Cloverfield Hyper-Analysis

Part 2 of a very thoroughly thought out preview of 'Cloverfield'. Part 1

Cool Cloverfield Clip

JJ Abrams gets all the press but director Matt Reeves has chops.

Cloverfield: New Movie Technique

The only thing that's new in this clip is the reveal in the last few seconds. Still, it's an entertaining bit of movie making. What JJ Abrams and director Matt Reeves have that is new is the 'This Is Actually Happening' camera technique. This differs from the 'You Are There' technique, most recently seen in 'The Bourne Ultimatum'. Actors in Cloverfield routinely spike the camera or behave in some other 'non-actorly' manner because it's not supposed to be a Hollywood movie, rather captured video of an actual event (which is happening right now). I don't think this approach has ever been taken before.

'The Blair Witch Project' differs in that its footage represents what an editor would have culled from a casual account of a camping trip after the video was discovered. That is, only the best parts of the video would have been used for the movie. Regular stuff would have been edited out.

In 'Cloverfield' the conceit is more complex. In this movie footage from a camera (or multiple cameras) is stitched together to present a realtime version of events. The difference between Cloverfield and Blair Witch is the editor for the Cloverfield footage is non-existent, whereas the editor for the Blair Witch footage was a real person who did their best to assemble the footage in the most compelling way. Blair Witch is then presented as if it were an edited version of the (discovered) video of an event which actually happened (instead of a Hollywood movie).

For Cloverfield the idea is that there is no editor (or producer or writer, or studio, etc), and the imagery is magically transported to the movie screen in your theater (and only your theater) as it is shot (in NYC) so you have a realtime account of a real event which is happening now. It's worth noting the storyline in Cloverfield takes place at night. [This is when most people go to the movies]. Having the action take place at night supports the feeling that the movie is taking place 'now'.

I know -- sounds stupid when you read it -- but this is the (subconscious) impression the audience is meant to have, and I think the strategy will work. Part of what will make 'Cloverfield' a success will be the visceral impact the movie will have because of the 'this-is-actually-happening (right now)' image-producing/editing approach. Word of mouth will be more effective than usual because people will infuse their description of the movie with the urgency of someone who actually lived through the events in the movie -- as opposed to the usual 'then, there was the part where they did such and such' spiel. Without knowing it people will describe this movie in the first-person, or with a first-person tone. And, without knowing it, the person they describe the movie to will sense that the person that is describing the movie to them had a great time (at the movie [which is being described]). And, that person (who has had the movie described to them) will want to see/experience the (events of the) movie (in the first-person) all the more.

It'll be both subtle and effective. Once again, hats off to JJ Abrams. He had a great concept for a shooting technique, produced a cool looking movie that everyone is talking about, and came up with one of the best marketing campaigns to date (and dumped it at the first sign it was getting on people's nerves). 'Cloverfield' is primed for success.

Watch While Eating Popcor?

This strange image was just emailed to me anonymously. If you look carefully you can barely make out what appears to be the words 'Watch While Eating Popcor'. Is this the new title for JJ Abrams monster movie? Why did they leave the n off popcorn? Is that some kind of code? Is Popcor a new snack that will be released at the same time this movie is? I must say this is all very perplexing.

Ha Ha. Told You

Turns out 'Monstrous' will not be the title of JJ Abrams' monster movie. The possibility that it may have been was enough drive the blogosphere to provide JJ with gobs of free publicity, though. You guys... Well, all I can say is, um...wait, let me get this just right -- ha ha told you. No, that wasn't quite it. Let me try again: HA HA! TOLD YOU!! There. I think that's got it.

Abrams' Latest Ploy

First JJ takes advantage of the low cost of shooting digitally with the conceit that all the footage in 1-18-08 (aka Cloverfield) is provided by the characters recording events on camcorders. This allows for low cost CGI.

Second JJ releases stills without telling anyone a storyline and sits back and reaps gobs of free analysis of each photo on countless blogs.

Third (and not last, I'm sure) JJ misdirects with 'Monstrous' (still via Vulture) and enjoys as the entire blogosphere a) believes this will be the title of the movie and b) criticizes JJ for picking such a dumbass name.

I love watching this guy operate. (But, seriously dude, don't keep that dumbass title. Have you considered 'Movie' or perhaps 'Watch While Eating Popcorn'? Both are better).

How Smart Is JJ Abrams?

First he shoots Cloverfield on various digi-cams to cut costs -- he doesn't have to buy miles of film and pay for processing and digitizing (before editing), and the quality of the CGI can be lowered to the image quality that you get when you shoot digitally (especially if the imagery is supplied by consumer camcorders).

So, now JJ has the production costs down, how does he get the marketing costs down? Simple. Build a website and release stills once a week that will then be posted (along with a 200 word analysis) on the biggest movie sites -- free of charge.

Here's some analysis from /film entitled, in case it wasn't clear, 'Analysis: third photo revealed on Cloverfield website':

The original photo showed a close-up of two wide eyed fearful young women at 12:36 am. Some people speculated that the two women were actually the same actress. This has been confirmed false. She can also supposedly be seen in the trailer at the party. Some people claim they can see something in between their heads. A monster may-be? How about their hair and a street light?

I love that. It's like this was footage from an assassination. It's both in-depth and highly analytical -- we learn that the thing between the girls' heads may be either a monster or a strand of backlighted hair. Over at Monstermovieblog they're claiming analysis is impossible (but JJ still gets his still displayed, analysis or not). At Cinematical they're claiming nobody cares anymore:

Folks like to play games for a little while, but there comes a time when they tire of the mind-fu**ing and simply want to know the deal.

However, they take 376 words to establish that nobody cares (and JJ got more exposure for his still). And now you've read this piece which makes fun of all the free publicity JJ is getting in which JJ got yet more free exposure for his movie.

Hats off Mr. Abrams.