Interview [Written]: Oren Peli
An interview from “Guerilla Filmmaker’s Pocketbook” with Oren Peli, writer-director-producer of the micro-budget to macro-profits phenomenon which is Paranormal Activity.
Q — What is your background?
Oren — I have no film background — Paranormal Activity was the first thing I did in film. I’m a computer games programmer which I did growing up as a kid in Israel. With games, you’re dealing with the placement of lighting, actors, choreography and the visual representation of things on a screen. You have to deal with camera angles. There is some storytelling, but in video games it’s more interactive. Plus I was comfortable with computers, which helped with the editing and visual effects.
Q — How did the idea for the film come about?
Oren — I moved to a new house and I started hearing noises at night. My first instinct wasn’t that the house was haunted, but it did get me to think about what was going on. It lead me to the idea of what if someone did think their house was haunted and wanted to prove or disprove it, so they set up a video camera. Then what if they let it play all night and the next day saw something scary in the footage. I was inspired by slower paced horror films like The Blair Witch Project and Rosemary’s Baby where the audience has to use their imagination more to get the scares. I didn’t tell anyone I was making the movie. Not my neighbors. Not my co-workers. Only my small crew, my parents and my girlfriend knew.
Q — How long was your screenwriting and prep process?
Oren — About a year. I did a lot of research on filmmaking and ghosts. I had to learn how to do everything. What kind of camera should I use? How do I mix audio? I practiced with the editing software and learnt what I could and couldn’t do with visual effects, then I wrote the plot around that. I also read a lot of books and web articles on the process of filmmaking so that when I got to set, I was like an automated machine. I also bought a lot of books and watched a lot of movies and documentaries about ghosts, hauntings, demons, possessions and exorcisms. I tried to make myself an expert so the story was credible.
Q — Was it difficult taking the leap to making a movie?
Oren — It wasn’t that tough because my life was going on as it would and this was something I was doing on the side. I figured if nothing happens because the movie turns out horrible or it’s good but nobody does anything with it, at least I did something fun. Plus a lot of people spend a lot more money on their hobbies and still don’t have something that could change their lives. There was never a script. It was more like a simple treatment. In the film, all the dialogue was improvised. The treatment was like: a couple goes to sleep, such and such happens and then they investigate… As we were getting closer, I refined it more and as we were shooting it was really brought to life by the actors.
For the rest of the interview, go here.
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