The case of Cloverfield

This may sound a little obvious but viral marketing only works if you're there to see it.

Hearing about viral marketing campaigns from other people has to be one of the most boring things in the history of the world because no matter how well they describe it, its like trying to repeat an in-joke to a friend and then being forced to finish the story with "I guess you had to be there" because they just can't get what all the fuss is about.

By the time Cloverfield was released it seemed everyone and their uncle was excited about seeing it, except me, who seemed to have missed it all, and remembering the Snakes on a Plane disaster, I didn't hold out too much hope. I had seen the shaky-camerawork trailers at the last minute, but the only thing that really made me want to see it was to get my fix of all things J.J. Abrams while waiting for Lost to start again.

However, Cloverfield blew me away. (As you have probably guessed by its inclusion in my list of Top 10 favourite films at no. 7, see below)

I could say that it was because of the innovative use of shaky camerawork, home video footage and a LOT of exploding stuff, but these things aside, the thing that surprised me most was that after watching it: I quite literally couldn't have told you how long I had been in that cinema to save my life. It could have been 10 minutes or 10 hours later, I honestly didn't know.

As anyone who watches a lot of films will tell you, the more films you watch the harder it is to become absorbed in them, even in cinemas. You find yourself analysing them, or if it's a really terrible one, looking around the cinema in search of entertainment. In many cases you are frequently reminded that you are sitting in a cinema by the kids throwing popcorn, and the illusion is ruined. Add to this the fact that I worked in a cinema for a year, well, I'd come to the conclusion that cinemas just didn't have that all-encompassing-experience magic for me anymore.

So for Cloverfield to have such an unexpected effect on me really stopped me in my tracks. And moreover, I think it having this effect has a huge amount to do with everything BUT the camerawork that everyone else is talking about. The camerawork only serves to draw attention to the fact that this is a film, because, in narrative terms, it is a film we are watching, not invisible cameras placed in live action. It also makes a big comment on the stage we're at in society where people film everything, often looking at a lovely view through a camera instead of with their own eyes. It's the smart touches, like when Hud film the screen of another video camera recording the same thing, that really add depth to the film.

Looking at what did help the illusion; firstly, the special effects are flawless. That's not meant to just be a big-up to the CGI people, but that in a film like this, it really matters. If at any point the effects looked, well, like effects, then although I could have easily forgiven it, anyone who has seen I Am Legend will understand the thoughts I would have had that I wished it had been done better. Secondly, I thought the characterisation and acting was superb, especially the ever inappropriate cameraman Hud. His comments on flaming tramps made what would otherwise have seemed like a rather formulaic set piece in the tunnel, into a hilarious come terrifying, and more importantly, in-keeping part of the narrative.

Finally, I want to say a little about the ending. I am completely undecided as to whether I wish they had left the final scene off or not. When I first saw the film all I could think about was 'what a sell out'; tacking a happy ending onto a sad one. But I've seen it again and I think the rhythmic interruptions of the original video add something: an element of the human. This is, after all, really not about the monster. As they say themselves in the film, what is doing the damage is irrelevant, this is about them and their escape, and this little coda unites the end with the beginning. That said, there is still a huge part of me that would have loved the video to have just cut out and left us hanging!

And in case you were wondering, I agree with Empire magazine in their review: just like with The Matrix, make a sequel and you'll ruin the original film too.

Coxy