A series of works recorded by ghosts

Basic information

Title: Clever: Ghost Record 2

Region: USA

Type: plot, horror

Language: English

Release date: 20 10 65438+22 00 10 month.

Director: Tod Williams Tod Williams

Screenwriters: Michael R Perez, Christopher B Langdon, Tom pabst and Oren Paley.

Starring: Katie featherstone

Sprague Grayden

Meka Slote

Reveal the plot

It was in that dangerous room that something even more incredible happened. There seems to be demons, and some people are possessed by demons. What is the truth? Daniel Ray (Brian Boland), a single father, is married to the beautiful Christie (Sprague Grayden) and has a lovely child Hunter (William Juan Prieto). Together with Daniel's daughter Ellie (played by Molly Ephraim), the family of four live a happy life. One day in 2006, their house was broken into and everything was turned upside down, but almost nothing was lost. Shortly thereafter, Daniel installed cameras in different corners of the house. In the dead of night, when all is silent, the camera recorded an incredible scene. The strange things in Lei's family are endless and intensified. Even Daniel, who has never been superstitious, became deeply afraid. What worries them most is that everything seems to point to the child who just passed 1 year-old-Hunter. The night became terrible and long. ...

Behind the scenes production

Commercial dispute between Paramount and Lions Gate

In 2009, "Smart: Ghost Record" messed up the whole Halloween schedule with ultra-low budget, high reputation and box office, and many movies that should have shined in Halloween were fled by PK. Especially the sixth episode of the famous chainsaw series. Although the two films were released back and forth, Saw 6 was greatly influenced. During the whole release cycle, Chainsaw 6 only earned $27 million at the box office. This is the lowest box office in the whole series, and this figure is not even comparable to the first weekend box office results of "Saw 5" released last year. As a result, Lionsgate Film Company, which made Saw, and Paramount, which made the record Ghost, made an enemy.

In order to prove in the movie market, especially at the box office that he is not "a blind cat meets a dead mouse", Paramount announced that it would make a sequel to A Ghost soon after the movie was released, and they also defiantly set the film's release time at the traditional release time in Saw, around 65438+1October 20th. In order to continue the glory of the last film, Paramount even took risks, and they hired Kevin Greutert, the director of Saw 6, to direct this film. Of course, Paramount's move is a direct "attack" in Lions Gate's view. Although they also know that Kevin Greutert, who just made his debut, is not the magic weapon to win, the filming of the seventh episode of Saw is still in full swing inside the Lions Gate. In order to recall the fans to the cinema and make the film more attractive, Lions Gate abandoned the tradition of naming the film with numbers and integrated the production technology into the film hit. So there is no Saw 7, only Saw 3D. Not only that, they also found david hackl, the director of "Saw 5", and put him in charge of the guide tube again.

However, the subsequent development of things was very unexpected. Lionsgate's lawyer wrote a letter to Kevin Greutert, telling him that according to his previous contract, he should go back to Lionsgate to shoot Saw's next episode. In desperation, Kevin Greutert returned to the Lion Gate, picked up the guide tube and directed this film, which he had made it clear that he didn't want to shoot again. This also shows that Paramount has lost its own director. The current situation is that "Smart: Ghost Record 2" has already started shooting, and it is not a good thing to change who will direct it; On the other hand, Glauerdt doesn't want to shoot Saw 3D either. It is not a "good thing" for fans, film companies, directors and movies to have such a thing happen.

After many twists and turns, Grauert wrote in his blog: "There is no doubt that I am now in the middle of two kinds of power conflicts. I get no respect, and I get no justice. Now, the only thing I can do is to keep an optimistic and positive attitude. Because anger and hatred will only make me more unhappy, and these two emotions may ruin my life now. We finally have a calm solution. I hope this matter is settled, there is no need to continue to earn and win. "

The extension and development of style in the first episode

Oren Paley, the director who once earned a box office of $65.438+500 million at a cost of $65.438+500 million, is a miracle in 2009 and also a miracle in the history of movies. "Clever: Ghost Record" was filmed and produced in an "all-amateur" way, and survived by word of mouth, and finally won unanimous praise from many fans and film critics. It is a Hollywood tradition to make a sequel. Paramount will naturally not give up the movie Ghost Record, which has a good reputation and has been playing hard. However, since it has entered the industrial production process, the cost of film will naturally rise. The producer of this horror film offered $2.75 million.

Now that it has entered the studio and industrial system, Orempelli's manual workshop shooting method will naturally be abandoned. Paley has no experience in industrial shooting, so Paramount Company found Tod Williams, the director who filmed Widowed for One Year, to shoot this film. Oren Paley said, "I don't know anything about shooting in the studio, and I have little contact with it before. Because this is a commercial film, the producers are very cautious. They invited Michael R. Perez to write the script. He is an experienced screenwriter and has written many TV plays and movies. In his hands, the story of the sequel is even scarier and better. The characters in the film come from my creation, some from the first episode, and some are new. The cost of this film is so high that I can't imagine it, because there are many special effects shots in it. I didn't have a director, but I became a film producer. I can safely say that this film is very good. If you like my first film, Ghost Story 2 will never let you down. "

But for Paley's fans, it's bad news that he didn't direct the film. Tod Williams said: "I can understand that those fans who like the first episode and Paley will be a little disappointed, but in the process of studio and industrialization, the film style will not fluctuate too much. Besides, Paley is the producer of this film. To some extent, this is the best way to ensure the style and quality of the film. I don't think the success of the first episode is accidental, because that film embodies many excellent ideas and a surprising shooting method. But this shooting mode can't be copied to the sequel, because many viewers will be tired of aesthetics. Therefore, while retaining the original film style, we also modified the shooting method of' simulated documentary'. It should be said that this is not a sequel, but another film with the same theme and similar style. In addition to the surrealist elements in the last movie, there are also some realistic things in the movie, such as religion, mythical demons and exorcism. In terms of the complexity and fluency of movie horror, this movie is even worse than the first episode. "

the third part

Basic information

Title: Clever: Ghost Record 3

Region: USA

Type: plot, horror

Language: English

Release date: 20111October 2 1.

Directed by Henry Joost and Ariel Schumann.

Starring: Katie featherstone

Sprague Grayden

Lauren Bitner

Plot introduction

1988, the story goes back to the original point. As soon as home video became popular, the little sisters Katie and Christie bought a video camera to shoot home life videos.

Soon after, the two sisters met an invisible entity. Such entities often haunt their homes. Although this entity was very friendly at first, it gradually became hostile and authoritarian. And began to torture the two sisters and their families. Soon, many strange things happened at home. In order to find out what happened in this house, the family began to pick up the video recorder at home to record everything that happened in the house during the day and at night. ...

Behind the scenes production

new thought

In 2007, the movie "Clever: Ghost Record" with an investment of only $65,438 +0. 1 10,000 shocked the world. The film tells a story about the unknown and the real, taking home video as a clue. Obviously, this creative method of telling stories through video tapes has been recognized by everyone, so two sequels of the film have been staged in turn in four years, which has also brought a new wave of low-cost horror films and documentary films.

However, can oren peli's brilliant ideas continue to attract the audience after being used again and again? Oren Paley said, "After two films, we thought there was a way to tell this story, so I came up with the idea of shooting my sister's childhood story. At that time, there were several plans in the crew, but the plan to tell the story of the two sisters as children has always been the most popular and praised. Making up stories with video tapes is just a superficial trick. Real movies are always changing. The new episode needs to balance various elements and introduce new plots and stories. In this film, there will be many questions, and we use these questions to shape suspense. You don't need to answer all the questions in the film, but you must add new elements to make the film more enjoyable and make the audience less disgusted with this way of telling stories. As for the style and overall feeling of the film, it must be the same as the first two films, because this way of telling stories has cultivated a large number of fans, and I don't want to destroy the subtle relationship between the film and them. The central element of this episode is the unknown and invisible thing, which is materialized, that is, it can participate in people's lives. This is not a possessed person, nor a supernatural force, but a materialized fear. This element is very successful in the film, and all suspense and fear come from this. "

Although oren peli was not directly involved in the filming of the sequel and the third film "Clever: The Ghost Record", as the pioneer and producer of the whole series, oren peli controlled all the details of the film and the development of the story. He said: "The story must develop, but I didn't expect" Clever: Ghost Record 2 "to surpass the previous work so much, and the writer's performance in the script completely exceeded my imagination. After the second episode was released, I was thinking about making another movie. I told the screenwriter not to add too many new elements to the script at once, because in that case, it would probably destroy the consistent feeling brought to the audience by Smart: The Record of Ghosts, so we made a new film moderately. "

Feature film? Documentary?

Now that oren peli has made it clear that "Clever: Ghosts 3" will be consistent with the style of the previous two episodes, it means that in this film, the director will still use the "mockumentary" style to shoot this film. Paramount also found directors for this film, Henry Joost and Ariel Schumann, who started with a "simulated documentary". These two young directors once filmed a catfish on 20 10. In that movie, they told a seemingly sweet and romantic love story in a completely natural documentary way, but it was extremely scary. Although both directors said that the content in the film was "very reliable", no one came forward to prove that these video materials were "real guys" like documentaries.

Perhaps this "shooting background" infected Paramount, and the company handed over the shooting rights to two young people and arranged a "Halloween" release schedule for the film. Regarding the directors of Henry Joost and Ariel Schumann, oren peli said: "They are very talented directors, and they have their own shooting and editing methods. Their participation brought freshness to the film. This feeling is not subversive, but decorative. In other words, "Clever: Ghost Record 3" will not deviate from the original style and characteristics, but only add new elements. " By new elements, Oren Perry means some shooting skills and editing skills. In this film, the director used more hand-held photography and faster and sharper editing, which artificially created a sense of reality and tension. This shooting technique is very common in action movies now, but it is rare in horror movies. Paley said: "This kind of shooting is very personal because it is the practice of many mainstream blockbusters. Adding this style to this film is something I never thought of before. "

The layout of the film and the number of actors are still as small as ever, and the actors who play two adult sisters also appear in this film. The producer of this film, the famous Aziva Gosman, said: "It is very important to have old faces in the series. Because no matter how the story develops, whether it is a sequel or a prequel, the audience is most familiar with the actor's face. Besides, the performances of these actors are excellent. Why do you want to replace them? " Such efforts and consistent style have been recognized by the audience. Oren peli said: "The film received a very good response from fans. They think it's an excellent film, and they need more Cleverness: The Record of Ghosts. Obviously, I may find a new screenwriter and come up with a better idea to shoot the fourth "Smart: Ghost Record", but it is still a little early to consider the fourth episode. "

part four

Basic information

Title: Clever: Ghost Record 4

Region: USA

Type: plot, horror

Language: English

Release date: 2065438+02101October 19.

Directed by Henry Joost and Ariel Schumann.

Starring: Katie featherstone

Brady Allen

Kathryn Newton

Plot presentation

In the film, Katie Fiddes kills her boyfriend, sister and brother-in-law. She seems to be under the control of the devil and took their baby Hunter, who is nowhere to be found. Time has come to 20 1 1, an ordinary and happy family of four. The beautiful girl Alex (kathryn newton kathryn newton) lives a carefree life. She video chats with her boyfriend Ben (Matt Shively) every day and takes photos at any time on weekdays. One day, the helpless little boy Robbie (Brady Allen) lives in Alex's house. Robbie was silent and claimed to have a friend named Toby. Alex and they didn't care at first, but gradually they found that strange things happened one after another in the house. At Ben's suggestion, they installed cameras in every corner of the house to monitor what happened during the day and at night. In front of the screen, an incredible and creepy scene quietly staged.

Behind the scenes production

Keep screaming

The series "Clever: A Record of Ghosts" can be regarded as the landmark works of horror films in the new millennium. Oren Paley, the first director, repackaged the ancient horror elements such as supernatural, exorcism and sold them to the audience again with wonderful plot setting and unfashionable imitation documentary packaging. Curiously, this remake was very successful, and "Clever: Ghost Record" set a record for the return rate of film history. Subsequent sequels continued to use mockumentary's settings and were equally successful. After Smart: Ghost Story 3 became the highest-grossing movie in the series, Smart: Ghost Story 4 was naturally put on Paramount's production schedule. The directors of the new episode are still Henry Joost and Ariel Schumann from Smart: Ghost Record 3.

Oren Paley, who appeared in this film as a producer, said: "The last film has shown people the directing skills of Henry Joost and Ariel Schumann, but this film goes one step further and is an out-and-out sequel to the whole story. From the overall style, the fourth episode will not go out of the style and characteristics of the whole series, and it is still a story of finding something strange at home from the video. And in editing, the two directors will continue the feeling of a faster and sharper film. The extensive use of hand-held photography can better create a sense of reality and tension. In terms of story, the story of this film will be more complicated. In fact, when filming the second and third episodes of "Clever: The Record of Ghosts", a simple short story could not meet everyone's needs. Therefore, we added the elements of exorcism and evil spirits in this film. This is also a choice to make the whole series fuller. I think this story can have more room for development, because there are still many elements of horror films that have not been added to the film. However, there is no need to add too many horror elements to the movie at once, and there are many things that can be used in the next movie. If a movie adds too many elements, the audience will be confused. "

Fresh element

The style of "Smart: Ghost Record 4" remains the same, but can the supernatural tricks recorded on the video continue to scare the audience? In fact, as long as this stunt is used well, the audience is still willing to buy it. You can see from the box office performance of Smart: Ghost Record 3 that horror fans may be the most hardcore genre fans in the world. Regarding the film's creation process, oren peli said: "In fact, the preparation and shooting process of this film is similar to that of the last one. We have been telling stories around Smart: Ghosts 2. The previous one is a prequel, and this one is a sequel. We just want to use the time difference between the sequel and the story itself to create suspense. What happened during this time? After several years, why can this family remain calm? What new changes have taken place with those new populations. Of course, the main body of the whole story is still paranormal, but there must be new methods and new gimmicks to make the audience watch movies. Like the first three episodes of Clever: The Ghost Record, this movie still scares people with invisible things. It affects people's lives, visible, but you can't find it. We don't want to change the narrative mode of the film, because this method of telling stories has become the signature of this series. If we change this sign, we can make a new horror film instead of the sequel to "The Tale of Ghosts". The success of this series is based on these two points. All the sense of substitution, doubts and fears in the film come from these two points. "

As the directors of the last episode and this episode, Henry Joost and Ariel Schumann are familiar with this film. Moreover, they have filmed mockumentary's Catfish, and they are familiar with the method of telling this story. Regarding the direction of these two directors, Paley said: "It's great, and our cooperation this time is also very pleasant. Henry Joost and Ariel Schumann are definitely veterans of this film element. They can simply tell the story of the film through video or video. But also has its own set in creating suspense and panic. It feels great to be able to work with them again. "

Tokyo night

Basic information

Title: Ghost Record: A Night in Tokyo

Also known as: パラノーマルァクティビティィィィィィィ Chapter 2/Tokyo Night.

Region: Japan

Type: horror

Language: Japanese

Release date: 2065438+00165438+1October 20th.

Director: Changjiang Jun and Yongjiang Junyi

Starring:

Aoi Nakamura, Aoi Nakamura

Noriko Aoyama Noriko Aoyama

Plot information

In 2006, in San Diego, a woman named Katie fled after killing her cohabiting boyfriend. Later, people found a video recording their life. This video actually captures incredible content. The film was made public after editing and shocked the world.

20 10, Tokyo, Japan, an ordinary family of three lives quietly in a house: father Fanxing with his daughter Chunhua and son Yukichi. Chunhua had a traffic accident while traveling to America, and now she is recovering. She had to rely on a wheelchair to move.

One morning, Chunhua woke up and found that the wheelchair that had been parked by the bed had reached the window. She thought it was her brother's prank. But Koichi said he was innocent and offered to shoot a video to prove it. The brother and sister set up a camera. What happens late at night after they fall asleep?

Behind the scenes production

Clever: The record of ghosts can be said to be an amazing miracle. This film, which was shot by an amateur director in his own home for only seven days, is the most valuable horror film in history. The production cost is only 6.5438+0.35 million yen, and the box office income is 65.438+0.8 billion worldwide! The film surpassed the blockbuster Batman Begins 2 at the box office in the first weekend, second only to Titanic, which ranked first in film history.

The film was released in Japan on 2065 438+00- 1, and Presidio Company was responsible for the introduction and distribution. During the negotiation, director oren peli mentioned to the person in charge of the company that he really wanted to see the Japanese version of A Ghost. It is such a sentence that contributed to the birth of the Japanese sequel "Tokyo Night".

"Tokyo Night" was planned and produced by the director representative of Presidio, An Chenghua Tian. At first, the producer wanted to find a foreign director to shoot, but after careful consideration, he hired a local director Jiang according to the characteristics of the film "simulated documentary" Changjiang Hejun is familiar with horror and suspense themes, and is especially good at telling fictional stories with documentaries. The representative works are two film versions of Fuji TV's different-color late-night drama "Banning Broadcasting".

Aoi Nakamura and Noriko Aoyama, two young talents, co-starred as brother and sister in this film. The stage of the story was moved to an ordinary family in Japan, and the shooting scope of the video was expanded from one room to two bedrooms. The so-called "two-bedroom, double the horror." This film, which combines the horror style of the United States and Japan, will bring unprecedented impact to the screen this fall.

Ghost record 5

Horror-2065438+05101released in America on October 23rd.

Director: Gregory Plotkin

Screenwriter: oren peli Jason Pagan ...

Country: USA

Distribution company: Paramount Pictures ...

More titles: Intelligence: Ghost Record 5