Analysing Films - Paranormal Activity

This film which I am analysing was a very successful horror movie. Paranormal Activity is a 2007 American supernatural horror film; this is the first film of the paranormal activity franchise. So this film evidently set the bench mark for the other ones to lead on from. It is presented in the style of "found footage", from cameras set up by the couple in an attempt to document what is haunting them. The idea of this filming gave the eerie, unexpected effect which good horror films should incorporate, this is because it leaves the viewer in suspense and thinking something is going to happen and therefore makes the viewer scared. Also the camera angles they use are effective because when the camera is moved away from a location the consumer expects something to happen when it returns so it truly leaves them on edge.You don’t quite feel safe as it feels like you're actually there behind the camera experiencing it. This again leaves the viewer in suspense which consequently adds to the horror effect. The lighting plays a big role in the film in order to give it the horror feel, the lighting is often dark and gloomy, which makes the viewer feel unsafe, and consequently most of the jump scares and action happens when it is at night. This is because the dark is a connotation for scary, bad or evil. This trailer is has had some of it filmed within a cinema to show other people’s reactions and as a result this makes you feel as if you are sat there experiencing it with them, this builds up the atmosphere and suspense. The sound also is a vital part of setting the horror genre, sometimes in the film it has no sound accept the natural sound at night, this therefore scares the viewer because they don’t know what to expect. The bangs and beats in the trailer build up suspense and also make it scary. The sound overall is an extremely important part of horror films like paranormal activity as it draws the viewer in.