Return to Unfiction unforum
 a.r.g.b.b 
FAQ FAQ   Search Search 
 
Welcome!
New users, PLEASE read these forum guidelines. New posters, SEARCH before posting and read these rules before posting your killer new campaign. New players may also wish to peruse the ARG Player Tutorial.

All users must abide by the Terms of Service.
Website Restoration Project
This archiving project is a collaboration between Unfiction and Sean Stacey (SpaceBass), Brian Enigma (BrianEnigma), and Laura E. Hall (lehall) with
the Center for Immersive Arts.
Announcements
This is a static snapshot of the
Unfiction forums, as of
July 23, 2017.
This site is intended as an archive to chronicle the history of Alternate Reality Games.
  

The time now is Sun Nov 24, 2024 2:07 am
All times are UTC - 4 (DST in action)		 View posts in this forum since last visit
View unanswered posts in this forum
Calendar
 Forum index » Archive » Archive: Cloverfield (1-18-08) » Cloverfield: General / Updates
[SPEC & SPOILERS] Cloverfield meant for 2 diff. audiences?
View previous topicView next topic
Page 1 of 2 [17 Posts]   Goto page: 1, 2 Next
Author Message
quantumcreep
Greenhorn

Joined: 24 Jan 2008
Posts: 9

 		[SPEC & SPOILERS] Cloverfield meant for 2 diff. audiences?
Apologies for Length
After the first teaser premiered and the excitement began to mount, I got a bit interested in the ARG, but after a few visits to various forums, I quickly became disinterested. There were too many different angles to follow while working and going to school, and a lot of very wild theories (the vast majority we now know were dead wrong) that put me off. Occasionally, I would visit a site to try and get a picture of what was going on, even up until a little bit before the release. What I really found most interesting was the response by the marketing team to the fans' excitement; they put up so many "clues," and obviously spent a long time hiding them and planning their eventual release. I'll admit I haven't read everything from the game, but I've taken a glance at most of it, and it is incredibly expansive. My only other frame of reference is the game preceding NIN's last album, but Reznor's fans were a sure bet as players; it was almost more a freebie side project for his fans than something to attract new listeners.

When I finally got to see Cloverfield, I tried to leave out all the theories and trailer scenes from my mind in order to enjoy the movie as it was presented. And I had a hell of a time. I thought it was one of the best "must see in theaters" movies I'd seen, on par with Independence Day in that regard. I had accidentally caught a mention of a "u.f.o." in one of the last scenes while looking up some reviews of the flick the day before, so I spent almost every minute from the helicopter scene onwards scanning the skies for some sign of a massive spacecraft or what have you. Even when Hud got (just) his white ass swallowed, I was looking above the monster's head in case something zoomed by in the sky. It was only when Rob and Beth get crushed (I'm not going to argue this: they're dead, and who cares if there was a nuke involved?) under the bridge and the camera jumped back to the Coney Island footage that I got excited. As most of us have seen already, Rob is shooting the ocean from the vantage point of a Ferris Wheel or something, and an unidentifiable object quickly crashes into the ocean, throwing up a great amount of water. The two are oblivious to this, they say something sappy to the camera, and scene. I didn't sit through the credits, so I missed the "help us/it's still alive" part and the roar (could someone please succinctly tell me what happened? I'm still not sure if the voice just said "help us" and someone recorded it and played it back to hear "it's still alive" or what; just curious), but I do know I am waiting until the lights come on when I see it again this weekend.

So, quantumcreep, you've rambled on for half a page now and we still have no idea what you're getting at, I'm sure you're saying, while grumpily adjusting your monocles and lighting your pipes. Well, here's where things get interesting. As someone who hadn't followed the ARG too closely, I didn't have preconceived notions of what was going to happen in the movie, but I still knew about the ideas floating about. As I said before, I was able to enjoy it for what it was (an awesome monster-wrecks-big-city movie), and I was sure that the "u.f.o." was the monster itself, coming to Earth to wreck some folks after a three week swim. I started thinking about how the whole ARG thing meshed with the rest of the audience; surely the majority of viewers were even unaware of such a game. But the average movie goer hates to be left wondering as to what just happened during their two hours in a dark room surrounded by strangers. The numbers and reviews, though, swung far in favor of the movie, so what made the standard viewer so satisfied? I came home and looked up what players thought the thing crashing into the water was, and found out that, according to the ARG, it was almost definitely that japanese satellite. Again, the majority of viewers, even those aware of the game but who didn't play it, wouldn't bother to go snooping around the web for answers.

Then I realized that, maybe, just maybe, the staff had pulled off some really incredible movie-making while working insanely close to the marketing crew. The movie itself might be intended to be experienced in two entirely different ways, almost like a reverse Choose Your Own Adventure book, with a different back story for each of the two types of audience member leading to the bad assery of MGP in NYC.

A) Those following the ARG had their origin story all laid out for them (from what I can gather, this is the most popular theory as of the moment, and unless more "evidence" pops up, it seems like it will stand): odd monster lives at bottom of ocean, eats other weird things living at bottom of ocean who eat the Deep Sea Nectar at bottom of ocean -> evil/insane japanese company discovers Nectar, starts drilling for it, removes bottom of the food chain, f*cks up the rest, pisses off now hungry monster -> monster attacks refinery, japanese government suspect company, uses spy satellites to get a look at cause of refinery crash, spy satellites get taken out by company -> satellites fall to Earth, MGP bonked on the head or some such, gets mad, Kill!Smash!Destroy! in New York -> roll credits, fanboys squirm in seats for noise after credits, internet rumors of sequel begin approximately 12 minutes after end of premier screening.
Someone may figure out something different about the satellites, and that's fine. I'd like to hear the final theories, but their not central to my idea.

B) The average "people who use the internet are lame" movie going crowd saw: party -> monster wrecks city -> everyone dies. They or their friends might have seen the u.f.o. crash, I'm sure at least one person in each group did, they tell the others, they all agree on.....<drumroll> Hud's second theory he gives in the subway ("it might have flown here from another planet like Superman"). This is how I initially thought things went down.
Now, I could be wrong and the whole u.f.o. thing might have been lost on everybody, but people remembered to some extent what Hud said (first or second theory) and they accepted it. Compare this to the old Godzilla movies: atomic bomb mutates lizard, it attacks Tokyo. Neither explanation is complex in any manner, and people are able to relate the new movie to the old monster flicks of days past without anything bothersome like a backstory. I know I felt incredibly satisfied afterwards, as the u.f.o. was definite proof backing up the Superman theory, which is really simple.
To really cement a more out-there idea though, I'm going to go with the idea that everyone is somehow aware of something crashing into the water in the Coney Island footage. When putting the pieces together in their heads, they think of the "Superman" theory, and that's their entire story: alien monster rampage.

Group A knows that Hud's first theory (something in the Mariana Trench, previously unknown to people) is correct, as even Abrams confirmed as much. Group B, most likely not hearing Abrams' quote, are happy with their alien story.

Now here's where the writer's skills really shine and some more back-up for my idea. For Group B, Rob is a good guy stuck in an incredibly unlucky situation, who follows his heart to go save the girl of his dreams who will die without his help. But if Group A actually integrates what was seen in the movie with what they've discovered in the game, Rob isn't much of a hero. As V.P. of marketing for the company responsible for the destruction of Manhattan, he almost surely knows what's going on as soon as everyone in the movie realizes that it's not just a terrorist attack or earthquake. It would have been his duty to help cover-up the mess of the refinery and sugarcoat Slusho for America. Didn't any of you think it strange that every time any other character starts asking "What's going on?" or "What is that thing?" he either tells them to stay quiet or completely ignores them? Or why the quote in the movie from a friend telling him "I guess you should have left town sooner?" is one of the only pieces of real dialogue in the trailer (even in the rest of the movie, though there are definitely funny bits of dialogue, this one stands out for being funny and foreshadowing MGP's romp)? I briefly looked at the Myspace page for Rob, and in his blog he talks about how the promotion is kind of sudden and how he didn't think he'd have to move to Japan. It's also strange that he's ditching town so soon, and he's supposed to leave the day right after the incident occurs. It seems that he knew at least that something was going to happen and wanted to get the hell out of Dodge.

This would also explain his entire motivation for going to save Beth (and for trying to convince his friends to let him go alone after his brother gets roughed up a little by the Brooklyn Bridge). Even though they were just friends that had only hooked up once, he felt personally responsible for the "terrible thing" (hell, even when he says this it sounds like he knows a lot more about it than he should) and didn't want to be responsible if she died.

And sure, if it helps you sleep at night, he realizes he loves her and they die in each other's arms under the force of two tons of molten bricks, happily knowing they've finally found their soulmates.

EDIT:
Quote:
I am a complete idiot. Excuse me, I've had a long day and short nights, but I completely forgot to submit the one thing that kicked this whole train of thought off:
From reading through all these different forums since the movie, I've noticed a lot of arguments about the u.f.o. A lot of people have already decided that it was the satellite, while I've read other explanations such as, and I shit you not, something to the effect of "well JJ said it was a baby so the splash is definitely from the baby being playful and jumping off the harbor into the water like it's a pool."
The best part about this, though, is that it's in no way clear what the object is. If my theory is right, then the crew intentionally made the object unidentifiable, and as such, it is the second and last divider of audiences. (Of course, there could be more that I'm missing; I'll keep an eye out when I see it again.)


PostPosted: Fri Jan 25, 2008 1:48 am
Last edited by quantumcreep on Fri Jan 25, 2008 3:27 am; edited 1 time in total
 View user's profile
 Back to top 
xboyonfirex
Entrenched


Joined: 05 Dec 2007
Posts: 1069

 		Re: [SPEC & SPOILERS] Cloverfield meant for 2 diff. audience
Apologies for Length
I completely agree with this 100%

Also, we gotta realize that J.J. Abrams was just a part of the creation, not the mastermind behind the entire thing. The fact is, they left out any solid 'origin' of the monster because that would mean that they were implying their opinions/idea about the monster [Our monster] onto us.

PostPosted: Fri Jan 25, 2008 1:58 am
 View user's profile
 Back to top 
keseki
Boot

Joined: 05 Jan 2008
Posts: 65

 		Hud says the thing could have come from space or been in the ocean for thousands of years. so he actually makes both points, not going against what you said by any means, it actually proves it more, the thought of it being meant for 2 different audiences, cuz WE know it was in the ocean for years, but the average movie-goer can go to sleep happy knowing it was an alien rocking it up.

PostPosted: Fri Jan 25, 2008 2:06 am
 View user's profile
 Back to top 
skatehimrock
Unfettered


Joined: 23 Jan 2008
Posts: 375

 		my money goes on ocean for thousands of years.
but i guess it could go either wayy...i find alien..somewhat improbable.. idk why.

PostPosted: Fri Jan 25, 2008 2:08 am
 View user's profile
 Back to top 
xboyonfirex
Entrenched


Joined: 05 Dec 2007
Posts: 1069
skatehimrock wrote:
my money goes on ocean for thousands of years.
but i guess it could go either wayy...i find alien..somewhat improbable.. idk why.


'improbable' is a funny word to use in a movie about a giant monster ransacking NYC.

Just remember, J.J. Abrams and Matt Reeves made it that way for a reason... Perhaps when J.J. Abrams said that it's been underwater for thousands of years was simply his take on the monster... If it's not in the actual movie then what he says is simply his opinion, just like yours and mine.

PostPosted: Fri Jan 25, 2008 2:11 am
 View user's profile
 Back to top 
11808
Boot

Joined: 22 Jan 2008
Posts: 56

 		Actually, Hud says three things about the origin. At least that come to mind.

It could've flown here from some other planet (alien).
They've found strange fish in deep parts of the ocean (sea creature).

And at one point, I think in the stairwell, he makes a comment on how it could've been created. I made a mental note because I remember reading some stuff on here and the thought crossed my mind. Though unlikely, it's mentioned.

PostPosted: Fri Jan 25, 2008 2:12 am
 View user's profile
 Back to top 
skatehimrock
Unfettered


Joined: 23 Jan 2008
Posts: 375
xboyonfirex wrote:
skatehimrock wrote:
my money goes on ocean for thousands of years.
but i guess it could go either wayy...i find alien..somewhat improbable.. idk why.


'improbable' is a funny word to use in a movie about a giant monster ransacking NYC.


Laughing thats a rele good point Laughing

PostPosted: Fri Jan 25, 2008 2:13 am
 View user's profile
 Back to top 
keseki
Boot

Joined: 05 Jan 2008
Posts: 65

 		what if theres two ARG's playing off the same movie? 0o0oo00o0o0o0

theres things we found on our own, and others that just happened to pop out on their own during routine searches. too coincidental. one being the chuai videos

PostPosted: Fri Jan 25, 2008 2:23 am
 View user's profile
 Back to top 
quantumcreep
Greenhorn

Joined: 24 Jan 2008
Posts: 9
Quote:
Hud says the thing could have come from space or been in the ocean for thousands of years. so he actually makes both points, not going against what you said by any means, it actually proves it more, the thought of it being meant for 2 different audiences, cuz WE know it was in the ocean for years, but the average movie-goer can go to sleep happy knowing it was an alien rocking it up.


(I still don't know how to properly put in quotes on message boards; you'd think after about 8 years I would have learned.)

Yep, Keseki, I meant to relay that more clearly in my post. The subway explanation scene is kind of the part that clearly divides the two audiences, at least in my opinion. And I hate you for being able to pretty much sum up my entire post in two sentences.

Quote:
Just remember, J.J. Abrams and Matt Reeves made it that way for a reason... Perhaps when J.J. Abrams said that it's been underwater for thousands of years was simply his take on the monster... If it's not in the actual movie then what he says is simply his opinion, just like yours and mine.


I hadn't even considered that possibility. Guess I was just banking on the idea that if they had put all the viral marketing stuff together so well, they'd have a pretty concrete origin story, but that's not necessary at all. And I do like the idea that the team intentionally allowed for personal interpretation or imagination, but I'm still going with the two audience idea for now. It would just seem kind of, well, like a completely pointless game if the ARG really had no intentional bearing on the movie's back story for anyone. I suppose the ARG has to end at some point, and everyone playing will have their curiosity satisfied, while those of us who just enjoyed the movie and came up with our own ideas (aliens or whatever) are happy enough.

Though I am still going to keep up to date on any solid storyline progress, as I'm quickly becoming addicted.


Anyone have any thoughts on the whole Rob duality thing?

PostPosted: Fri Jan 25, 2008 2:50 am
 View user's profile
 Back to top 
Rudyred
Boot


Joined: 20 Jan 2008
Posts: 15
Location: Lake Superior
11808 wrote:
Actually, Hud says three things about the origin. At least that come to mind.

It could've flown here from some other planet (alien).
They've found strange fish in deep parts of the ocean (sea creature).

And at one point, I think in the stairwell, he makes a comment on how it could've been created. I made a mental note because I remember reading some stuff on here and the thought crossed my mind. Though unlikely, it's mentioned.


Yeah, I remember him saying something about the military creating it as well. From what I can tell there really isn't any evidence backing it up, though.

PostPosted: Fri Jan 25, 2008 2:57 am
 View user's profile Visit poster's website AIM Address
 Back to top 
CynAnne
Decorated


Joined: 30 Aug 2007
Posts: 241
Location: My Own Lil' Shangra-La, Planet Earth

 		 
... A veritable treasure trove of theory put forth there, quantumcreep - well done (adjusts monocle and pours port into glass)! Wink Seriously (well, as serious as one can be regarding a ARG), I was wondering whether that splash was the Tagruato satellite or..something else altogether - put forth that theory in the "Nasa Document with military?" thread earlier, only to be swatted for my impertanence. Now with your nicely illustrated theory, it lends itself well to the idea that NASA, NORAD (or whoever's designated to watch our skies) saw the "Coney Island Incident" and perhaps went hand-in-hand with Tagruato (not knowing how badly things were about to tank, of course), and perhaps (to go a few paces further in theory), T.I.D.O. WAVE 'crusaders' found out about this unholy alliance, and that's why Ganu Yoshida was attacked outside the restaurant? Just casting a few ideas into the general stewpot that is uF..! Coffee ...

PostPosted: Fri Jan 25, 2008 2:59 am
 View user's profile
 Back to top 
Saiyan King
Unfettered


Joined: 20 Nov 2007
Posts: 599
Location: Orlando, The crappiest town in America, thanks to Disney
Rudyred wrote:
11808 wrote:
Actually, Hud says three things about the origin. At least that come to mind.

It could've flown here from some other planet (alien).
They've found strange fish in deep parts of the ocean (sea creature).

And at one point, I think in the stairwell, he makes a comment on how it could've been created. I made a mental note because I remember reading some stuff on here and the thought crossed my mind. Though unlikely, it's mentioned.


Yeah, I remember him saying something about the military creating it as well. From what I can tell there really isn't any evidence backing it up, though.


Its when theyre climibing up the building next to beths trying to get to the roof, he says something along the lines of " i dont know, maybe our government created it" not sure the exact quote, but i definitely remember him using the word government
_________________
Nobody kills Kakkarot while im around, destiny has reserved that pleasure for me

The funniest stories always end with "and thats the last time i ever did acid"

Im sorry, I can't loan you $20, Im saving it for Slenderman

PostPosted: Fri Jan 25, 2008 3:10 am
 View user's profile
 Back to top 
quantumcreep
Greenhorn

Joined: 24 Jan 2008
Posts: 9

 		I am a complete idiot. Excuse me, I've had a long day and short nights, but I completely forgot to submit the one thing that kicked this whole train of thought off:
From reading through all these different forums since the movie, I've noticed a lot of arguments about the u.f.o. A lot of people have already decided that it was the satellite, while I've read other explanations such as, and I shit you not, something to the effect of "well JJ said it was a baby so the splash is definitely from the baby being playful and jumping off the harbor into the water like it's a pool."
The best part about this, though, is that it's in no way clear what the object is. If my theory is right, then the crew intentionally made the object unidentifiable, and as such, it is the second and last divider of audiences. (Of course, there could be more that I'm missing; I'll keep an eye out when I see it again.)

PostPosted: Fri Jan 25, 2008 3:24 am
 View user's profile
 Back to top 
Saiyan King
Unfettered


Joined: 20 Nov 2007
Posts: 599
Location: Orlando, The crappiest town in America, thanks to Disney

 		JJ or Reeves , cant remember which , has already confirmed it was the satellite. sorry cant provide a link to that interview Embarassed
_________________
Nobody kills Kakkarot while im around, destiny has reserved that pleasure for me

The funniest stories always end with "and thats the last time i ever did acid"

Im sorry, I can't loan you $20, Im saving it for Slenderman

PostPosted: Fri Jan 25, 2008 3:26 am
 View user's profile
 Back to top 
Angstfild
Boot

Joined: 24 Jul 2007
Posts: 61

 		I do agree that the movie was intentionally made to please two types of viewer. The casual movie goer and the internet fanboi. I believe that the ARG was meant to create a dialog online so that the buzz from the teaser never died down. Knowing how rabid fans can be, especially 18-34 year old males, they had made the perfect bait, line and sinker.

By keeping us the fanboi addicted for more and more information or game play, we helped promote the movie by word of mouth. We have each told friends or posted on our gaming forums for people to come and check this stuff out. In the meantime the casual movie goer did not need to know anything about the movie other than when it was to be released.

They kept the story simple and the monster even simpler. The characters for fanbois had several months of back story developed online to appease us while there was just enough information given in the movie to help become empathetic to the plight of our group by the casual patron.

You are right in that they left the object splashing down into the ocean obscure and vague enough for either audience member to satisfactorily draw their own conclusions about the "birth" of the monster.

Neither group needed any reason as to why MGP attacked NYC other than it is one huge effin monster.

What makes this enjoyable for us fanbois is that we can have an overly excited, much to in depth conversation about the explosion, who died or who didn't and what the splashdown was because that is part of our enjoyment. The one and only frustrating thing I have found here lately are those new to the experience bashing those for playing the game how they like. An example is what you said "they're dead, who cares if there was a nuke involved?". Well that is just it, you see those of us who followed the game care and this is where the two audiences clash.

Ultimately the movie experience should be enjoyed for what it is worth to you. Whether that is the price of admission or the months long involvement with the ARG. It would be nice for once if people would refrain from bashing one point of view.

When it is all said and done, we all just want the same feeling at the end of the show.

PostPosted: Fri Jan 25, 2008 3:41 am
 View user's profile
 Back to top 
Display posts from previous:   Sort by:   
Page 1 of 2 [17 Posts]   Goto page: 1, 2 Next
View previous topicView next topic
 Forum index » Archive » Archive: Cloverfield (1-18-08) » Cloverfield: General / Updates
Jump to:  


You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum
You cannot attach files in this forum
You can download files in this forum
You cannot post calendar events in this forum



Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group