Found-Footage Horror and the Frame's Undoing

Sayad, Cecilia (2016) Found-Footage Horror and the Frame's Undoing. Cinema Journal, . ISSN 0009-7101. (Full text available)

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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
Uncontrolled keywords:	paranormal activity, found footage, documentary, horror film, frame, realism, reality, scream, cloverfield, [REC]
Subjects:	P Language and Literature > PB Modern European Languages (inc film, TV and radio studies) > PB2994 Film Studies
Divisions:	Faculties > Humanities > School of Arts > Film
Depositing User:	Cecilia Sayad
Date Deposited:	28 Jul 2014 17:30 UTC
Last Modified:	19 Jan 2017 14:34 UTC
Resource URI:	https://kar.kent.ac.uk/id/eprint/42009 (The current URI for this page, for reference purposes)