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Found-Footage Horror and the Frame's Undoing

Sayad, Cecilia (2016) Found-Footage Horror and the Frame's Undoing. Cinema Journal, 55 (2). pp. 43-66. ISSN 0009-7101. (doi:10.1353/cj.2016.0003) (KAR id:42009)

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Official URL:
https://doi.org/10.1353/cj.2016.0003

Abstract

This essay finds in the found-footage horror cycle an alternative way of understanding the relationship between horror films and reality, which is usually discussed in terms of allegory. I propose the investigation of framing, understood both figuratively (framing the film as documentary) and stylistically (the framing in handheld cameras and in static long takes), as a device that playfully de-stabilizes the separation between the film and the surrounding world. The essay’s main case study is the Paranormal Activity franchise, but examples are drawn from a variety of films.

Item Type: Article
DOI/Identification number: 10.1353/cj.2016.0003
Uncontrolled keywords: paranormal activity, found footage, documentary, horror film, frame, realism, reality, scream, cloverfield, [REC]
Subjects: P Language and Literature > PN Literature (General) > PN1993 Motion Pictures
Divisions: Divisions > Division of Arts and Humanities > School of Arts
Depositing User: Cecilia Sayad
Date Deposited: 28 Jul 2014 17:30 UTC
Last Modified: 28 Sep 2021 12:56 UTC
Resource URI: https://kar.kent.ac.uk/id/eprint/42009 (The current URI for this page, for reference purposes)

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