to accompany the scene here and draws attention to
the image.
To draw even more attention to our main focus, we used a
close up of the photo frame.This makes the photo more
significant and draws the audience to the subject. It is also a
point of view shot as it is exactly what Casey is seeing.
4. In one of the bedroom scenes, we used a red blanket to signify
danger and as a warning to the audience.Casey is also in a
white top which shows her purity and innocence within this
particular part of the trailer.
This scene was only shot once and was also unplanned.As I
was walking and looking around, a car pulls up beside me,
making it seem like I was being followed.To make this scene
more relevant in the trailer, maybe we should add more
scenes that are outside instead of just in the house.
Casey is texting her boyfriend Michael about the dream she
had last night as she did not get a chance to see him when he
left in the morning.We changed the name of a friend on
Heeral’s contact list to ‘Michael’ and sent the text to them.
This scene was inspired by ParanormalActivity.The door
slams shut by itself making it seem like the ghostly villain is in
the house trying to tormentCasey.This is similar to the
ParanormalActivity bedroom scene where she is dragged out
of the room and the door slams shut by itself.
5. We used the pull focus technique on this scene.We see the
camera in full focus and eventually blur it out which rolls into
the next scene.This makes the audience aware that the
person in the image may be the reason why the paranormal
activities are going on in the house.
In this clip, I have just fallen down the stairs unexpectedly.Our
aim was to make it look like I had been pulled by a hidden
identity.Casey’s reaction makes it obvious that something
strange was going on.
We kept the red blanket which indicated danger.Casey is
wearing black which could indicate the change that she is
about to go through in the trailer.
Michael is walking through the kitchen when the door
suddenly slams shut by itself.The only problem is that, there
is no significant sound that shows that the door has been
slammed shut. It would be much more intense if a loud sound
was used to accompany this action.
6. This is our last scene which was very successful. Even though the
shot was n’t exactly planned, it still worked very well. It makes the
audience wait abit and then has a sudden jump which is
conventional in horror trailers.
Casey is seen levitating in this scene. We thought it would be clever
to include the religious candles on the floor as it is quite symbolic
and iconography is a convention for horror.
This scene was shot at a canted angle. We used this angle in an aim to
confuse the audience and make them wonder what exactly is going on in
the scene. I used our knife to make it look like I was cutting my face
open. To make this more effective we should have shown the knife abit
more.
I like the way all the doors are white but Casey is lurking in the darkness.
This could represent her innocence being washed away and her entering
the evil side. As she closes the door and all the audience can see are the
white doors.