Cloverfield

Realism is a construction of a series of cinematic pieces which when all totalled together becomes a fictional reality. However, when it comes to new technologies being used within and as a major set piece, things become a little more blurred.

Cloverfield is an anomaly in terms of this fictional reality. When it was released, it was said to have given the monster movie a shot-in-the-arm, however this shot didn’t last particularly long; quickly dissipating into nothingness when the next Hollywood fad became apparent. Aside from this, Cloverfield also sought to provide a dizzying insight into an unusual present. What is incredible about Cloverfield is how you can argue it seems real. I for one thought this but quickly erased this from my mind when I realised that it was a monster that was causing the destruction of the human race in the film I have just seen. However, for all its nonsense, Cloverfield is a curious film in terms of how it perceives a bleak present through an easily perceivable reality.
The utilisations of actual cinematic technology have been very much hit and miss. Diary of the Dead seemed to fall down because of it – although most of its weaknesses can be blamed upon a fairly weak script – but in other instances it seems to work quite well, for example, The Blair Witch Project. Although, what is interesting in terms of these examples, Cloverfield can also be included in this, is that they all use the ‘digital camera, POV style of shooting’ to make these blatantly fictitious events seem real. We know there’s no such thing as zombies, witches or gigantic monsters, but as soon as the digital home-movie camera style of shooting is brought in, we’re lead to believe these events within another added dimension. This is not to say that we are lead to believe these events as 100% fact – they are not documentaries – but rather that for that period when the lights go down we are brought into another reality. A constructed reality. This is the power of the digital era and this then moves us into what can be called, The Digital Paradox.

Cloverfield for all its strengths though seems to rely on generic plot developments, becoming at times a parody of itself. The flashbacks which are already on the tape – which conveniently occur when things are getting too rough, or it has been too long since we’re reminded that they love each other – are a weak way of reminding us that the central character is in love with the girl and that he must save her. It also uses news footage to allow us to catch a glimpse of the monsters and although they are well executed, I particularly enjoy that the looters are stopped in their tracks to watch the events unfold. However, it still feels a little too weak and easy to add these.

What is also unusual is how the film was very well constructed in terms of sound; the film has a very complex sonic construction, which at times you can hear bullets whizzing past from left to right, from back left to front right and so on. However, it would never have been captured like that and thus never be able to reproduce in such a manner. Essentially it comes down to a choice between good filmmaking and naturalism. Of course they chose the former, because if the latter had been opted, it wound have diminished the spectacle of the film; making the grand, breathtaking images of the monster seem somewhat dwarfed by a poor sonic representation. With that level of noise too, it would have sounded too tinny and distorted had it been captured on the small microphone contained within a handicam.

For all its failures and construction loopholes, Cloverfield is an intriguing exercise in realism and generic development. It proves that there can be a middle ground between the two and the balance which pushes the film into a fantastic spectacle. One might leave the film spouting that it has a level of realism that can’t be compared and you would be right; the way in which it creates a realistic effect is incredible but the actual events on screen cannot be considered so and this is where films such this really lag.