The Downside of Paranormal Activity...
It happened when Clerks made a big splash back in the 90's. It happened when Blair Witch Project came out as well. If you want to go back a little farther then you just have to look at the original Halloween. They all have the same thing in common. People saw these movies and then said... "I can do that."
After Halloween came out in theaters and raked in a ton of cash after being made for a tiny amount the market was flooded with copy cats. There were a few good ones but for the most part we were flooded with cheap knock offs that were just plain horrible. The thought behind it all was that we could make very cheap movies and even if they turned a low box office amount we would still be in the black cause we didn't really spend money on the thing to begin with.
Clerks had the same outcome. Kevin Smith released his movie and it along with a few other flicks of the same pedigree caused the indie boom of the 90's. Everyone with a camera went out and made cheap movies and Hollywood was buying them up. Once again, we did have a few gems come out of this boom but for the most part it was a lot of garbage.
Blair Witch cause the same series of events to unfold. It even ushered in a new form of film making that hasn't gone the way of the dodo even all these years later. After the release we couldn't go a step in the video store without passing a rip off of that flick. There was even a couple porno titles in there somewhere.
We now find ourselves in the time of Paranormal Activity. The movie made for $11,000 that has dominated the box office and internet chat rooms for a month. And it's good. It's the scariest movie I have ever seen and it's worthy of all the articles and praise. But there is always a downside to success in Hollywood and this type of movie brings with it a particular curse that I fear.
"It was made for $11,000? That's it? I can do that."
Get ready for the flood of wanna be's, folks. It will come in two types. The folks out there with cameras who think they can do it better and for less and the Hollywood execs who want to buy one of these cheap flicks in the hope that it will bring a larger profit.
The people who think they can make it for less may be able to. They might already have the equipment. They might have actor friends that they don't need to pay. That's all great and good but unless you have a story to tell you are just going to be making a cheap piece of... well... you know.
In my opinion it all comes down to the story being told. It has to be compelling. It has to engage the audience. Most film makers out there who are just trying to get the flick done as fast as possible with as little money as possible lose focus on the story and it ends up falling by the wayside. Paranormal Activity didn't have a script. It was add libbed. So was Blair Witch. It's become an option to not even write a script anymore. Now that's scary.
On the Hollywood front it's almost worse. Suddenly Hollywood starts to think that all the millions of dollars they are throwing at these movies isn't worth it. If we can make movies for $11,000 and get millions back at the box office why should we make a lot of those million dollar movies? Why can't we get an Iron Man for a couple million instead of the hundred or so we are spending now? Something we don't want is Hollywood taking a few steps back in quality in search of more cash.
Paranormal Activity didn't make all this money by having a small budget. It was the story. It was the acting. It was the mood. It was the perfect storm of film making that doesn't come along often enough. I think it was mostly luck.
What are we supposed to do with all this information? How are we to safe guard ourselves against watching the crap that's about to start hitting the local video store? Just be watchful and wait till it dies down. It always does.
But then it happens again.
After Halloween came out in theaters and raked in a ton of cash after being made for a tiny amount the market was flooded with copy cats. There were a few good ones but for the most part we were flooded with cheap knock offs that were just plain horrible. The thought behind it all was that we could make very cheap movies and even if they turned a low box office amount we would still be in the black cause we didn't really spend money on the thing to begin with.
Clerks had the same outcome. Kevin Smith released his movie and it along with a few other flicks of the same pedigree caused the indie boom of the 90's. Everyone with a camera went out and made cheap movies and Hollywood was buying them up. Once again, we did have a few gems come out of this boom but for the most part it was a lot of garbage.
Blair Witch cause the same series of events to unfold. It even ushered in a new form of film making that hasn't gone the way of the dodo even all these years later. After the release we couldn't go a step in the video store without passing a rip off of that flick. There was even a couple porno titles in there somewhere.
We now find ourselves in the time of Paranormal Activity. The movie made for $11,000 that has dominated the box office and internet chat rooms for a month. And it's good. It's the scariest movie I have ever seen and it's worthy of all the articles and praise. But there is always a downside to success in Hollywood and this type of movie brings with it a particular curse that I fear.
"It was made for $11,000? That's it? I can do that."
Get ready for the flood of wanna be's, folks. It will come in two types. The folks out there with cameras who think they can do it better and for less and the Hollywood execs who want to buy one of these cheap flicks in the hope that it will bring a larger profit.
The people who think they can make it for less may be able to. They might already have the equipment. They might have actor friends that they don't need to pay. That's all great and good but unless you have a story to tell you are just going to be making a cheap piece of... well... you know.
In my opinion it all comes down to the story being told. It has to be compelling. It has to engage the audience. Most film makers out there who are just trying to get the flick done as fast as possible with as little money as possible lose focus on the story and it ends up falling by the wayside. Paranormal Activity didn't have a script. It was add libbed. So was Blair Witch. It's become an option to not even write a script anymore. Now that's scary.
On the Hollywood front it's almost worse. Suddenly Hollywood starts to think that all the millions of dollars they are throwing at these movies isn't worth it. If we can make movies for $11,000 and get millions back at the box office why should we make a lot of those million dollar movies? Why can't we get an Iron Man for a couple million instead of the hundred or so we are spending now? Something we don't want is Hollywood taking a few steps back in quality in search of more cash.
Paranormal Activity didn't make all this money by having a small budget. It was the story. It was the acting. It was the mood. It was the perfect storm of film making that doesn't come along often enough. I think it was mostly luck.
What are we supposed to do with all this information? How are we to safe guard ourselves against watching the crap that's about to start hitting the local video store? Just be watchful and wait till it dies down. It always does.
But then it happens again.
posted by Jason at
10:24 AM
2 Comments:
Hopefully the discerning film fan can judge for themselves. A friend said he won't watch "P.A." because it isn't real. But he plans to see "The Fourth Kind" because it is "based on a true story." Yeesh.
I did see PA but however with some time afterward, my view of the scarceness of movie has changed. the scare doesn't start until late in movie and those seem at first little cheap scare than slowly improves to some goodness then fails at end.
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