Directors Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman tease some things to look out for in the horror threequel. By Eric Ditzian “Paranormal Activity 3” Photo: Paramount Pictures Last October, on the day “Paranormal Activity 2” hit theaters, director Tod Williams stopped by the MTV Newsroom to reveal five secrets about the horror sequel — everything from the best way to break a person’s leg to why the baby in the film is possibly the greatest actor in all of Hollywood. Another year, another “PA” flick — and even more secrets revealed. The morning after a raucous screening in New York City, “Paranormal Activity 3” directors Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman paid us a visit and gave up the goods. Read on for 10 “Paranormal” secrets, then check back on Monday for their answers to a ton of our burning questions — queries that were simply too spoiler-filled to reveal before fans have had a chance to see the film for themselves (be aware, though, that there are mild spoilers below) . The Fan Camera A key issue in any found-footage movie is finding creative ways for characters to film the action. That issue becomes especially thorny three pictures into a franchise. How do you keep things fresh in a “Paranormal” flick, a series that largely confines each story to one house, the demon-haunting action captured with camcorders set up in various rooms? Joost and Schulman, along with screenwriter Christopher B. Landon, came up with a new technique that opens up an entirely new way of viewing events that is at once simple and totally scare-inducing: a camera mounted on the base of a swiveling fan. The idea was one Joost and Schulman used when they first discussed the gig with Paramount. “It’s like, ‘How would we do it if there were a ghost in our office and we only had one camera? How would we capture the whole thing?’ ” explained Joost. “We were like, ‘Would we put it on a model train and have it go around the house?’ We would put up mirrors to see stuff, or this fan idea. It turned out Chris Landon, the writer of the movie, had basically the same idea, independently of us. So when we got together for this first time, it was like, ‘Oh great, you want to do that too!’ ” The Sex Tape For “PA3,” it wasn’t just about new ways of capturing the action, but of new action to capture. That’s why you’ll see the making of the first-ever sex tape in the new “Paranormal,” one between the two central adults in the film, mother Julie (Lauren Bittner) and live-in boyfriend Dennis (Christopher Nicholas Smith). “The president of Paramount [Adam Goodman] was like, ‘I want to do a sex tape this time,’ ” Schulman said. “They always tease it in the ‘Paranormal’ movies, and at this point, everyone’s inclined to think they’re not going to do it. [Dennis] is going to ask her to film it and she’s going to say no and they’re going to turn the camera off, or she’ll say yes and they’ll turn it off right away. [Goodman] was like, ‘I want to take it there.’ It gets pretty uncomfortable. It’s like a real sex tape, which is awkward.” The Filmmaker Cameos Though they spent the great majority of their time behind the scenes, Joost and Schulman actually make cameos in the film — though you’d never be able to tell unless they hadn’t revealed the secret to us. Without diving too much into spoilers, let’s just say that at one point you see what might be a young girl or a demon hiding under a white sheet — that old clich
