*** Official CLOVERFIELD Discussion Thread

Re: *** Official CLOVERFIELD Discussion Thread

I don't think it's possible to satisfy everyone. Any movie, no matter how well crafted, will not please everyone. This movie, with it's unusual style, is bound to have more detractors. I enjoyed this movie, but would prefer not to see a sequel shot in the same style, but that's what the director has hinted at.

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I think people will simply have to agree to disagree on the camerawork because everyone has different tolerance levels to shaky-cam. But, I suspect that the film will play better on TVs at home just from the reduction in scale from a typical movie theater screen to a smaller TV screen, as the only constant is the size of our eyeballs and how we perceive the amount of motion in our field of vision (threatrical viewing vs. home viewing).

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Yeah, I was just joking around with the "satisfy you people" part, people have always had a problem with shaky cameras, I remember reading simliar complaints about The Blair Witch Project.

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I was cracking up when these idiots stood around trying to figure out exactly what the rats were running from . WTF?

Ebert says: There is nothing incredible about that. My old camcorder had a battery rated for 8h and did 6 easily. That was 9 years ago and I trust things have improved since then. But the point is moot anyway since there is no evidence that the footage was edited: The thing ran for the duration of the film, 84 minutes.

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H

Re: *** Official CLOVERFIELD Discussion Thread

Ebert was on the money with the estimated running time of the camera, you figured they were at Rob's party for maybe 4-5 hrs when the monster showed up and then Rob said at the very end "My name is Robert Hawkins and approximately 7 hours ago something attacked the city..."

Re: *** Official CLOVERFIELD Discussion Thread

As Holodem points out, the footage wasn't edited. The camera only ran for 84 minutes.

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So that would mean that Hud kept starting and stopping the camera during the entire ordeal, only capturing 84 minutes worth? But what about after the helicopter crashed and we cut to that lingering still shot? At least a couple of hours had to have past so the footage was either edited or Hud came to and turned it back on.

If it wasn't edited we would have stared at the same thing for that couple of hours until Hud picked it up and pulled Rob and Beth from the wreckage.

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It's not specifically stated but that's how I think it worked. The movie is just the footage on that tape. If not, they wouldn't have 'interrupted' with the pre-attack footage of Rob and Beth.

As far as I'm concerned, anything that contradicts that is just a cheat for the sake of filmmaking.

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The entire found footage premise is based around Hud taping over Rob's day with Beth. When the camera is stopped and started we get glimpses of the previous footage. If the tape had been edited together by the DOD there'd be no reason for this, nor would there be reason to see any of the party footage before the monster attacks.

I thought the film made the linear-ness of the footage pretty clear. And like Travis says, if something doesn't quite support this it's just a cheat to make the movie work, like the amazing surround sound.

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I thought it was pretty clear when we saw footage from Rob's day with Beth it was after Hud rewound the tape to see what he just filmed. We basically just see what wasn't taped over after he stops the footage after his last recording. Of course the tape wasn't completely rewound so that is why we saw the beginning with Rob and Beth. Also, if it was really a mini-DV cam they were using then most likely it was using a 90 minute tape in LP mode. So the short running time of the movie is explainable.

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Not to mention there were long stretches when the camera was clearly off, like when they were hanging out in the empty subway station. Those could easily eat up a good chunk of that 7 hours.

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I guess Hud also cut off the camcorder for most of the time when they went up the stairs to rescue Beth and when they scurried down the stairs.

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It's one thing to say, "I got sick and so that ruined the movie for me; you might get sick too." But that's different than, "I got sick so therefore this is the worst movie ever made." And of course, some people got sick and still like the movie.

Accidentally hit pause when they crashed; hit it again when he revived? Besides, after a while, they might realize that the camera has a useful record, and they can be more conscious of starting and stopping to preserve it.

Re: *** Official CLOVERFIELD Discussion Thread

saw it tonight.

i thought it was brillaint.

when they were on top of the two buildings and saw the creature heading towrds them was the creepiest part to me.

i forgot about the splash a then end so we didnt see it.

i found a clip of the end and still don't see the splash.

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Is it the same clip they have up on Youtube? (it's presumably bootleg footage so I didn't post it here) Because I couldn't make out a thing the quality was so bad.

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no i just google cloverfield splash video and after going through a bunch of bad links found one.

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Saw this yesterday. Man, that was fun!! (and luckily, the shaky-cam didn't affect me one bit and we were sitting pretty close to the screen).

Bring on the sequel. I wouldn't mind seeing these events from the military's point of view. Not a soldier with a camcorder. Just a regular movie from their point of view. And to make things sweeter, show the scenes where the guys from the first movie are found right after emerging from the subway tunnels.

PS: I totally missed the splash at the end. I'll have to check it out when the movie comes out on DVD.

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The soldier who sends them on their way to rescue Beth would be a great main character, giving us a meaningful paths-crossing between the two films.

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This is a sweet idea!

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Gosh I am hating the sequel talk. I can't believe people are seriously wanting one. Why this desperate need to dilute this unique, awesome experience into the comforts of a conventional monster flick?

I do not want to know more about this event than what is shown in this film. I don't want to know the what/how/why of the monster. This film capture a snipet of an unfathomable horror. Let the legend grow in your imagination. I hope The Powers That Be don't ruin it by explaining it away. Nothing they could possibly tell me about that monster will be more exciting and terrifying that what I think of it now. Nothing.

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H

Re: *** Official CLOVERFIELD Discussion Thread

Your opinion of course.

Different people, different tastes.

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I'm glad you noticed. I was worried there for a bit that the entirely first-person statement of mine you quoted might be mistaken for an expression of other's opinion

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H

Re: *** Official CLOVERFIELD Discussion Thread

How about a prequel, then? Maybe one that reveals that Beth and Rob are actually twins separated at birth to protect them from the evil organization that created the monster?

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So do we know what happened to Lily? Rob says all of his friends are dead but I don't remember seeing Lily's helicopter go down. Did it?

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Her copter was away a good couple of minutes before they lifted off and the creature was busy with the bombers dropping the bombs on it, I think that Lily got away. But then again if her copter was in close proximity to theirs the creature could have taken it down and we never saw it since, of course, we were only seeing through the camera.

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+1

I was glad to see Cloverfield take such a hit in its second week at the box office, hopefully that will lessen the filmmakers enthusiasm for a sequel.

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The thing is that the opening weekend take was wildly above expectations. So this drop is not so much a disaster as a return to earth. The thing is still gonna turn out an impressive profit for the studios, and sequels have been greenlit for less than that.

I wish there was a magic number that would rewards the studios for taking the risk on this one, yet dissuade them from any thoughts of sequels

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H

Re: *** Official CLOVERFIELD Discussion Thread

Still you expect producers to assemble people who do what they are looking for and who's work appeals to them. That's what I was getting at, with the assumption that JJ was pretty hands on with the film's production. At the very least he'd skim multiple spec scripts and latch onto one that expressed the things he liked to do with Lost, even if it wasn't his pitch in the first place.


I'm with Holadem, no sequel. Some stories are nicely wrapped up in one go. It's not that I wouldn't enjoy another experience like that, just that I don't think it would be the same. Look at how it went with Blair Witch, although they did change strategy for the sequel too.

I'm not anti-sequels but they only work if there is a valid reason and method to it, the film should be approached as a stand-alone work. If it wouldn't fly like that, if it doesn't have it's own themes and messages, then what's the point? It won't be nearly as strong and isn't worth the time. It only dampens the public perception of the original, even if it shouldn't.


As for the camera work, my dad once got confused on how the on-off button for his worked. He was holding it to record but it was the press itself that toggled it into record. So it went like this:

1) Press and hold - camera recording what he wants
2) Let go of button to "stop recording" - no 2nd press, camera now shooting the floor
3) Press and hold to "start recording" - toggle turns camera off, no footage even though he thought he was shooting, when he lets go it's still not shooting but that's what he wants at that point
4) repeat for 2 hours

It was a hilarious disaster. This was his camera, albeit new to him. Still Hud was doing something he admitted he didn't understand.

Re: *** Official CLOVERFIELD Discussion Thread

I saw this movie last weekend and thought it was the best movie I've seen in the last 5 years! It was excellent and I think I'm going to see it again. I saw a DLP presentation and it was very good but what stood out for me was the sound. The bass was just over the top but I enjoyed it. This film is just awesome and I plan to buy the DVD and maybe Blu-Ray.

Re: *** Official CLOVERFIELD Discussion Thread

Any gripes about a 7 year old seeing this movie?