Paranormal Activity (2009)

  After recently moving in together in a home in the suburbs, a couple is terrorised by a demon, whose presence becomes more and more prominent.

  The director and writer of the film is Oren Peli. It's stars are Katie Featherstone and Micah Sloat. The film had a budget of $15,000 but still managed to pull in $77,873 on it's opening weekend (despite the fact it was only on 12 screens in the USA at the time). It's total gross was $193,355,800.
  The main problem faced by the film came about due to it's supernatural theme. It needed to make the supernatural seem believable to the audience.
  This was done through several ways. First, the audience were given a skeptic to identify with (Micah). As the film goes on, and the skeptic loses doubt, we are inclined to lose our doubt as well. Another technique used was the bringing in of 'experts', in this case it was Dr Frederichs and Dr Abraham (although we never see the latter). Another alternative for an 'expert' is the internet, which was also used in trying to uncover more information.
  Suspense is achieved with things such as the use of a handheld camera: it is not shot professionally so in a way we feel more into the story. Because we also watch over them sleeping, we see them to be vulnerable. The bed which they are on is white, however the rest of the room is also surrounded by darkness, which signifies the demon's presence, which surrounds them. There is also a lack of non diegetic sound, however this helps makes simple noises become scarier. There is also an effective use of volume - the audience jump when there is a sudden increase in volume.