A great group to work with indeed...
Oliver Rossetti is passionate and creative about his work and is great to work with, he takes our ideas on board and manipulates them with ease whilst at all times, concentrating on the task at hand. He is serious, yet fun, a great combination! And I am really glad that I have him in the group.
Harry Read, however, has got the camera man's eye, thus he can identify the best areas to frame in order to give an appropriate effect needed for the different types of genres. He is also a friendly guy who would work his socks off to get the best achievable grades.
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We have chosen the Thriller genre.
We have done so because, it is
a fast-moving, attention-seeking and fear-filling
genre that teenagers [our target audience] love because of the adrenaline rush it can create.
Here are a few Thriller conventions:
• Often take place wholly or partly in exotic settings such as foreign cities, deserts, polar regions, or high seas
• The heroes in most thrillers are frequently "hard men" accustomed to danger: law enforcement officers, spies, soldiers, seamen or aviators
• However, they may also be ordinary citizens drawn into danger by accident
• A thriller climaxes when the hero finally defeats the villain, saving his own life and often the lives of others
• An ominous or monstrous element has become common to heighten tension. The monster could be anything, even an inferior physical force made superior only by their intellect, a supernatural entity, aliens, serial killers, or even microbes or chemical agents
Sub-types of the Thriller genre:
• Psychological thriller: In which (until the often violent resolution) the conflict between the main characters is mental and emotional, rather than physical. The Alfred Hitchcock films Suspicion, Shadow of a Doubt, and Strangers on a Train and David Lynch's bizarre and influential Blue Velvet are notable examples of the type
• Drama thriller: In which the story consists of the elements of a thriller and drama film. These films are usually slower paced and involve a great deal of character development along with plot twists.
• Disaster thriller: In which the main conflict is due to some sort of natural or artificial disaster, such as floods, earthquakes, hurricanes, volcanoes, etc., or nuclear disasters as an artificial disaster.
• Crime thriller: This particular genre is a hybrid type of both crime films and thrillers that offers a suspenseful account of a successful or failed crime or crimes. These films often focus on the criminal(s) rather than a policeman. Crime thrillers usually emphasize action over psychological aspects. Central topics of these films include murders, robberies, chases, shootouts, and double-crosses are central ingredients. Some examples include The Killing, Seven, The Godfather, Reservoir Dogs, Inside Man, and The Asphalt Jungle.
And these are only a few, there are many, many more...
Plot Synopsis:
The plot revolves around a monster attack in New York, and was viewed from the point of a small group of young adults. This group of people were celebrating the new job acquired by the main character - Rob [Michael Stahl-David]. Moreover, he had an affair with another girl called Beth [Odette Yustman], whilst he was going out with Lily [Jessica Lucas], his girlfriend. He ends up insulting Beth, who then storms out. Rob's friend, Hud [T.J.Miller] was put in charge of the CamCorder. He was suppose to go around and ask Rob's friends to say a word about Rob's new job. But, he ends up trying to impress Marlena [Lizzy Caplan] instead.
As Rob tries to catch up with Beth, a huge long-legged metallic-looking monster starts attacking the Woolworth Center. Hud has this all on tape, although he is startled, he just resumes filming this unbelievable disaster on the city (see first convention - above). The small group all go downstairs, and outside to see what this "thing" is. They end up spreading out and running for their lives, as they realise, that this monster is real, and angry. The military quickly take action and try and stop it but it is too strong.
In the end, the military finds the tape and plays it back, and they realise that the monster was in the background of a usual event, where Rob was on a day out with Beth. This, I believe, highlights that it was always there, unknown to the inhabitants...
Main Characters:
Rob [Michael Stahl-David] Marlena [Lizzy Caplan]
In this adventurous film, these characters are now drowning in fear, whilst at the same time rushing underground through the New York Metro, but they do not realise that it isnt safe down there, its actually more dangerous than over ground as they are trapped in complete darkness. These characters seem to all have a bond, and I believe this is why most of them survive during and after the attack. Their teamwork and will to live, gives them enough adrenaline to save themselves from death. Of course, this isnt just a thriller, you could also associate it with the "Romance" genre aswell. Rob, is planning where they should go next, but as always they will have to face obstacles on the way. In this case, Rob is trying to find Beth. The woman who was having an affair with him. She ran out of the building, and since then, Rob has not seen her. A little bit of suspense, don't you think? He keeps telling his friends that he has to find her to reconfort her about the whole situation. But, of course the situation is a little worse than this, Rob and his friends have to fight-off small creatures [the babies of the mother-monster] and climb an "atleast 50 story" [in my opinion] building flat in the centre of New York. Where the mother-monster was originally. She does move around but a few of its footsteps are equivalent to several minutes of driving, therefore, she is hard to catch up and destroy.
Rob [Michael Stahl-David], the main character of this Thriller has already worked in this type of genre. He had a part in the American television series, "
Numb3rs", which was released in 2005. Although he only played in 1 episode, he could have used his experience from this television series for his main role in "Cloverfield".
Beth [Odette Yustman], one of the main characters also had experience in this genre, one year before this film was made, she played in the Action/Sci-Fi/Thriller film, "Transformers". Her role was to be a
socialite. Even though this role doesnt include her in the action, she must have understood a little more about this genre. Therefore, she would comprehend how to act to suit this part.
Lily [Jessica Lucas], was also one of the the most important roles in this Thriller genre film. Jessica played as Ronnie Lake in 4 episodes of
C.S.I. back in 2007. One year before they started the making of "Cloverfield". As her experience is fresh in her mind from her previous role as Ronnie, she could really enlighten all the other "amateur" actors who have smaller roles in this film. Whilst learning more and more as she goes through with the filming of this Thriller.
Hud [T.J.Miller], is the only actor yet, that does not have any experience with this genre but I personally think he suited the part well. With a huge amount of comedy acting experience, he really could develop a contrast between characters in this Thriller. As previously said in the synopsis, although he was scared out of his mind, with the video camera in hand, he still pulled out a few jokes, like this one:
Hud: Okay, just to be clear here, our options are: die here, die in the tunnels, or die in the streets. That pretty much it?
Rob Hawkins: Yeah... that's pretty much it.
Marlena [Lizzy Caplan], a very talented actress has played in several other films but the one of the Thriller oriented television series she was in is called "
Tru Calling", a Thriller series made back in 2003. She played in 4 of the episodes as Avery Bishop. Like the other actor's and actress's, she used her Thriller knowledge and represented the best of her abilities in this well-known "Cloverfield" film.
Themes and Values:
From the cover of the DVD and posters I had seen, and the fact that this film is a Thriller, the themes and values that I would expect to see include: destruction, survival, love, friendship [and many more sub-themes and values].
DESTRUCTION:
As the DVD cover has a headless Statue of Liberty in its frontplan, the first thing that comes to mind is "theres been an attack here". And if you look in the background, the skyscrapers and buildings on the island of Manhattan, are either being engulfed in fire or collapsing to the ground. An artificial threat has caused this. An extra-terrestrial being caused this, maybe?
SURVIVAL:
This can only be said and explained if you read the brief summary or the synopsis of the story, but still. I believe it is the most important theme of them all. Thrillers usually have this. This creates an "sitting-on-the-edge-of-your-seat" vibe. Continuously making you feel safe but at the same time in danger. A great feeling. And I personally think it represents the first step of audience fear.
LOVE:
Once again, this can only be understood and explained if you read the summary or synopsis. The story wanders around Rob looking for Beth. He just wants to say "I love you" to her, and in oder to do this, he must fight until he finds her. Here is a quote, that highlights my previous point:
FRIENDSHIP:
This group of friends were partying in the opening scene, congratulating Rob for getting promoted to a new job. Staying together from the start to finish, I really believe that this is friendship. Rob, helping his friends get through this with ease. He is the one with the ambition, therefore, if he wants to get what he wants, Beth, he must "take the bull by the horns" and think ahead. He's a natural leader [theme - leadership].
Locations:
Most of the Thrillers I have watched, happen in deserted areas, ghost towns or derelict buildings. But, this film defeats this, it is happening in a wide-open space, New York City. Very unusual for this genre of film but if attacked by another lifeform, I don't think it really makes a difference.
Heres is a list of the locations in which this film was filmed in:
- Bloomingdale's Department Store, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA
- Downey Studios - 12214 Lakewood Boulevard, Downey, California, USA (studio)
- Los Angeles, California, USA
- New York City, New York, USA
- Paramount Studios - 5555 Melrose Avenue, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA (studio)
- San Pedro, Los Angeles, California, USA (subway station set)
- Santa Clarita, California, USA
- Warner Brothers Burbank Studios - 4000 Warner Boulevard, Burbank, California, USA (studio)
- Westfield Santa Anita Shopping Center - 400 South Baldwin Avenue, Arcadia, California, USA
