Interview: Paranormal Activity Dir. Oren Peli

recess' Sanette Tanaka recently spoke with Paranormal Activity director Oren Peli on a college conference call. The film, about a couple who moves into a new house only to find it haunted by a demonic spirit, has been hyped to be one of the scariest of the year. Read the full transcript of all the participants' questions and Peli's responses after the jump.

I’m good. Well, I know a little about the movie, but I don’t know much about the background and inspiration. Could you elaborate a little bit?

I’m not saying specifically, you know, I think there was a ghost in the house, but just the fact that there were strange things happening and I couldn’t explain them logically kind of got me thinking, “What if I had a video camera and let it run and then if something happened here in the house, maybe I can capture it.”

So I never actually went and did it for my own sake, but I thought if I did it and something did, you know, we made something happen and, you know, that would actually make a pretty interesting movie.

I was wondering what sort of advice you have for filmmakers, you know, doing this low-budget, you know, one-camera-type film?

I would say the most important thing that I found is after Blair Witch, a lot of movies came out that were trying to, you know, mimic the success of Blair Witch. And the main reason that most of them failed was the acting. And when you make this kind of a movie, you can’t just get by with decent acting because you have to, you know, have so much credibility to the performances that it doesn’t even look like acting. It looks natural.

So I told myself I wasn’t even going to bother shooting the movie unless I found actors that can, you know, be convincing enough. And it wasn’t until I found and cast Katie and Micah that I really decided, “Okay, you know, I’m going to make the movie,” because without the right acting, you could just be wasting your time. So for that kind of a movie, I would say that’s the most important thing. You can’t compromise on the level of performance.

Going with the actors, I was wondering, I’m looking at the cast and I -- there’s really not any big name that jumps out at me. And I was wondering, you said earlier that you wanted to make a movie that seemed real and would play on people’s psychology. Now did you pick -- were you looking for actors that weren’t like big names like a Tom Cruise or a Johnny Depp so people wouldn't focus on the actor and try to focus more on the movie and get trapped into that psychology?

Well, first of all, yes. You are absolutely correct and I think that this kind of a movie, if you're trying to have the audience believe that these may be real people, then you can’t have any recognizable faces. And also considering my budget was about $10,000, I don’t think that Tom Cruise would have agreed to star in the movie even if I wanted to.

As far as I understand, the whole film was shot in seven days. So my question is what did you do to prepare for shooting?

Well, I did about a year’s worth of preparation, which included dressing up the house, coaching the actors, all this kind of stuff. But by the time we actually started shooting, I already knew exactly how I was going to shoot everything. I knew what camera angles will be used. I knew how to use the props. I knew how to edit some of the scenes. I knew how to apply the CGI.

We did some test shots on some of the special effects that we do have which are mostly seamless. But by the time we were ready to shoot, I knew everything that I needed to know and how to shoot the movie, to do the CGIs, to edit it. Now when we actually started shooting it, a lot of things didn’t go as planned and we had to kind of maneuver and improvise.

We’ve already discussed throughout the call and it seems to be throughout the promotional materials that the comparisons to Blair Witch, The Others and even maybe Cloverfield to some extent. So what makes this movie different?

I think several things. The main things that people respond to in my opinion is first of all just the overall realism of it. Even people that are in like, you know, in the film industry, sometimes they watch the movie and they said, you know, “We were actually wondering how much of it is real or not,” and for some people it’s, you know, “Until we got to that scene,” or something like that.

But even those people a lot of time ask me, “But these actors, are they actors or are they friends of yours or are they a couple in real life?” I mean, they’ve done such a phenomenal with their on-screen chemistry that a lot of people don’t even think they’re actors. They’re not even sure what’s going on. And so they kind of drop their guard and go along for the ride.

The other thing that I think a lot of people respond to is the fact that this is all about what happens at home, in your own bed, you know, at night while you're asleep and most vulnerable. And, you know, you have like all these movies like after Blair Witch, people were saying, “Well, I’m never going to go camping in the woods again,” or after Jaws, people said, “I’m never going to go swim in the ocean again,” the people that those movies really affected.

But you can never, you know, avoid being asleep at your own home. And a lot of people, it’s kind of like one of those primal fears, what may, you know, be preying on you when you're asleep and you may not even know that. So I think that’s something that really kind of unnerves people. And then after they watch the movie, they go home and they hear little creaks in their house and they become conscious of them and have trouble sleeping.

Are you planning on making any other films in the future?

Yes. Currently in production on my next movie and we’re trying to keep as much of it under wraps as possible.

I’m just curious what are your thoughts on the slow distribution and the midnight-only screenings is and how much of an input you were allowed to have in doing that?

Actually, the people at Paramount are being extremely cool about everything. This is a very challenging movie to market in the sense that, you know, we don’t have named stars. And this is the studio that has, you know, the big (temples), you know, Transformers and Star Trek. And they did a really good job of trying to figure out how to deal with this kind of a movie.

And we figured the main strengths of the movie is the way it plays in the theaters, because usually the audience reacts and is like through the roof. So that’s one of the things they’re trying to emphasize that this is the kind of thing that it’s more than just a movie, it’s kind of like an experience or an event. And that’s why they tried to make it special. So it’s, you know, college towns and it’s special screenings in association with fantastic sets.

And they came up with a really cool strategy that will -- we have a lot -- they do listen to us and we have a lot of input. Sometimes they listen to us. But basically it’s mostly them. And so far they’ve been doing such a good job that we’re happy to just let them do their thing.

And we think that that’s a pretty smart way to go about it because more often than not usually people respond really well to the movie. So whenever we do a screening, we get a new wave of positive word to mouth. And so we just figure let’s just do a few more of the screenings and let it kind of take a life of its own.

My question is I know you -- where you shot the film about in 2007 and it was recently picked up by Paramount. So when you shot it originally, what were your expectations? Like what did you want to do with it originally?

Well, I mean, I -- you always dream, you know, maybe it will get picked up, maybe it will be released theatrically. I was never fooling myself thinking it will definitely be that. But I did think, you know, if it turns out really well and if everything goes well, it should have a shot because, you know, I thought it was a pretty cool idea.

So I did kind of in the back of my mind think, “Maybe it will turn out great and we’ll get theatrically released.” And I was definitely aiming for it, because if you don’t aim as high as you can then you're not going to really do the best that you can. So that was sort of like the main goal even though I wasn’t like trying to fool myself it’s definitely going to happen.

Does the film feature any real video evidence of anything or otherwise what can you tell us about the special effects? Because I’m assuming that since it’s having such an impact on its audience that it must be very realistic.

The main idea for when making the movie is that we’re not going to leave things look fake. So basically whenever we have any type of a CGI, it’s mostly just removing things, not a creating special effects element. And there are some special effects that you're not even going to be aware of. Like the best way to do a special effects is one when the audience doesn’t even realize it’s there. So that was pretty much the guiding principle, to just make everything seamless and invisible and very simple.

Why do you think this kind of a genre resonates with young college-age people?

You know, that’s a good question. I’m not sure I have an answer. I think maybe just because a lot of people are just curious about this kind of stuff and they maybe in those kind of ages it’s, you know, when people wonder about more philosophical stuff, afterlife. I’m not really sure. That’s a good question and I probably don’t have a good answer.

Earlier today, itvwas reported on a couple Web sites that you already received a screener of your movie and in doing so he locked the door and was supposedly very terrified of it. I’m just wondering if you've heard those rumors and if possibly they would be just a marketing thing that the studio has perpetuated?

I heard that story back in March 2008. No one was thinking back then about using that for marketing. That was a story that I heard from several of the executives during work. So it was not something that was just made up for marketing.

And what do you think it says about your film if it were true?

Well, there’s another story that I heard that Steven Spielberg was actually, when he watched the movie, he watched it at night so he got kind of scared by the movie and he stopped it and he continued watching it the next day during daylight. So I guess the movie did really affect him and apparently he believes in this kind of stuff and loves, you know, the genre.

So the way I heard the story, I never talked to him directly, but I heard it from several people at Dreamworks. So I believe it. They had no reason back then, even if people are cynical and think that maybe something they came up with now for marketing. But that’s not the case. The story, you know, had been way back when.

So, Oren, how hard was it to show something that we can’t really see to the naked eye?

It wasn’t hard at all, because I found that whenever in movies they truly do try to show something, it’s never as good as what your imagination is. So I knew from the beginning that we’re going to show as little as possible, using the philosophy, “Less is More.” So -- and I think some of the best horror movies that had the most effect actually had, you know, similar formula.

So that was -- I knew from the very beginning that we’re not going to have any, you know, CGI demons running around or anything like that.

So -- and I think that what a lot of people respond to the most is during the nighttime shots when you know things are about to happen, you don’t really see a lot of what’s going on and sometimes you do later on, but your eye just keeps, you know, scanning the room looking for something. And anything little thing out of the ordinary becomes very unsettling. So you don’t have to go over the top to scare people. Just let them use their own imagination.

Yes, I just wanted to -- I was just curious wondering do you prefer it to make ?? would you prefer to make low-budget movies or, I mean, would you like to eventually get to the point where you have millions and millions of dollars? Or would you like to stick with the low-budget movies where you can -- where you just play on people’s psychology? And I guess another question with that is are you only looking to make horror movies or is there any other genre you're interested in?

Let’s start with the second part first. At some point, I would probably try to segue out of horror movies and get into a -- if given the opportunity, get into more dramas and a wider, you know, range of movies.

But, as far as the low budget, my next project is by Hollywood standards a low-budget one, but we do have financing. I do like the indie approach because it gives you a lot more flexibility as opposed to working for a studio.

But I’d consider it further down the road when you have specific ideas that are of a larger scale you do need the support of a larger machinery and more money. So I wouldn't say so much in this direction at this point, but if I’m lucky enough to get to this point, it may become a reality.

What are actually some of your favorite horror movies?

The movie that messed me up more than any other movie was when I watched The Exorcist as a kid. And that’s actually an example of a movie that does have a lot of special effects and stuff. But it was still a good movie and that movie like totally messed up my childhood. And later on, I really liked The Blair Witch Project and I like some of the older ones like Rosemary’s Baby, some of the, you know, Stephen King movies like The Shining.

But I found that in recent years many of the horror movies are more like kind jump scare kind of movies, where it’s the, you know, CGI and gore. And they’re entertaining in their own way, but they don’t end up really scaring me.

Obviously, the supernatural is something that a lot of people are interested in. So I was wondering about your personal beliefs. Do you believe in the happenings that occur in like this movie and other horror movies?

I prefer to consider myself agnostic about it. So I don’t particularly believe it, but I’m open to the possibility that there might be something going on. But whether or not I believe it or not, I’m still scared of it, if that makes sense.

Looking at the credits, I know the film was shot for about $10,000, but you had the involvement of Jason Blum who has a pretty impressive resume with Hollywood film. So how big of an influence was he in getting this movie to where it is right now?

He had a huge influence. He and his partner, Steven Schneider, came on board when the movie was already mostly finished and has already played in Screenfest.

So they were not involved in the production of the movie, but they were instrumental in getting the movie shown in front of studios and executives from studios and basically navigating it over the last couple of years as we were going through the whole issue of the remake, and Dreamworks, and Paramount. And so in that aspect, they were -- without them, the movie would have probably gone straight to the video or something like that.

I know that audiences will be completely scared out of their minds when they see it, but I’m just wondering what else they can expect by seeing the film?

Hopefully, other than the fact that, you know, they will be scared, I think maybe they’ll -- I hope the people will appreciate the realism of it and the chemistry of the couple in the movie. One of the things that I really wanted to emphasize is, you know, usually when you have couples in movies, it’s usually like a very cliché romantic falling in love type of a thing or there’s like some reason for the relationship to break down.

I wanted to kind of just show relationship of a boyfriend and girlfriend where actually things are going well except for the haunting thing, but give it a very sense of realism. So they’re in love, but they trust each other, but they also annoy each other and they argue. And I wanted to give it a sense of a lot of realism so people can relate to it as a real relationship and not just a Hollywood relationship.

I’m curious about your interests as a filmmaker before you had the idea for this movie, were you interested in making horror movies strictly or was that something that just came about after the idea for this movie?

I always loved movies like more than, you know, everyone loves watching movies, but for me it was always more than that, but I never really thought I would have an opportunity to get into that. I mean, breaking into the filmmaking industry is not easy. So I never really thought I would have an opportunity to do that until I saw some movies like Blair Witch and Open Water that basically proved that if you, you know, with a very modest budget if you make a movie and it turns out decent, kind of like a backdoor entry into the industry. And then I got this specific idea for paranormal activity and I figured, well, maybe that’s something worth a shot.

I understand that you used to be a video game designer or at least work with videogames. So I’m just wondering how that conformed to your filmmaking.

Some of it helped a little bit, when I was more involved with the graphics and stuff like that. You do deal with stuff like, you know, camera angles and lighting and at some point you hire actors so you go through casting. You know, for motion capture you deal with sound design. So it’s not exactly like movies, but it’s sort of, you know, a distant cousin. So I do think it’s helped a little bit.

We’ve heard a lot about people getting really freaked out by the movie and not being able to sleep and why do you think people like having that happen and, I mean, it doesn’t sound like that much fun, missing sleep. Why do people like scary movies so much?

I think maybe it’s a way for people to kind of like deal with fears in a more controlled environment. So, you know, these days the average person you don’t have to deal with fear of, you know, a tiger entering your cave and eating you while you're asleep. So most people feel pretty safe at home and going about their lives. So this is perhaps a way to kind of like get a rush in a controlled and safe environment.

Same reason people go on thrill rides. I don’t know if a lot of people like expect not to be able to get a good night’s sleep after seeing the movie and, you know, then a lot of -- the last time I -- sometimes I get angry emails from friends and people that are not happy about it.

And I think most people are saying, “Well, you know, it can’t be that scary. It’s not going to affect me.” And it doesn’t affect -- I’m sure it doesn’t affect everyone the same. But for those who do, you know, I don’t think -- I agree, I don’t think they enjoy not getting a good night’s sleep afterwards. But a lot of people don’t think it’ll have that kind of effect on them.