4. CONVENTIONS OF PARANORMAL FILMS
AND EXAMPLES FROM FILMS
• Usually involve some kind of demon or devil possessing something or
someone, or just haunting a place, such as in paranormal activity.
• The special effects often include people doing things unnatural, such as
the bending and twisting out of shape of bodies in the Exorcist.
• Very simple, subtle props are used to produce scares, by slightly moving
as if they have been moved by a ghost.
• Lighting is usually quite varied, can be overly dark at night, due to
power cuts etc, or can be normal in daylight to make it seem more
realistic.
• Deep slow non diegetic music is usually played in some scenes to create
tension. Loud screams are often used to scare the audience.
• Usually set in semi-detached houses in sub-urban areas, to make the
victims seem helpless but also make it more realistic, and could happen
to anyone.
• There are many cuts, keeping these films fast paced. There is also a wide
range of close ups, revealing something or showing emotion on
characters faces.
5. WHAT WILL HAPPEN IN MY OTS
• Establishing shot of a house
• Few shots inside the house, showing close ups of different objects
• Character is introduced in bed, its late and they are asleep
• Character is awoken by a noise coming from downstairs.
• Character grabs phone and slowly goes downstairs
• Noises are heard from a room
• The character moves towards the sounds, only guided by the light of their phone.
• Room is shown to be a mess, but no one is there
• Shot reverse shot between characters face and the mess
• Behind the character appears something, along with a loud screech (jumpscare)
6. HOW IS MY OTS MEETING
CONVENTIONS?
From the list I made on a previous slide, my OTS will
meet many of the conventions expected from this
genre. It will involve a haunting, special effects for the
ghost, it will use the simple props from a regular
household, will include tension building music, and
loud sounds to cause jump scares and it will be set in
an average semi-detached house.
7. MY NARRATIVE ENIGMAS
My narrative enigma will be what is
the ghost, why is it there and how
will the character deal with it. Also,
did the character in my scene survive
8. MAIN TARGETS TO MAKE MY OTS
EFFECTIVE
• I wish to use different and unconventional camera angles, to create a
more unsettling effect, therefore my camerawork must be good.
• I want my OTS to be gripping enough to keep an audience interested,
but not over the top and overly complicated. I want my OTS to be
simple but affective, with an interesting story.
• I must edit my OTS well to make it effective, as if it is edited poorly then
it will become more funny then scary.
