Sunday, 10 October 2010

Cloverfield: Case Study.

Institution
Name: Cloverfield
Director: Matt Reeves
Producers: J.J. Abrams, Bryan Burk
Production Company: Bad Robot Productions, Paramount Pictures
Release Date: January 18th 2008
Genre: Thriller/Mystery/Sci-fi
Country: United States
Budget: $25,000,000
Gross Revenue: $170,764,026
Run Time: 85 minutes




Audience

Cloverfield’s suited audience is late teens through to middle aged persons, and those who prefer films of the sci-fi and thriller conventions. This chart (taken from IMDb.com) shows both the age groups and genders of people who rated this film. As you can see, the film was most popular with viewers aged under 18, and least popular with women aged 45+. In regards to the reviews, there were 2,025 in total. These reviews were varied, some positive, quoting “Constantly driving you to the edge of your seat at every turn, the first great monster film of the century.” and then some negative, such as “Disappointment doesn't even begin to describe how the audience felt.”

Technology
The biggest aspect that sets this movie aside from many others is the almost lacking in the latest technology. Cloverfield adopts the ‘point of view’ theme throughout the entire film, engaging the viewer and making us feel as though we are actually there with the mortified characters of New York. What the camera sees is all the audience sees, and all that the audience is able to process. However, this lack of information has sparked much discussion throughout the globe, making it the huge success that it is. Another technological aspect adding to this alienation of the viewer, is the lack of music and non-diegetic sound. A big feature to this film is the CGI involved in order to create the monster itself, the amount that CGI has evolved enables the creators to really bring this creature to life, and make it incredibly realistic and believable.


Codes/forms and Conventions of the Thriller Genre
 This picture is from a scene within in the film where the small group of characters are trying to make their way to the underground tunnel, however they soon find themselves caught in the middle of a hostile attack by the US Army on the creature destroying New York. As you can see, despite the fact that the film is in point of view throughout the whole run time, key thriller conventions are still very cleverly included. One of these key signs of a thriller is the street lamps, illuminating the street and the good characters that are the US soldiers. The camera angle is very low, portraying defeat and vulnerability within the characters. As in the whole film, this scene only includes diegetic sound, sounds of gunfire and panic, further alienating the audience. The scene is in the middle of the street, a confined space that creates a sense of confinement and ‘no escape’. This film fits the ‘thriller’ genre perfectly. The point of view camera work makes sure that the audience is constantly immersed in the action that is unfolding in front of the characters eyes. The lack of non-diegetic sound creates a sense of alienation, and the shaky camera work disorientates the audience, creating much confusion and slight panic. All of these emotions are essential to a successful thriller, and this film induces an abundance of them. The narrative structure is very simple, everything is chronological, as this film is almost a documentation of an event. However, there are very short little flashbacks, where the tape cuts out every now and again and plays previous footage on the tape; this disorientates and confuses the viewer.           

1 comment:

  1. This is a detailed case study. Well done! The technology section should not focus on production, but on the ways in which technology was used to promote or market the film. The codes and conventions of the Thriller genre have been analysed in detail, but ensure you explain the intended effect for each point raised: "previous footage on the tape; this disorientates and confuses the viewer." How does it achieve this? The section in representation is missing.

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