1-18-08 Project Cloverfield - Warning! Spoilers

I love emails like this. Zach Behrens, an Editor at LAist.com had the great fortune of sitting down with Cloverfield Director Matt Reeves. He sent me a little message about the article written by Julie Wolfson and it's a fantastic read for any Cloverfield fan. Reeves goes into depth about the film style and other technical aspects for all you film junkies. You can read the entire article here and I've grabbed some of the key points below.

"It's a great and lengthy article where director Matt Reeves spills the beans on where the name Cloverfield came from, his reaction to all the rumors floating around the internet, how the Iraq War influenced the filming style and how he met J.J. Abrams through the original YouTube of the 1970s, the Z Channel in Los Angeles.

Legions of curious fans have been waiting for January 18, 2008 for months. Many comb for clues online and speculate about every detail. LAist spent an afternoon with the director, Matt Reeves. We asked him to spill some juicy details about the film (including what the title really means), about his longtime friendship with J.J. Abrams, and to describe the wild ride that is Cloverfield."

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LAist: Over the years you have been very selective in your choice of projects. What made you want to direct your first monster movie?

Matt Reeves (picture below, filming Cloverfield): Well, I guess it had to do with the approach. At the time, there was a project I had written and will be directing called The Invisible Woman. I was putting together the cast and we had an actress cast for the lead and then she fell out twice and it just didn’t work scheduling-wise. During this time, J.J. Abrams had been putting together this deal for his new company. He’d been doing television stuff, but he was going to also be moving into producing features in addition to the stuff that he writes and directs. So he was really excited about doing this monster movie, and that was the thing he was telling me about all during my work on The Invisible Woman. It sounded really intriguing and fun, but I never thought that I would have anything to do with it.

One day when we were dealing with all this casting stuff, he and Bryan Burk, who I’ve known since we were kids and introduced me to J.J., asked me to consider doing the movie. They talked about the idea that the movie is obviously a monster movie and there’s that kind of outrageous aesthetic, but they wanted it to feel very naturalistic and real and that was very exciting to me.

I read the outline, which was written by Drew Goddard, who is a writer from LOST and also has a big following of people who knew him when he started on Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I thought the outline was outrageous, so I met him, and I loved him. We just started talking about how we would sort of further take that character approach to the story. For me, the reason that it was interesting to do was that I’d be doing something that I’d never done before.

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Was the monster in the film inspired by H. P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu?

It was not. Here’s the thing—there’s been a lot of speculation, but J.J. has already answered the question. What really happened was that during Mission Impossible 3, J.J. took his son to Japan for the premiere. While they were there, they visited a toy store in Tokyo. They saw shelf after shelf, row after row, of Godzilla toys. Just this huge toy store filled with toys. The image was really striking to J.J. He said, “Look at this. This is like a national monster.” He started thinking, “You know, we need our own national monster.” Obviously King Kong is kind of a national monster but not really in that way. That’s a great movie and he’s a legendary figure in film lore, but it’s not really the same thing. So the way that Godzilla was sort of a metaphor for the time, and for that place, the idea of creating a new monster for this time and place came about. It’s an original monster, and a monster that was inspired, really, by Godzilla.

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Which films did you watch to prepare for directing Cloverfield?

I watched a lot of really weird and disparate things. I watched Children of Men because of the continuous shot aspect of it, and I thought it was really amazing, the tension that they were able to build in that. I was so impressed because the camera was very eerie and almost Kubrickian. The camera was in the middle of the space—handheld and right in the action—but it was also detached. I watched Alien, Jaws, The Shining, movies that I’ve always loved that are creepy and scary.

The thing that was most helpful, the stuff that I watched that really informed the aesthetic, was a lot of YouTube videos. Actually, a lot of the stuff that was in that first trailer, the teaser, was directly inspired by just looking at footage that people had of parties and events.

Then I looked at footage of terrifying events. I just wanted to see what happened when people were in the middle of these terrifying events and how they were filmed. There was some kind of gas pipe explosion that was online, really terrifying things. You would see the way people would keep documenting in these moments, what they would see, and how something would happen. They’d kind of miss it and then they would find it. There was also some footage I saw where they gave cameras to troops in Iraq. I was looking at the stuff from the Iraq documentary because it was like, these guys are in a crisis. Where does the camera go when you’re in a crisis? What happens?

There was this one clip in particular that I found absolutely terrifying where some troops were in a tent in Iraq and their camp was being mortar shelled. As the bombs were falling, they took the camera and put it on the ground. The shot itself was absolutely horrifying. There was a troop lying in front of the camera on the ground. There was a tent and the flap of the tent was open, but was so bright outside that with the exposure, you couldn’t even tell what was out there. You see a leg of a table that they’re hiding under and you see the other troop’s foot. You hear indiscriminate screaming and explosions getting closer and closer outside. It’s all obscured, but you could feel it. I thought we have to use that as a driving aesthetic to try and think about how to take these characters in these situations, and know that the camera is supposed to be there. We would be filming in a way that’s not from any safe perspective.

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The film has had a very successful viral campaign. What do you think of Ethan Haas and the other people who took it upon themselves to capitalize on it?

All I knew was that we made this teaser trailer and had not given any information about it. People immediately started making connections, some of which connected to things that we were setting up, but others had nothing to do with us.

Some were amazing. The thing that was most funny was that when we were doing the trailer, we knew that it would have a realistic feel, and we wanted to let people know that it was a monster movie in some way without saying, “Hey look! It’s a giant monster movie!” As a result, we decided after we made it, and while we were doing the mix, to put in some dialogue to make reference to the fact that there was a creature of some sort. One of the things we put in there at the last minute—during the last 20 minutes of our mix when I was there along with J.J., Bryan Burk, and my girlfriend—and I said, “I’ll do one.”

That kind of stuff started building. Then when there was all this weird Ethan Haas stuff, I remember Bryan and J.J. and I turning to each other and saying, “What is that? We don’t even know what that is.” That’s what happens when you confront people with a mystery. You can’t be surprised if they start making connections that have nothing to do with you. That’s exactly what happened.

When I look at the message boards to see what’s going on, and there will be somebody who has purported to have seen the movie and they’ll give details—very specific details—that have nothing to do with the film. I think, “People are amazing!” It’s fascinating and it’s just something I’ve never really been a part of prior to this. I mean, we had online fans during Felicity, but it was very different.

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The drink Slusho appears in Alias and Heroes. With all of the speculation about whether there is a Slusho connection in Cloverfield, it seems that the fans are looking for any kind of clues. Many are looking forward to finding secret messages hidden in the film.

I feel like the movie is its own complete experience. Yet in another way, because of all the viral stuff and the meta parallel story we’ve had building all along, that that’s also part of a puzzle. So, in a way, at the center of the whole thing there’s this one puzzle piece, which, if you knew nothing about Slusho or Tagruato and all of those things, it would play completely by itself.

When we were making the movie, we have the Statue of Liberty moment in the teaser trailer. One of the things that I thought was that because, in a lot of the footage we looked at, there were people pulling out their video phones the moment something crazy started to happen and we started thinking that’s what should happen here. One of the things that we were all thinking about was the idea that if you could find all these other peoples’ video phones or video cameras, then you’d find another movie. All these viral things are like different prisms looking at the same story.

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Is there really a Slusho shirt at the party?

Well, you’ll have to see the movie. Slusho does have a connection though...


Be sure to head over to LAist to get the rest of the Matt Reeves interview. There's a lot more to read and a lot more analysis of the movie.

• LAist Interview: Matt Reeves, Director of Cloverfield >

"So before I go any further... If you don't want to know the details of the movie.. than don't read after this point.. I won't give away everything.. but just certain things we've all been wondering. IT IS LONG AND I APOLOGIZE, BUT I WANTED TO GIVE AS MUCH INFO AS I CAN....

So.. basically I came across this board and found a lot of interesting theories and many ridiculous ones as well.. I myself became a a fan of the trailer and (like many of you) have been trying to and out what this movie is about.

As a member of the entertainment industry.. I was finally able to crack someone (a friend I trust) inside into giving me at least some details...(No, it's not J.J or Reeves or someone big.. but he/she does work and has been on set of the movie... And since he/she, like anyone working on the movie, are on a strict gag order, I figure I will post this as my own "THEORY" in order to protect him/her. So this is my "THEORY"

So basically the trailer created a phenomenon that J.J and the producers never thought it would. After the buzz from the media and Internet about the mysterious trailer, J.j saw this as a great marketing ploy to create even more buzz over this small little film. Yes! this movie was originally intended to just be a nice cult classic that monster movie lovers would like. This is, in fact, your basic monster movie with an American touch. It is no secret that J.J is a fan of monster movies and wanted to make America have it's own monster... There is a problem though....

THE MONSTER:

The monster is not American at all.... The monster did go through its infancy and grew up under the Atlantic, but its origin, like Godzilla, came from Japan. This is where the Slusho reference comes from. Slusho does have a part in the movie, but is not as significant as people would think. It plays a small role in the beginning of the movie as to the origin of the monster. This was as much info on the monster as I can get... the reason for this is because no, including cast and crew has actually seen the monster. I don't even think J.J knows what the final monster will look like.. that is being kept very secret... The monster will be entirely in CGI where, indeed, most of the films budget will go.... There weren't even any animatronic hands or feet on set which implies that there will be no real/direct contact with the monster and cast (unless it's all CGI)..... And as for the theories of multiple monsters... NO.. sorry, it is only one gigantic monster.

To conclude, it is not Godzilla, A lion, Voltron, Rampage.. or any of the other monsters people have been thinking... it will be original and it will be a Creature of some sort (not robot)... they are still working on what it will actually look like..

THE PLOT:

So, again, I could only get so much info on the topic... But basically this film has seen more rewrites than... well.. whatever other movie has seen a lot of rewrites... a lot basically. Originally the entire film was all destruction from beginning to end, J.J wanted all action, all the time. It was, like I said, your basic Monster movie, no real plot, as long as people die and te monster destroys a lot of stuff... But after the buzz over the trailer, the producers felt that there needed to be more to the story than just things blowing up... so the rewrites began.. but there was only so much they can do.... They did give a little bit on Rob and Beth and they're crushes.. and a little bit on the brother and friends.. but for the most part. .there's no real character development in this movie... And so... the myspaces were created to give the characters a little more back story.. this way, true fans will know much about the characters when the film finally does release... but those who only have seen the trailer and never took anything out of it than another monster movie and won't get much back story on the characters... since the plan is to make most of the movie about the destruction... Though... the monster will not truly be revealed until about 30 minutes in to the movie...

THE STYLE:

Though many feel that the movie will consist of home video to give it a more "real" effect.. this is not true... The film will be shot the way we see any other movie (we'll call it Film Look) but will have parts in home video, like the trailer. In fact, what we see in the trailer is in the movie, but there are "Film Look" scenes in between that we haven't seen. As much as some people would like to see a Blair Witch style movie with this film... it simply doesn't work... everything would be too shaky and the audience will be too bored with the handheld... and if the film was shot that way.... it would suggest that, like Blair witch, the monster would be difficult to see or not seen at all.. which would not satisfy the audience.. and So I guess we get the best of both worlds with both styles integrated... Plus... who holds on to a camera the hole time..It's just not believable....

THE SITES:

So the official sites are still 1-18-08.com and Slusho.jp.. no warbloid or rage of the gods....though Slusho doesn't have that big of a part in the movie, it does have the most clues as to the origins of the monster...but I don't know, my friend doesn't know... but some one knows what they're doing.. but it's too confusing and frustrating to crack the "codes" so to speak.. And then there's 1-18-08.com.... There are still only 5 pictures with two of them having messages.... There are no real clues in these pictures.. I'm sorry.. The pictures were put up there as more teasers as to what happened that night..giving you a time frame. There are no hidden messages and if they are.. we'll never find out until the movie comes out...

But Good news... the producers are listening to the fans who are frustrated with the mystery and know that you can only hold out for so long... A reason for this is was the lousy roar that was inserted 6 minutes into staying on the site... the producers found out that you guys were outraged that a new picture or some form of information was giving.. it was just a roar.. so they want to make up for it...

TITLES and NEW TRAILERS:

So everyone has been wondering what the title will be... and you are no different from the producers... when production began.. the film still didn't have a title... Cloverfield, Slusho, Etc. were just working titles (I'm sure we all knew that) But J.J really, really wanted to get the trailer out in time for the release of Transformers since he's smart and knows that it will be seen a lot with a blockbuster like that... So what do they do... they push it with no title and what they had shot already.. hence... we all saw what some have said to be the greatest trailer ever made.. though it was all pretty much a fluke by J.J for not having a title ready... not to say that they didn't know what they were doing... I'm sure they wanted the movie to seem mysterious.. but there was not title to release at the point... And if that weren't enough.. they did decide to release the title at Comicon..but after the poster leak fiasco.... they scratched it and went back to the drawing board... It was going to be Monstrous (and they saved themselves by releasing other posters with other adjectives)... but because of the leak.. they decided to change it again... soon Overnight and Parasite were scratched and the newest "weak" title "Wreck" will soon be scratched... For some reason J.J wants to keep the title one word.. it's like his thing (Alias, Lost).. and not very elaborate titles.. just basic words... but I dunno if we'll be happy with the final title...but as for now.. they're still working on it..

Which leads to the new trailer that will soon come out that will AGAIN have no title!!!! What is up with that.. give it a title already!!.. But the new trailer will consist of actual scenes related to the aftermath of the first trailer.. This includes Rob among other friends struggling to get away from the monster (which won't be shown of course.. again)... ad find themselves at a first aid center where (as I have seen on previous posts on the new trailer).. will have "infected people".. but no.. this will not be a monster/zombie movie.. the infection is a result from a mysterious ooze that comes from the monster.. upon contact.. they get sick and may look like zombies.. but do not hunt for brains... It just makes them look like crap for some reason..

So that's my theory.. I'm sure I left some stuff out.. but I can only remember so much.... So, personally, I don't think the movie will live up to the hype.. I think we all wanted a little bit more out of this movie.. but we'll soon find out that the phenomenon was basically a fluke which went to the producers advantage.. and now we're left with the obsession of trying to find out what this movie is about and they're struggling to try and live up to the hype.. it's just a big mess.. " [...original post]

This week's episode of 'INSIDER INFORMATION' , in which mild mannered contestants pose as industrial moles and enjoy giving movie secrets, comes from mysterious John Murphy who likes to post on forums at SteakNBJ.com.

What's Cloverfield found this little tidbit of information in a post from John Murphy, who just happens to have the storyline from the first 1/3 of the movie. As usual, John is going out on a limb and having to mask his identity and computer trail to give us this information, so the least we can do is lend him an ear.



So, here's John's story. I'll post it below but be warned (in case he's telling the truth) that it contains SPOILERS!!!

John Murphy writes: (Possible Spoilers Below!! Last Warning!)

"Here is the first third of the film…About one billion (yes billion) years ago, life on Earth was still at the multi-cell level and they remained mostly in their habitat. One of the organisms was more passive and preferred a symbiotic relationship for their survival.

Another (and there were more) was more aggressive and preferred to control larger beings for their survival. Back then, the world had only one continent. The two organisms were separated, for the most part, by land.

But the aggressive organism had developed a taste for the passive one and tried to feed on it as often as possible by going around the land mass. Until a cataclysmic event changed things, burying most of the ancient organisms under the oceans. The surviving organisms either died off or evolved (later becoming humans and what not).

Fast forward to present day and we have Japan discovering the passive organisms buried off their coast and eventually came to the conclusion that the American continents (North and South) had drifted over the aggressive organisms (more on them later) during the past billion years.

Japanese scientists begin studying this passive organism and find that it is a perfect nourishment supplement to humans. Grown in an agricultural field on the island of Hokkaido, Japan, these organisms create the appearance of cloverfields. The scientists learn that these organisms are beneficial symbiotic parasites that give us additional nourishment and make us feel happy. Thus humans and the parasites become one.

They are kept cold to prevent them from dying from exposure until they are introduced into their host. Thus the development of the awesome and delicious drink – Slusho! (It makes me happy).

Rob is a college graduate who has been hired by Slusho and has just accepted an offer to work in their technologies division in Japan. Rob also knows the basics of the organism, the story that Slusho “invented” as a marketing campaign and has recently been informed that the scientists have found trace amounts of the aggressive organism.

This aggressive organism likes to pool up into a larger being, control it, own it, even change it. It also eats the smaller passive organism much the same way a whale will eat plankton. Slusho is now one of the most popular drinks. In it’s own right it is a tasty meal that does not add fat and is proven to be healthy with claims that it cures cancer and many other diseases.

Slusho and it’s by-products are now being flushed (literally) into the sewer systems and drained out to sea by way of urine, fecal matter and just straight unconsumed Slusho. This builds up on the ocean floor and eventually awakens a very hungry and aggressive organism.

This aggressive organism, hungry and well, aggressive, follows the sewer trail back to New York and emerges through the sewers breaking and igniting a natural gas pipeline in it’s effort to feed on the passive organism, which is now us."

JJ Abrams - 2007 Comic-con

Although the story should take place mostly in New York City, various shoots occurred in different parts of L.A. which are thought to mimic scenes in New York City that weren't feasible to be shot in Manhattan. Military crews arriving in the city and numerous explosions and firefights were reported to be carried out in these scenes. The crew then headed to finish up the film in New York City where they were centered around destroyed city street sets (see Say Cheese ! 'Cloverfield' Being Shot Right Now in NYC ), a shoot at Coney Island, and a shoot in Central Park. ( see Cloverfield Central Park Shoot Videos )

1-18-08 Cloverfield Working Titles and Set Notes

The "Untitled J.J. Abrams Project" is called either 'Cloverfield' or '1-18-08' in most circles. However, when filming in L.A. and New York City the production team used many fake names like 'Chocolate,' 'Cheese,' and 'Slusho.' Hardcore fans of Abrams' "Alias" may remember "Slusho," a Slurpee-type beverage, from the second episode of the series when Vaughn offers one to Sydney.

IGN was able to get a copy of a shooting description during the L.A. 'Slusho' days that explained : "Exterior dialogue. Driving scenes. Occasional traffic & pedestrian control. Camera & equipment on sidewalk, street and property. 200 extras. Military vehicles. Destruction aftermath. Weapons brandished. Emergency vehicles with flashing lights. Exterior dialogue on fire escape on 8th floor." (see 'Slusho' Filming )

During the NYC shoot, a copy of the call sheet for the movie was snagged and published by New York Magazine. The movie shoot for that part of the movie involved scenes from Central Park and was being filmed under the fake title 'Cheese.' (see Paramount Cease and Desist )

The Cheese call sheet revealed a 33 day shoot with possible plot spoilers. Since the publication of the call sheet, Paramount's lawyers have officially sent out Ceased & Desist letters for the publication of the Cheese call sheet which gives weight to their being legit.

Only a handful of inexperienced and young actors have been confirmed for the 1-18-08 cast. The only major actor confirmed to take part in the film is Greg Grunberg (see Greg Grunberg Will Be In ‘Cloverfield’ ), who currently stars as police man Matt Parker on the hit NBC show, HEROES. Grunberg and Abrams have been friends for many years and it is almost a sure thing that Grunberg will pop up with a cameo in any Abrams project.

The lead role is slated for Michael Stahl-David who will play character Rob Hawkins, a businessman who is having a party at his NYC apartment the night before leaving to Japan.

Other cast members include Odette Yustman, Mike Vogel, Lizzy Caplan, Greg Grunberg, and Blake Lively.

MySpace profiles (see 1-18-08 Picture #5 And New Characters )have been created for the characters and can be found here:
http://www.myspace.com/jamielascano
http://www.myspace.com/robbyhawkins
http://www.myspace.com/lily_ford
http://www.myspace.com/beth_mcintyre
http://www.myspace.com/jj_hawkins
http://www.myspace.com/marlenadiamond
http://www.myspace.com/hudsonplatt

1-18-08 will be directed by Matt Reeves. Previous work by Reeves include writing movies such as The Pallbearer, The Yards, and Under Siege 2: Dark Territory. Reeves worked for JJ Abrams for the show "Felicity" for which Reeves not only wrote for but also directed a handful of episodes.

1-18-08 was written by Drew Goddard, who is another Abrams alumni. Goddard wrote and produced episodes for Abrams projects "Lost" and "Alias" as well as writing for cult favorites "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and its spin off, "Angel."

Bryan Burk helped produced and his previous experience include working with Abrams on all his projects since "Alias"

J.J. Abrams created the 1-18-08 film for his Bad Robot Productions. Abrams has been the catalyst for multiple hit Television shows including "Alias," "Lost," and "Felicity." He made his feature film debut as director for Mission: Impossible III, which was the highest budgeted film for a first time director at around $200 Million.

"I have nothing against larger budget films, but as someone who's worked in television, I know that some pretty powerful stories can be told for somewhere under $200 million," Abrams said.

Although Abrams will direct the upcoming Star Trek film, he has expressed an interest in creating smaller budgeted films. Last summer Abrams signed multi-year movie deals, five years for Paramount and six years for Warner Bros., to make Abrams one of the highest paid writer-producers in Hollywood.

The 1-18-08 poster released during the 2007 Comic-con featured an image of the Statue of Liberty as seen from behind and having it's head ripped off. A water trail, evidence of something big, leads toward Manhattan where a gap of smoke and destruction open up. Prior to Comic-con a bootleg pic of the poster was revealed with the title 'MONSTROUS' at the top. (see 'MONSTROUS' Poster Explained )

This led many to believe it to be the title of the movie. However, JJ Abrams debunked that theory by saying that was not the title and it was one of 4 posters mocked up with adjectives describing the movie. Other titles are FURIOUS, TERRIFYING, and BARBAROUS with all but the last having been found.

1-18-08.com Contains photos which are draggable around your screen and now can be flipped over to reveal messages selected . Each photo is time stamped with the date 1-18-08

Slusho is a fake Japanese drink company. Think of it like a Slushee but apparently made from ingredients found from the bottom of the ocean.


More sites with 1-18-08 information:

• 1-18-08 (2008) - MovieWeb



• Cloverfield - From Wikipedia



• It's Alive: 1-18-08 The scoop on J.J. Abrams' top secret project.



• Apple - Trailers - 01-18-08



• Untitled J.J. Abrams Project (2008)



• Cloverfield / 1-18-08 Video Secrets and More!



• 1-18-08 Video Clips, Previews, Teasers & Trailers - MovieWeb
  1-18-08 (2008)

Also, for those of you that might not know already(or just don't want to admit) the Ethan Hass tie-in was just a video game that their producers, in my eye, were using the 'Cloverfield' momentum for their own gain.

In the beginning a few blogs were leaked out with the Ethan Hass/Cloverfield tie-in. It was called out by someone (I don't remember who made the finding offhand) for being a video game called Alpha Omega. They have officially changed the Ethan Hass stuff over to the game now. Guess they milked 'Cloverfield' for all they could get.

If I remember right, and maybe someone can back me up on this, they stuck 'Cloverfield' tags in their blogs to get the 'Cloverfield' traffic or something like that. I'll have to look into that. Anyway, stick a fork in it - Ethan Hass is now officially out of the game.

1/5


Ethan Haas Was Right - Message #1

2/5

3/5





Ethan Haas Was Right - Message #3

4/5




The great cycle, the beginning and the end, turns just as the plans of the gods turn once again to the world of men.

And they will come upon the ear...

5/5




...08*01*07...

...Ethan Haas Was Right

...Ethan Hass Was Wrong