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Micah Sloat and Katie Featherston in Paranormal Activity
Photo credit:
Paramount Studios
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What stands out most is his blend of writing and acting. Clearly, the movie was at least scripted in terms of plot before shooting. He attempted (with success) to portray what is supposed to be spontaneous video shot by character Micah, the boyfriend of his haunted girlfriend Katie. But this creates a host of other problems in filmmaking, primarily acting.
The goal in this movie is not to display good acting, but no acting, and that is incredibly difficult to accomplish, even for the most gifted actor. Larry David achieves this effect in “Curb Your Enthusiasm”, but Mr. David is producing a comedy, and comedy is much more forgiving because you are supposed to laugh, and so it’s OK if the audience detects acting faux pas.
The ultimate fear in the production of drama is that the audience will break out in laughter due to poor acting, poor dialogue or implausible story construction. Yet there is not one instance of this happening in Paranormal Activity. It is a testament to Oren Peli’s filmmaking skills and the acting of Micah Sloat and Katie Featherston. It should be noted that the psychic played by Mark Fredrichs also stays true to form and his scenes are played out in a serious but impromptu fashion with great effect.
The filmmaking dilemma is this, you want to create what appears to be everyday life shot in a random way, but you have a story to tell with information that needs to get to the audience in order to make it interesting. The only way to accomplish this is to ask the actors to go off script and adlib while still saying the necessary lines. Oren Peli found actors who could accomplish this feat and they were lucky if they were paid $50 a day plus lunch at McDonalds.
There are many directors who refuse to let actors to go off script and will even reprimand anyone who does. And if the actor has a short resume, they may find themselves without a job.
Life is filled with random expletives, asides, mundane comments and jokes. But those are not what moves a story forward, and every scriptwriting book will tell you that if dialogue doesn’t move the story forward, cut it out.
The style of filmmaking displayed by Oren Peli is hard to pull off, and it is why it is not often used. It is a minor miracle that Oren not only pulled it off, but got it to theaters in wide release and made millions of dollars (for someone) in the process.
Like a rookie batter who hits a grand slam his first time at bat, the defining moment of Oren’s career has come right at the beginning. He and the actors involved will have the opportunity to move on to bigger projects, and it is likely they will be successful to at least some degree, because they have all showed their talent in the most raw form of filming.
Yes, it is no fluke that Paranormal Activity has been successful at the box office. It is a well made film. Paramount Studios will likely make a sequel, and likely, it will not be as successful. But a new form of filmmaking is taking hold. It has the promise of great success and great failure. Either way, it is already breathing new life into the world of movies.
