Cloverfield

Saw Cloverfield last night.



Interesting concept, done before with the Blair Witch Project, but where as the Blair Witch Project sacrificed realism for cinematography, the reverse was true in Cloverfield. In this movie, you believe it could be possible that the camera used to capture all the events could really be only the secondary concern for the actors and that it really does capture "accidentally" much of the story.

One of the interesting issues for me is the relationship the movie thereter is playing with other forms of media relating to the story.

Gone are the days of a linear movie where the story begins and ends in the cinema. Now there is part of the story which needs to be experienced on their website. The phrase which sems to describe this experience is "Viral Marketing"

"...Viral campaigns are a great marketing tool that give people a taste of what they want and then pulling back, which really creates a mystique about the project..."

"...By following the viral Web clues, you get a whole, specially-created back story that's not something you would necessarily get if you just see the film..."

Cloverfield has subtle links to "Lost" "Alias" and "Hero's"

The inter-weaving of these subtle links creates this idea that the srory is so much bigger than a movie theater. Are we seeing the evolution of Story which has developed from Oral, to Picture, to written, to Movie, to Gaming and now it's crossing mediums to become Viral storytelling?