Make Your Own Paranormal Activity Video
Can you guess what’s the most profitable movie of all time?
Nope – it’s not Star Wars.
It’s not even this guy —
It’s “Paranormal Activity.” With a budget of $450,000, it grossed about $90 million worldwide for an ROI of 19,000 percent! Any filmmaker would want returns like that!
“Paranormal Activity” had a lot of publicity, before it hit the big screen.
Similar to the movie “The Blair Witch”, “Paranormal Activity” has made it big. Amateur video makers are making different videos everyday. The web site, You Tube, gives individuals the opportunity to try their luck at video production. With a little work, thought and help, you could make your own paranormal activity video.
You need the right equipment, preferably a reliable, run-and-gun style DSLR camera. If you don’t have the right video equipment, borrow it from a friend or rent it. You want to be able to video tape at least ninety minutes. Later, you can get it transferred to a DVD disk.
Organize your crew. You will need actors, a set, film crew, sound person and special affects individual. All of these individuals will be amateurs.
Select a script and a title. It is the script that will lead the viewer, on a journey through the video from start to finish. You don’t need a lot of lines for the actors. Keep word content to a minimum. Let the viewers use their own minds, to set the action. You just want to give lead ideas with your word content.
Lines like, “What was that?” “Did you hear that?” “Listen!” or “Over there.”, will give enough direction to keep the viewers interest.
The set in Blair Witch was the woods. In Paranormal Activity, it was a house. Pick something different like a Mausoleum, cemetery or warehouse. Make sure that you get permission to use these areas. this way you won’t get in trouble for trespassing.
Once you have your set, incorporate your script. Plan where your special affects and sound affects will be used. Timing is critical in making a good paranormal activity video. The affects of both special and sound have to enter at the right point. The secret to a good video is to keep the viewer wondering what will happen next. Let them formulate their own thoughts, by what they see.
Lead your viewers through the video from start to finish. The people that help you have to be serious. You can’t have individuals laughing and snickering through the video. You are almost leading your audience, by the hand, from the beginning to the end.
Always have a final conclusion to your video. They need to know that their journey is over one way or another for the time being.
Once your video is finished, view it alone with your fellow workers. Now is the time to laugh and snicker at things, that you couldn’t before. You are now set to preview the video with your friends.
Have refreshments for your viewing. Always begin the video, by explaining what you were trying to accomplish with your paranormal activity video. This will help set the stage for the video for the viewer.
Remember, this is done for fun, by amateurs. I don’t think you will make $22 million dollars. However, I do think you will have fun creating a movie and learning from the experience.
