2008 Woodie Awards
Cloverfield is Abrams' most 'mysterious' project yet
Jeremy Pink
Issue date: 1/23/08 Section: Web Extras
Imagine a cross between "The Blair Witch Project" and "Godzilla." That is "Cloverfield."
"Cloverfield," Producer J.J. Abrams' newest project to date, hit theatres midnight Thursday. Abrams is behind blockbusters like "Mission: Impossible III" and "Armageddon" and popular TV series "Lost" and "Alias."
"Cloverfield," however, has been his most mysterious project yet. Very little was known about the film before it's release, which made a moviegoer like me extremely interested in the flick. I braved a midnight showing, because I needed to know what the movie was about; props to the producers.
The film opens on Rob (Michael Stahl-David) and Beth (Odette Yustman) videotaping one another in bed after waking up one morning. The audience sees them through the eye of their camera, and that is the view for the rest of the film. No Steadicam and no dollys; the entire film is viewed through a hand-held video camera.
Fast-forward a few weeks from the opening scene of Rob and Beth: a surprise going away party is being set up for Rob. The camera, with the same tape Rob and Beth used, is handed over to Hud (T.J. Miller). Hud has been asked to record goodbye testimonials from all the guests for Rob as he leaves for a job in Japan, and he unknowingly records over the original of Rob and Beth's day out.
Hud goes around videotaping party guests, including Marlena (Lizzy Caplan): a girl he presumably has a crush on. He crashes and burns trying to talk to her. The only thing worse than his social skills is his ability with a video camera.
Hud is the tunnel through which the birth of "quesycam" is brought.
He cannot film a steady moment if he tried. The cinematography is realistic, but as an audience with no sense of space or peripherals, we are force to suffer shaken audience syndrome.
The camera steadies occasionally, giving audience members the chance to recover. However, if you easily suffer from motion sickness do not see this movie, or bring your Dramamine. One couple in the front row of the theatre I saw the movie in couldn't handle the shaking of the camera and left halfway through.
"Cloverfield," Producer J.J. Abrams' newest project to date, hit theatres midnight Thursday. Abrams is behind blockbusters like "Mission: Impossible III" and "Armageddon" and popular TV series "Lost" and "Alias."
"Cloverfield," however, has been his most mysterious project yet. Very little was known about the film before it's release, which made a moviegoer like me extremely interested in the flick. I braved a midnight showing, because I needed to know what the movie was about; props to the producers.
The film opens on Rob (Michael Stahl-David) and Beth (Odette Yustman) videotaping one another in bed after waking up one morning. The audience sees them through the eye of their camera, and that is the view for the rest of the film. No Steadicam and no dollys; the entire film is viewed through a hand-held video camera.
Fast-forward a few weeks from the opening scene of Rob and Beth: a surprise going away party is being set up for Rob. The camera, with the same tape Rob and Beth used, is handed over to Hud (T.J. Miller). Hud has been asked to record goodbye testimonials from all the guests for Rob as he leaves for a job in Japan, and he unknowingly records over the original of Rob and Beth's day out.
Hud goes around videotaping party guests, including Marlena (Lizzy Caplan): a girl he presumably has a crush on. He crashes and burns trying to talk to her. The only thing worse than his social skills is his ability with a video camera.
Hud is the tunnel through which the birth of "quesycam" is brought.
He cannot film a steady moment if he tried. The cinematography is realistic, but as an audience with no sense of space or peripherals, we are force to suffer shaken audience syndrome.
The camera steadies occasionally, giving audience members the chance to recover. However, if you easily suffer from motion sickness do not see this movie, or bring your Dramamine. One couple in the front row of the theatre I saw the movie in couldn't handle the shaking of the camera and left halfway through.
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