unforum

[pegassissy]

[john locke]

Edited previous post! Sorry for previous post I just (incorrectly) thought it was a female alias! (looks round uncomfortably, before wandering off, deeply embarrased!)

Still friends?

[tigerbaby]

I think if the movie is titled cloverfield it would be sort of a shout out to everyone that's been so interested in it this long

[Status]

It's possible that the title could be Midnight or some variation of that. Everyone is partying and having a good time and then everything starts to go wrong around 12:AM.

[Konran]

It's possible that they haven't released the title yet because it contains some kind of spoiler or information they don't want us having yet. For example, if the title was "Attack of the Giant Monster from Chuai Station" (I know, lame example), that would give us a concrete piece of information to work with, and so far they've been pretty stingy with concrete information...

[pegassissy]

[HerOdyssey]

I can't honestly imagine that this one trailer and word-of-mouth from die-hard snooping-sci-fi types will bring in the gagillions of dollars just outright blatant, in-your-face marketing would do. Trailers on TV, at every movie, lots of explosions, CGI, B-52s and Apache choppers going down in flames... People would be lining up out the door...

Ah well, I suppose they will shift to more in-your-face marketing later on after they've produced a freakin' title.

It just seems like they're stingying themselves out of potential viewers with this weird campaign to some degree. Locking themselves into a cultier audience instead...

Hm.

[And Pegasissy; *I've* always known you weren't a girl]

[pegassissy]

[rose]

[Euchre]

As a comparison of sorts, how did the phenomenon of Blair Witch get started and when? Was it after the release? As I recall that's when I first heard any hype about it.

Maybe this part is to build the platform upon which the post debut furor is meant to be set upon.

[dr_worm]

[Helo]

[Status]

[Euchre]

Ethan Haas probably increased interest because it had more conventional elements of an ARG, being puzzles and a more reliable and regular communication. I think another thing is being attempted here, in both the case of Ethan Haas and in this campaign. In Ethan Haas everything went silent for about a month, culminating in the debut of the Alpha and Omega game. I think the idea is that during this time after some activity and a bit of info has been given, we will 'steep' a bit and gestate ideas - all the while building hype and interest theoretically. The fact is, it takes only a day or two to work out almost everything we can for the info given, and an exponential number of people can read what we put out about it. Things on the internet just go way faster.

Ethan Haas never gave players the answer they wanted, it just handed them a game promotion which nobody had expected. The time delay (and debut being nearly a day late) was only part of it's failure, having what amounted to 'buy this' shoved in the players' faces did it in for sure. We at least know what this promotion is for, so we already have a difference there. The 'stall time' isn't smart because people lose interest before they can become their own generators of hype.

I don't quite agree with you Helo, many of the people I speak to know about this movie - few of them care at all or nearly as much as we here do. So many people have seen Transformers and saw the trailer, and do know it's for a monster movie Abrams is making ('that guy from Lost'). I think they would have been more curious IF there had been more interesting things coming to light at a bit steadier of a pace. The greater public would feed off of the more dedicated fans' interest and pursuit of information - like they did with Star Wars: The Phantom Menace. The viral campaign creators need to learn how to 'feed' the beast that is the ARG crowd, so we can feed the masses.

A point here I wonder about is how much value the title has, versus how much value the monster does. Which is the real carrot, the discovery this campaign is meant to lead to? If it's the monster the campaign will likely culminate in the movie itself. If it's the title, the end could come much sooner.

[DougBThree]

At this point, yes, I think the general public and the press have lost touch with this movie. In fact, even the moderate JJ Abrams fans have turned their attention to his involvement in the new Star Trek movie. That's a well known franchise, and the news is full of stories of celebrity casting pseudo-controversies (Shatner is out! Winona Ryder is Spock's mom!) and word of spy footage from the sets, etc. That stuff engages the public far more than what they probably perceive (if they think of it at all) as some weird, title-less movie with a weird website.

Perhaps Abrams himself is now more fully engaged on Star Trek. After all, he is the director of that movie, its main creative force. He's just the producer for 1-18-08, the money man. I don't think I've ever seen even one thread discussing the director of 1-18-08. How many people could even name him off the top of their head?

If a new trailer does appear, it'll probably be a more mainstream marketing effort, so we'll see what happens then. Until then, I guess we have to be satisfied with some new Happy Talk quotes. Whoopee.