Paranormal Activity is the latest phenomenon to sweep the world. With its low budget and huge box office returns, it is perhaps the most profitable film ever.
Content and substance aside, what truly interests me about the film are the technical aspects behind it, or rather, its production. As an, dare I say, up and coming filmmaker, these aspects of such films are what I focus on in order to broaden my possibilities.
First off, director Oren Peli has no formal film training. He was previously a video game designer and worked as a day trader during the 90s. This is very exciting because suddenly, I’m only a video camera and a few credit cards away from having a film I can call my own. When I read about Steven Spielberg, Peter Jackson and the like, I become discouraged because their endeavors are too massive for me to even think I can accomplish something like that. It is too long a road. I know they too started at the bottom, but all that is out there is information about their next big budget blockbuster.
The film was directed on the directors own personal computer. This is great news for everybody, especially for computer enthusiasts, which I also happen to be. Since computers get faster by the day, so to speak, I foresee more and more people ditching editing services, their subsequent cost and instead, preparing a system that can not only edit one’s current production, but many more in the future. I, myself have stacks of computer hardware I can put to good use.
Filming was done in the director’s home. The first thing that comes to mind is the money you don’t have to spend and the hassles you don’t have to go through when you use your own property as a production location, especially when the entire film takes place within the confines of that property. (Note: Oren Peli spent a year prepping his home for shooting. The costs of these preparations were not part of the film’s production budget, however, if you settle for a place in decent enough shape or are willing to use any given location in whatever condition it maybe, then the savings would be substantial.)
There was no need for a camera crew. As can be seen on the film, the actors themselves also served as the camera crew. This was due to the film’s format and I’m sure it wasn’t done this way just to eliminate a film crew. I like the notion of no camera crew because being in charge of a large group of people makes me nervous and for that reason I welcome anything that might get the crew size reduced. Or maybe, I should just get over it and do what has to be done. What do you think?
One thing they couldn’t escape however, was the grueling hours of work. Even though production took only one week, they were working 18 hours per day.
These production notes are great and useful tips for those of us looking to make films. I will be back with more of these tips from other low budgets features, so that together we can broaden our possibilities.
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