cloverfield 1-18-08
Japan has Godzilla. The United States of America has ... J.J. Abrams?the online-furore that had been designated: CLOVERFIELD has been revealed to be an upcoming monster-movie by Abrams (who is producing with director Matt Reeves) during the Comic-Con.
it had been mentioned that the movie would be told from the POV (point-of-view) of the victims, ie the folks running about while parts of buildings are flung down at them, presumably by the 'creature' itself. the initial trailer is a prime-example of the visual treatment. (read my own personal opinions HERE if you so please) which essentially started the whole hoopla.
then came the 'teaser'-poster, with the title 'MONSTROUS' over it - and out of all the rumors and conspiracy-theories, i like this the best:
"... I had a bit of a Eureka moment with a spy revealing that the ... MONSTROUS poster is the first of 3 teaser posters that will lead to the TITLE reveal poster. First we'll have "MONSTROUS" - next we will have "BARBAROUS" - then we will have "FEROCIOUS" ... The title? Well, I don't want to spoil it, so you should go ask, Piotr Nikolaievitch Rasputin!" [via AICN]
of coz i googled the name to find: COLOSSUS (the name of the X-Men LOL) = so would that be the real title of the movie? *time will tell*
meanwhile as folks go apeshitte over
btw; CLOVERFIELD is the name of a street in L.A. where Abrams has an office. [read more here]
... on a parallel universe - personally, im tired of looking at the Blair-Witch-Project-format/style of filmography. i see some film students adopt this 'technique' as well. i would dare say this is a lazy way of filmmaking, if not more 'economical' or financially--achievable or viable for the masses (granted). but as a professional feature film? it offends me. as a gimmick? it has to be gosh-darn-clever, to pull off ... some would say tis not the production quality of the final product, but rather the skill and craft in which the visuals are captured and communicated across - i say tis a very thin line between intent and result.
as a cultural-phenom? i applaud the spirit and ability to get yourself a camera, gather a few friends, do up a relative coherent/decent script and be able to tell your story, irregardless of (non-existent) budget and promotional campaigns. hell, if i had a digi-cam, i'd bother to film more stuff for myself (*cough*) ... again, the thin line between having the desire to tell a story, anyway we can, versus telling a story, as beautiful and full as we can afford, is sometimes a piano-wire stretched across two poles, with you riding a bike directly towards it, neck craning upwards looking at the dream-clouds in the sky ...but of coz im weaned on pop-culture genre-ish fare, with as much respect as i can afford for indie-projects, whose result falls short of intent. but that's just my biased opinion.
most folks speak about "telling a story", but not many speak of "craft" - for as much as i tell my students "filmmaking is not rocket-science" - it sure ain't something as easy as picking up a cam, point and shoot either, IMHO ... excuse me as my pedestal below my feet is crumbling ... heh.
i applaud the BlairWitchProject for it's ability and achievement with what would be one of the first (that i know of) online viral campaign that Hollywood has seen (but not for the final feature). one can argue over artistic integrity or difference of taste. in this case, it is a matter of personal taste and preference.
hell, im not knocking the quality of CLOVERFIELD (trailer) in any way (and of coz there is a vast difference between a youtubed-version and a full-on HD quicktime) - but at the end of the day, i hope the monster (in 'Cloverfield') doesn't reveal itself at the last ten minutes of the film (altho the head of Lady Liberty crashed-up on the streets was quite awesome LOL) ... but then again, with all the publicity it has generated thus far, maybe more money might be pumped in to buff-up the budget, innit? if that be the case, then the entire publicity-exercise would have been well worth it, innit? ... or then again, maybe it's not the matter of "money" rather than knowing the craft enough to produce something that may 'make a difference'? ... but of coz im rambling ...*heh*:)
