The Untitled JJ Abrams Project

Fox So You Think You Can Dance Fan Site

2009-05-05T16:35:00.000-07:00

I'm a longtime fan of SYTYCD so it's only natural that I'd eventually start blogging about it. We've started a fan site at SYTYCD Season 5 Social. Do visit.

Fox Fringe Fan Site

2008-05-19T08:52:00.000-07:00

Update: With a Cloverfield sequel on the back burner, I've taken to blogging about another JJ Abrams project: "Fringe." If you're a fan of Bad Robot, science fiction or just a geek (and chances are you're one if not all of those things if you're reading this), then Fringe is definitely worth a look.

The Untitled JJ Abrams Project

2008-03-18T16:37:00.000-07:00

The Untitled JJ Abrams Project was my first Cloverfield blog and covers the month of July 2007. My second Cloverfield blog was 1.18.08. There you'll find the primary archive of the Cloverfield viral marketing campaign for the period August 2007 to January 2008. For an archive beyond January 2008 to present, see my third and final Cloverfield blog Tagruato.

Cloverfield Production Notes

2008-01-10T15:43:00.000-08:00

On the eve of his departure for Japan, Rob (Michael Stahl-David) sees his going-away party as an opportunity to confess unresolved feelings and tie up loose ends. His agenda takes an unexpected turn when a jolt shakes the revelers. The crowd quiets down to watch news reports of an earthquake, then rushes to the roof to assess the damage. A fireball explodes on the distant horizon. A power failure follows. Confusion gives way to panic as the partygoers stumble through the blackout and into the streets.

Amid the human screams and one inhuman roar, Rob and his friends must traverse a landscape that has changed, overtaken by something otherworldly, terrifying, monstrous...

Paramount Pictures Presents A Bad Robot Production "Cloverfield" starring Lizzy Caplan, Jessica Lucas, T. J. Miller, Michael Stahl-David, Mike Vogel and Odette Yustman. The film is directed by Matt Reeves and written by Drew Goddard. The producers are J.J. Abrams and Bryan Burk. The executive producers are Guy Riedel and Sherryl Clark. The director of photography is Michael Bonvillain, ASC. The production designer is Martin Whist. The editor is Kevin Stitt, A.C.E. The costume designer is Ellen Mirojnick. The visual effects are by Double Negative and Tippett Studio. This film has been rated PG-13 for violence, terror and disturbing images.

Making "Cloverfield"

"We live in a time of great fear. Having a movie that is about something as outlandish as a massive creature attacking your city allows people to process and experience that fear in a way that is incredibly entertaining and incredibly safe. I want to have that experience myself – to go to a movie that's about something larger-than-life and hyper-real, and 'Cloverfield' certainly is." – J.J. Abrams, Producer, "Cloverfield"

The seed for "Cloverfield" was planted in June 2006 while producer, writer and director J.J. Abrams and his son were on a publicity tour in Japan for Paramount's "Mission: Impossible III."

The creator of the hit TV series "Felicity," "Alias" and "Lost," who made his motion picture directorial debut with "MI: III" and will next direct a "Star Trek" feature, stopped by a local toy store with his son, Henry, and noticed a plethora of Godzilla-themed toys. "It struck me that here was a monster that has endured, culturally, something which we don't have in the States," he says.

Shortly thereafter, Abrams conceived the idea of making a movie involving a new monster, though he realized it would require a substantially different approach from the original "Godzilla" and its numerous sequels and remakes. "I began thinking, what if you were to see a monster the size of a skyscraper, but through the point of view of someone, relatively speaking, the size of a grain of sand? To see it not from God's eye or a director's or from an omnipotent point of view."

Abrams contacted frequent collaborator Drew Goddard, the screenwriter with whom he had worked on both "Alias" and "Lost." "J.J. called me and said, 'Drew, I've got to talk to you – it's about something huge,'" the writer recalls. "At that point, all he had was the basic framework of a movie about a giant monster, but shot with a handheld camera. I immediately said, 'I'm in.'"

"Drew was the first person I thought of, because he knows how to combine spectacle, genre and monsters with comedy and humanity," says Abrams.

Adds producer Bryan Burk, "This was definitely going to be a genre piece, but we really wanted it to be about the people going through this experience, to make it an emotional movie. There was no one that we knew in our world who was more perfect for that than Drew."

Abrams and Goddard met a week later and hammered out the film's first act in a five-page treatment, which Goddard expanded into a 58-page outline over the Christmas holiday break. The idea of, as Abrams puts it, "a Cameron Crowe movie meets 'Godzilla' meets 'Blair Witch Project'" was then pitched to Paramount senior executives Brad Weston and Brad Grey, who were immediately taken with the concept and gave it the green light. "Everybody at the studio said, 'We get it. Really, can you do this?' and we said, 'Yes,'" recalls Burk. Adds Goddard, "It was the exact opposite of everything you hear about Hollywood. Everyone was immediately onboard, and it was really this dream experience."

"I think it is rare for a movie to live up to your expectations," notes executive producer Sherryl Clark. "I continue to be as excited about it now that it is finished as I was when it was a 5 page treatment."

As Goddard proceeded to develop the script, the producers began thinking of a choice for director, eventually settling on Matt Reeves. Abrams and Reeves had been friends – and fellow filmmakers - since childhood. They met at age 13 when both entered an 8mm film festival. The two eventually created the hit TV series "Felicity" in 1998, and have remained close collaborators ever since.

Though Reeves might at first have seemed an unusual candidate, since he had no experience in genre projects or with visual effects, Abrams knew he was the right man for the job. "This movie is completely counter to everything I've ever seen Matt do," Abrams says. "But the reason I chose Matt is because I know he has always principally been concerned with character, and that he would apply a scrutiny to the heart of each character that many other commercial or video directors might not. So many horror movies we see today are sort of torture-porn, ultra-hyper-violent, but there's nothing about them you can relate to. I knew that Matt would make us feel for the characters."

And truly, the film's focus is not so much on a giant monster wreaking havoc on New York City, but on a group of people undergoing an extreme crisis. "Cloverfield" centers on a group of friends who, at the start of the evening, have gathered at a bon voyage party for Rob (Michael Stahl-David), who is moving to Japan. Another friend, Hud (T.J. Miller), is assigned to document the event with a camcorder, a task for which he is uniquely unqualified.

"What was intriguing to me about this project," says Reeves, "is the idea of taking something that has such a huge scale, but filming it on an intimate level. The mood emerges from being with these characters. The challenge then became to figure out a way to take something extraordinary and almost absurd – a monster attack – and deal with it in a way that feels utterly real."

The solution lay in Abrams' original concept of shooting a film from the point of view of Hud's camcorder, through which Reeves and screenwriter Goddard interwove the complicated relationships between the characters and their reaction to the monster's attack.

The first portion of the film features a 20-minute party sequence, during which those relationships are firmly established. "The idea was that if you started a movie that appeared to be all about character, the audience wouldn't know it was going to be about anything other than that," Reeves explains. "Then, all of a sudden, after you've established this complex network of friends, how they're related and what's important to them, we suddenly intrude on this situation with a crazy monster movie, which completely ups the stakes."

Adds Goddard, "Once the head comes off the Statue of Liberty, you're not really going to get much of a chance to stop and check in with the characters. So it was important to set up everything we needed before the world fell out from under us."

Reeves also skillfully interweaves an important storyline throughout the film, that of Rob and Beth's (Odette Yustman) earlier relationship. Hud is unknowingly taping over an earlier recording Rob had made with the camera of intimate, quiet time spent with his mate. "You see their loving gaze. It's this small love story," says Reeves.

"So I began thinking, 'Isn't there some way to make that kind of a parallel story?'" The film actually begins with some of this footage – much of it shot by Michael Stahl-David himself using a small video camera. But additional portions also appear interspersed throughout the movie, typically after some shocking event has caused Hud to briefly shut off the camera, allowing a brief portion of Rob's original recording to play for the audience before Hud picks up the current action again.

"We're seeing the aftermath of two people who have longed to be together, and somehow finally come together, crosscut with this other event," the director explains. "By going back and forth between these two pieces, you end up heightening the drama. By looking back at this relationship and what it could have been, the audience starts to put the pieces together as to why Rob is so eager to rescue her."

"One of the things we thought was incredibly important in a movie with so much kineticism," notes Reeves, "was to have places where you could stop and reconnect with the characters. After going through these extreme experiences, we give them a chance to react to what they've been through before moving them to the next level. Having these dramatic interludes was extremely important. Without them, you'd just be watching a video game."

A Hud's Eye View of a Monster

The result is an adrenaline-charged roller-coaster ride, with the audience's connection to the characters maintained through the eye of a single camera. The technique lends itself to keeping us in touch both with the characters and with what's going on around them, in what has become, in recent years, a most familiar style of image capture: the personal camcorder.

"When I first had the idea for the film, I began thinking about the impact of the YouTube-ification of things," says Abrams. "Today, if you look online for two minutes, you can find video – whether it's from Iraq, London, Spain or Manhattan – of people hiding in a store or hiding under a car, and watching other people's reactions."

Burk agrees. "There's no incident that isn't captured now. So if a giant monster attacked the city, wouldn't people be documenting it?"

Watching such footage – as seen in countless homemade catastrophe videos – has an unusual effect on the viewer. "In this YouTube era, watching this kind of video has a voyeuristic quality, even if you're just watching people do mundane things," notes Goddard. "For some reason, when it's real, you can watch it forever – it's like you're intruding on people's lives." And we knew that, for the movie to work, it had to feel real – like you're watching somebody's party, peeping in on them – so that when the chaos starts, you would automatically transfer that reality to the monster."

The experience was similarly unique for the actors. "You feel like you're a part of the movie, as opposed to being an outsider," says Jessica Lucas, who plays Lily in the film. "You really feel like you're going through this experience with these characters."

The challenge for the filmmakers was how to recreate this kind of footage for narrative cinematic purposes. "We asked ourselves, 'What does it look like when people are videotaping a spontaneous, horrific event?'" says Abrams. "It was an incredible readjustment," says Reeves, "because, in trying to create the illusion of only one camera, you were working without the usual cinematic tools. So there's no big wide shot, no reverse shot to show the other person watching and listening. Everything you see and know comes from Hud's camera and his point of view."

A limitation on the types of shots available proved to be a key element in the film's look of authenticity. "It had to feel like something that was not made by experienced filmmakers," Reeves continues, "but by people who just found themselves in the midst of this situation."

Adds Burk, "We wanted the film to look like real life, as if a giant monster was attacking my city and I grabbed my camera and ran out into the street – and this would be exactly the footage I'd have."

Doing so required the development – or, rather, replication – of a visual grammar that gave the impression of a novice using a video camera and trying to capture the frantic chaos around him. "It had to look amateurish," says director of photography Michael Bonvillain. "It still had to sell the story points, but in this case, as captured by someone who isn't a trained operator."

An important quality of this technique – one which adds incredible terror and tension to many scenes – is having the camera operator "just miss" much of the action, including sightings of the monster. "So much of what's conveyed in real amateur or documentary footage is what you hear but don't see – the panic and reactions to what's happening off-camera and the sounds of things you don't see," explains Abrams.

"There's something very scary about what you can't see," adds Reeves. "You're in there with Hud, and there's no reverse angle showing you what he's not seeing. They don't have any more information than you do. Every moment becomes charged, because you know that, just off-frame, there might be something horrible happening. But you don't know what it is, because he hasn't turned the camera there yet. It becomes all about what your mind fills in."

Portraying intriguing action has a curious effect on the audience, says Sherryl Clark. "Picking those moments, and showing just enough to get the audience frightened and excited, leaves them wanting more."

In "Cloverfield," the camera often provides only snippets of what has just passed by – i.e., the monster – accompanied by a comment from one of the characters such as "What was that?" or "Can you see it? What is it?"

"The idea is that it all appears to be haphazard, so that you might catch a glimpse of something out of the corner of your eye and you're not quite sure what it is," explains visual effects supervisor Michael Ellis. "Hud is very much led by the direction the other characters are giving him. They usually see something before he does, and he tries to find it; but by then, he's already too late. He's just missed it. His friends are already running away."

One difficulty in creating these "amateurish" shots lay in the fact that there were seasoned professionals behind the camera like Chris Hayes. "Chris is amazing," says Reeves. "But sometimes he'd operate almost too well. I'd say, 'I need this to feel more accidental.' Because, at the end of the day, we wanted it to feel like anybody with a camera could have made this movie."

A key solution turned out to be a fairly obvious one: have actor T.J. Miller, who plays Hud, operate the camera himself, which he did for a number of sequences. "T.J. actually operated a lot," explains Bonvillain. "He was always joking that he should have gotten his union card for all the work he did."

Having Miller operate the camera had several advantages. "For one thing, he had good instincts of what to do, because he is Hud," Bonvillain continues. "Also, having him operate helped us make sure we were providing the right eyeline for the other actors in the scene, so that it felt correct when people were talking to him."

"I wasn't just an actor," Miller says. "In some ways, I was a cameraman, and in most ways, I was a voice-over artist."

The experience was, as one would expect, a bit daunting at times, he admits. "It was hard. You know, I'm thinking about camera movement, and 'Do I shoot over here?,' and they'd come in and say 'Okay, we need you to tilt up and then pan left after her line.' And I'm thinking 'Okay, cool. And how about the acting? Was that good?' It was a lot to juggle."

If one of the professional camera operators was shooting a scene, Miller would often stand behind him with his hands on the operator's shoulders, again, to provide an appropriately realistic eyeline for his fellow cast members. And, in the instances during which the operator had to physically interact with one of the actors as if he were Hud, he would don Miller's costume.

Orchestrating entire scenes all shot on one camera - some with extremely long takes - took great skill and planning. In a more typical movie, a scene would be made up of cuts photographed from a variety of angles, shot over several takes, each of which would have provided specific information for the scene. In "Cloverfield," the frenetic camera movement had to be carefully planned out to capture any activity Reeves wanted the audience to see.

"We had to take a lot of things that were really well-rehearsed and find a way to make them seem accidental," the director explains. Adds Abrams, "Matt did a lot of things that are incredibly complicated – making shots look as if they were continuous and staging things in a way that felt spontaneous, which they hardly were."

Many of the film's shots were planned out ahead of time using "previsualization" animation provided by the Los Angeles-based Third Floor, says Michael Ellis. "It helped give the actors and the cameraman some clue as to where they were supposed to be pointing and what exactly it was they were trying to run away from." If Miller was operating the camera, Reeves and Bonvillain would walk through the scene rehearsal with him. Sometimes they would shoot the rehearsals with a smaller video camera, then massage the scene until it was to their liking, before proceeding to shoot it for real.

Scenes in which the monster is spotted took careful strategizing – again, to limit sightings to "glimpses" during sequences earlier in the film, gradually leading to full-on views as the movie progressed. For the most part, the monster is seen only from ground level, since that's where Hud is for the majority of the film. "And that creates a very unique perspective," notes Reeves.

Eventually, though, says Goddard, "We realized that you do owe the audience a shot of the monster." The aerial, "God's eye" shots of the monster the audience would see in a traditional film are absent in "Cloverfield" – save for one or two carefully-planned sequences, such as a helicopter shot that Reeves worked into the film. "When they're in an electronics store and people are watching news coverage on TV sets, you see a helicopter shot of the monster as his tail swings and takes a chunk out of the Brooklyn Bridge," explains the director.

A more intimate view of the monster occurs when our cameraman, Hud, is attacked by the monster, revealing the inside of the creature's mouth briefly to the camera before it is spit out and lands on the ground. Reeves notes, "Drew said to me, 'To a monster movie fan, the idea of being eaten by a monster – there's nothing cooler.'"

CASTING "CLOVERFIELD"

Given the unique, intimate filming style of "Cloverfield," the filmmakers sought out actors who were not instantly recognizable faces. Reeves and Abrams assembled a diverse group of gifted young actors: Lizzy Caplan, Jessica Lucas, T. J. Miller, Michael Stahl-David, Mike Vogel and Odette Yustman. It was a strategy Abrams had used with great success before when he helped spark the careers of such actors as Keri Russell, Jennifer Garner, Scott Speedman and Evangeline Lily.

"The key to casting this movie well was to cast really great, talented, likeable people that you hadn't seen before," Abrams says. The main reason, says director Matt Reeves, is that "even though we were doing a very large-scale monster movie, we were doing it in a very independent way. And that necessitated us purposely bringing in people we didn't recognize."

Cast in the pivotal role of Rob in this unique project is Michael Stahl-David, who last appeared on the critically acclaimed series "The Black Donnellys." Stahl-David immediately struck up a rapport with director Reeves. "What attracted me to the project was that I haven't really made a lot of movies. But I really got excited about the prospect of working with Matt during the audition process. I got the sense that he was somebody interested in character and nuance. He got very animated when he talked about the dynamics between the characters. He seemed to appreciate the 'try this and see what we find' approach, which made me feel very free."

The unusual, heard-but-rarely-seen character of Hud fell to T.J. Miller. "I had a meeting with the casting director and we talked about the fact that I'm a comedian," says Miller, a Second City native.

Though the specifics of the project were kept under wraps during the auditions, Miller was assured he would be allowed to filter his humor into the film. His audition material, however, was anything but funny. "I came in to read and they gave me the material and it was this really heartfelt, serious monologue," he recalls. "So I was completely confused. The casting director stopped at the end of it and said 'That was awesome, but it's definitely the wrong script. My assistant gave you the incorrect monologue. We're going to get you the right sides.' They gave me sides that were a little more appropriate to my character – who is an excitable, funny guy you only see for three minutes."

It was important for the filmmakers to find someone with humor and compassion to portray the film's narrator. He is an "everyman" in a sea of sophisticated, upwardly mobile Manhattan-ites. "T.J. is us," says executive producer Clark. "When you watch the movie you are T.J. because the character of Hud has humanity and emotion and a sense of humor. He's totally relatable. He's not only the voice of the movie, he's the heart of the movie."

"Everybody's got a friend like Hud," says producer Bryan Burk. "He's the guy who's missing the self-edit button. But he's also the person that is always there for you when you need him. He's insane, and you love him." Adds director Reeves, "We thought, 'Okay, well, if you feel that presence behind the camera, that's something you're going to remember.'"

Jessica Lucas describes her character, Lily, as "the bossy one. She's the older sister living in control all the time. She's the only one of the group who really has her life together. That's why she's the organizer who instigates this whole night."

Vancouver native Lucas, who recently joined the "CSI" team on CBS, had an unusual path to "Cloverfield." "I got a call from my agents saying that I had an audition for a J.J. Abrams movie. I had no script, no character description, no sides, nothing. There was no way I could prepare for it. And I went on tape for it. I didn't hear anything and after six weeks I went back on tape for them again. Two weeks later I flew down to meet with J.J., Bryan Burk and Matt, and we did a reading, and they actually told me in the room that I got the part, which was very exciting."
Executive producer Clark explains the six week silence: "Jessica sent in an audition tape and we overlooked it at first. We had gone through hundreds of actresses and couldn't find anyone who just had everything we wanted for the role. Our unit production manager said he had just worked with this great actress named Jessica Lucas – and for some reason that rang a bell. So we found her tape, called her and flew her down that day. She auditioned and we cast her in the room and sent her to wardrobe. We started shooting just a few days later."

Clark's experience with Lucas during production further solidified her confidence in the young actor's abilities. "She possesses true star quality. She's beautiful, charming and she's got heart. She's everything we wanted for Lily because she's in the movie almost more than anyone."

Odette Yustman had a similarly serendipitous journey to "Cloverfield" portraying Beth, Rob's love interest. As Clark remembers it, "Matt Reeves, Bryan Burk and I were walking out of another meeting and we decided to stop by the casting office. Odette was sitting in the waiting room, and Alyssa, our casting director, said, 'Do you mind sitting in? There's this girl and I think she's great.' We were blown away. We saw her and we knew she was Beth. She's lovely and so talented and bright."

The two more recognizable faces in "Cloverfield" belong to Lizzy Caplan (Marlena) and Mike Vogel (Jason). Caplan has had no problem disappearing into roles such as the Goth-like, cynical Janis Ian character in "Mean Girls" or as Kat Warbler in the critically acclaimed series "The Class." She tackled the role of Marlena with similar gusto. "The thing that attracted me to this movie was J.J. Abrams. I've always been really impressed with 'Lost,'" she admits. So she wasn't thrown by the veil of secrecy surrounding her audition. "We didn't know anything about the movie other than that J.J. was involved. What we read were not scenes from the movie, but from TV shows like 'Alias.'"

Caplan speculates that Abrams and Reeves were perhaps returning to their roots – the two had first collaborated on "Felicity." The actors' first taste of the script was from the early part of the movie, scenes in which six 20-something characters are involved in various unrequited crushes and friendships. "At first I thought it was a coming-of-age movie, sort of like 'Reality Bites,'" Caplan recalls. "But then they gave us a second audition scene at the last minute in which I had to stab T.J. Miller in the heart with a shot of adrenaline. The producers were just laughing and loving the fact that we had no idea what was going on."

The chemistry between Miller and Caplan was critical, says Reeves. "Having T.J. and Lizzy play off each other was what sold us on that relationship. So it was critical that we cast them and develop that relationship."

Vogel previously starred with Kurt Russell in "Poseidon," with Jennifer Aniston in "Rumor Has It..." and opposite Jessica Biel in the recent remake of "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre." "Mike has a lot more movie credits under his belt than most of the rest of the cast," Clark says. "He was probably the most familiar actor when he came in and read with Michael (Stahl-David). We were trying to pair actors and look for chemistry. There's a scene in which these two brothers are talking and having a beer. He brought in two beers, and they drank during the audition and it was sort of charming, and real. We just fell in love with Mike, and felt like he really was acting kind of like that older brother. We hired him based on that audition."

For these six talented actors, the excitement of being cast in a huge science fiction thriller produced by J.J. Abrams came with a proviso: they were forbidden to breathe a word about the movie to anyone, and even had to sign non-disclosure forms.

Building a Better Monster

The visual effects for "Cloverfield" were produced under the direction of visual effects supervisors Kevin Blank, Eric Leven of Tippett Studio and Michael Ellis of London-based Double Negative. Tippett created all the shots that include the monsters, while Double Negative was responsible for all of the other destruction and sequences which did not include the monster.

The concept for the monster (affectionately known simply as "Clover" in-house) is simple, says Abrams. "He's a baby. He's brand-new. He's confused, disoriented and irritable. And he's been down there in the water for thousands and thousands of years."

And where is he from? "We don't say – deliberately," notes Goddard. "Our movie doesn't have the scientist in the white lab coat who shows up and explains things like that. We don't have that scene."

Not only is the creature disoriented – he's downright angry. "There are a bunch of smaller things – humans – that are annoying him and shooting at him like a swarm of bees," observes Reeves. "None of these things are going to kill the monster, but they hurt it and it doesn't understand. It's this new environment that it finds frightening."

For the monster's design, Abrams engaged veteran creature designer Neville Page, who had just finished creating characters for James Cameron's upcoming "Avatar" (and is currently working on Abrams' "Star Trek").

"So much has been done in so many different movies with large creatures that the trick was to find a way to create a unique character," explains Abrams. The producer had first become familiar with Page's work through the designer's series of instructional DVDs for The Gnoman Workshop. "One of the things that struck me about Neville's instructional videos was the way he approaches everything from a realistic point of view. He develops non-existing creatures, but can explain to you their physical makeup, musculature and skeletal structure."

Adds producer Burk, "Neville was the first person we met with. And he's amazing. He doesn't just think about designing the creature, he thinks in terms of how it would walk, how it would breathe, what its skin would be like, how it lives – everything."

Once Page's designs were complete, it was up to Tippett Studio to implement and refine the monster for inclusion in the few – but crucial – shots in which he appears. "We did a test, where we inserted him into some background plate shot in downtown L.A.," explains Leven. "We experimented with different looks, in terms of not only the creature itself, but how it would interact with the camera and with light."

Another facet of the design was added at director Reeves' suggestion. "I wanted him to have that sort of spooked feeling, the way, when a horse is spooked, you can see the white of its eyes along the bottom. And you see that when the military is firing on him, where he becomes completely agitated and confused."

As part of a "post-birth ritual," as Abrams describes it, the monster is seen early on scratching his back on a building (destroying it in the process), to remove a layer of parasites that are set loose to wreak their own havoc on the city.

"Drew and I were struggling with, 'When you have a monster that size how do you keep the characters from seeming totally irrelevant?'" says Abrams. "How do you have any one-on-one struggle?" Explains Goddard, "Because he's so big, we knew it was going to be difficult to have intimate sequences. It's not like any of the characters could fight him or that anyone could even figure out a way to hurt him."

And because of that, the idea of the parasites was born. "They're these horrifying, dog-sized creatures that just scatter around the city and add to the nightmare of the evening," Abrams says.

"The parasites have a voracious, rabid, bounding nature, but they also have a crab-like crawl," Reeves explains. "They have the viciousness of a dog, but with the ability to climb walls and stick to things."

In addition, the parasites also move more rapidly than their giant host counterpart. "Tippett Studio has a lot of expertise with these kinds of fast-moving creatures that can destroy people and rip them to shreds, which is always a lot of fun to work on," says Leven. "They're like little whirling dervishes that just destroy anything in their path. They're totally deadly."

Crushing The Big Apple

One of the first hints of the destruction brought on by the monster's devastating tantrums comes early in the film, as the core group of young friends leaves Rob's party to find out what the commotion outside is all about – only to be greeted by the head of the Statue of Liberty bouncing down the street.

The shot was originally featured in a two-minute teaser trailer filmed in late May 2007, which appeared just a few weeks later attached to Michael Bay's summer blockbuster "TRANSFORMERS." The trailer contained a variety of shots, including party scenes, Miss Liberty's head and other depictions of destruction, all of which were shot prior to the start of production on the film.

"The Liberty head sequence was a huge leap of faith from the studio," explains Burk. But the trailer had an immediate impact on genre fans. "The reaction was just what we'd hoped for," notes Abrams. "No one had heard of this movie yet. We didn't even put a title on it, something the MPAA had never seen before."

The title of the film, though seemingly cryptic, actually came out of the producers' desire to keep news of the production quiet until the time was right. "We wanted to make a movie that no one knew about and then let them discover it, the way we used to discover movies growing up," says Abrams.

Interest in the film, based on just the trailer, has been, to say the least, remarkable. "I certainly didn't expect the outpouring of curiosity and intense scrutiny of this project," says executive producer Clark, "or people sneaking onto the set and taking photos and video. It's been intense. People are very interested in J.J. and what he has to say."

It was, in fact, one of Abrams' and Burk's agents, John Fogelman, who, having seen the word "monster" one too many times in private e-mail correspondence, suggested calling the project "Cloverfield," after a main street near Abrams' office in West Los Angeles. "We started working on the movie, and it became like a nickname. But we thought, 'There's no way that's going to be the title of the movie,'" Abrams recalls. "We even had another title, 'Greyshot,' the name of the bridge that Rob and Beth are hiding under in Central Park at the end of the film, which we were all set to announce at Comic-Con. But, by that time, the name 'Cloverfield' had already leaked out, and the fans already knew it by that name, so we just decided to stick with that."

The shocking Liberty head shot was filmed on the Paramount back lot and created originally by Studio City-based Hammerhead Productions (the shot, later reused in the feature film, was advanced by Double Negative to include more detail). It's Abrams' homage to John Carpenter's 1981 film "Escape From New York," which featured a similar image in its original theatrical poster. "I loved that movie as a kid," he says, "but one of the things that drove me crazy is the poster had this picture of the head of the Statue of Liberty sitting in the middle of a New York street – but it was never in the movie," says Abrams. "And I always felt that was such a crazy, scary image, that it had to be in our movie."

Difficult as it was to give a fictional 25-story monster a sense of authenticity (which for Reeves was crucial to the success of the film), Tippett Studio and Double Negative were further challenged to create scenes of destruction that had to look real to an audience for whom scenes of falling buildings in New York are all too well-etched in their minds.

A few years ago, few people had any idea of what a building looked like when it collapsed. "Now," says Michael Ellis, "when a building collapses in a particular way and throws off a huge amount of dust, it's recognizable to everybody." "Again," notes Leven, "YouTube has changed the game in terms of visual effects references."

Double Negative already had experience with similar destruction shots. In this case, though, Ellis notes, "the building is collapsing as a result of being knocked down by an enormous monster, so it has to fall in a specific way." The cloud dust that results from the buildings' collapse was created specifically to meet Reeves and Abrams' requirements. "We did research and development in recreating that kind of dust bowl coming down a street," says Ellis. The dust cloud's movement was simulated using fluid dynamics, recreating the specific way in which a huge amount of dust and debris behaves when it's sent cascading along a canyon of buildings."

For the actual collapse of the buildings, the two teams worked tirelessly to fulfill Reeves' desire for realism. "We would model floors of the building on an exterior structure, and then just destroy the building layer by layer," Leven explains. "We'd start with the glass outside, and then the floors inside. We even built bits of furniture. It's super time consuming, but everyone involved in this project loves this kind of work – it's every little boy's dream to blow stuff up!"

Particularly tricky was creating "shaky" visual effects as seen through what is supposed to be a roughly-handled camcorder. While it is now commonplace for effects houses to employ a team of "match movers," who track the jump of each frame to the next so the computer-generated characters will move to match, "Cloverfield's" handheld footage multiplied that challenge exponentially.

"Normally our software can solve most tracking problems with a degree of automation," says Ellis. "But many of these shots proved too complex. It was a humongous task; we had people tracking the shots by hand, frame-by-frame. Zooming shots are always hard to track, but these shots with their increased jerky handheld nature were very difficult. No gentle smooth movement – the camera was all over the place."

Among the more familiar landmarks destroyed by the monster was the 125-year-old Brooklyn Bridge, which gets swiped by the monster's tail. A 50-ft. section of the bridge was constructed at The Downey Stages in Downey, California, surrounded by a 360-degree green screen, which was later replaced by background plate shots taken at the real bridge. The horde of extras hired to portray the stampede of panicking New Yorkers trying to escape the creature through stopped traffic on the bridge actually parked their own cars on the "deck" level of the specially constructed structure to fill out the shot.

To reproduce the rest of the bridge, Ellis's team photographed and measured the real Brooklyn Bridge, from which a full computer-generated bridge was then built. Ellis and his animators also studied footage of real suspension bridge collapses such as the infamous 1940 collapse of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge in Washington. "We studied it carefully to see how suspension bridges break up and tried to get as much excitement as possible into the shot," he explains.

While the filmmakers wanted to create as much of that excitement and realism as possible for the audience's enjoyment, they were also extremely conscientious about the implications of these sequences. "In a lot of ways," says Reeves, "the monster is kind of a metaphor for our times and the kind of terror we all face. So it was important to find a way to approach those feelings without diminishing or exploiting them, and to do so in a way that wouldn't be disrespectful."

The film carefully avoids crossing the line from realistic scares to all-too-painful reminders of recent events – through a unique point-of-view experience, humor, and Reeves' reconnection of the audience with the characters throughout the film. The visual effects teams even took care that the collapsing buildings in the film were older-looking structures that did not evoke the style of the structures that were attacked six years earlier.

Stirring up uncomfortable feelings is not entirely without purpose for a monster movie, Abrams notes. It's a standard of the genre. "'Godzilla' came out in 1954 in the shadow of the bomb being dropped in Japan. Culturally, you had people living with this terror they had experienced – but in the guise of something absurd and preposterous. My guess is that it enabled people in Japan to have a catharsis."

"To me, that's one of the most potentially impactful aspects of this movie," he continues. "It takes so many images that are so familiar, that are potentially horrifyingly scary, and puts them in a context that is ludicrous and laughable, so that people can experience catharsis in a way that doesn't feel like they're going through therapy. People have a hunger to experience that, and to process the terror we all live with in a way that doesn't feel like you're getting a social studies lesson. And at the end of the day, whether or not that's something they're aware of, this movie allows them to have that release. And for younger kids," he says, "you just have one heck of a great monster movie."

Fear Itself: Monsters At the Movies

"In the same way that 'Godzilla' was about the anxiety of the nuclear age, and the atomic bomb and Hiroshima, the monster in 'Cloverfield' is a metaphor for our times and being able to find a way to approach those feelings without diminishing or exploiting them." – Matt Reeves, Director, "Cloverfield"

Dracula. Godzilla. Freddy Krueger. Foreboding, violent monsters (in human, animal or alien form) who wreak havoc on an innocent public, have been drawing audiences to theaters since the silent era, offering catharsis from personal anxiety and serving as metaphors for the general fears plaguing the culture during a particular era.

Some of the earliest movie monsters hail from the German expressionist film movement that began during World War I and continued through the 1920s. The central fiends in such films as Paul Wegener's "The Golem," Robert Wiene's "The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari" and F.W. Murnau's "Nosferatu" were controversial depictions of the malaise in war-devastated Germany. Those films were a direct influence on iconic American movie monsters of the '20s and '30s, including "Frankenstein," "Dracula," "The Phantom of the Opera" and "The Invisible Man" – exotic foreign demons during an era of pronounced xenophobia and isolationism in the U.S. Not coincidentally, the film's villains often preyed upon scantily clad females at a time when the country's inbred Puritanism was being challenged by the "Roaring '20s," a period of change for women, who not only won the right to vote, but also to bob their hair, raise their hemlines and dance the Charleston.

In the 1940s and 1950s, the monsters became even more menacing, expressing the paranoia and sense of impending doom that characterized the Cold War period. Despite Franklin Roosevelt's soothing Depression-era promise, there seemed to be something more to fear than fear itself. Movies like "The Thing" and "The War of the Worlds" were populated by mutant beings or evil extraterrestrials bent on destroying the American way of life. The alien invaders in "The Day the Earth Stood Still" could be seen to represent the threat of ideological takeover by communist Russia, while "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" was a thinly-veiled critique of Joseph McCarthy's "communist under every bed" hysteria. Ironically, the country's greatest weapons were of little use against creatures like "Godzilla," a horrifying by-product of the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, while the giant ants in "Them!" raised serious questions about the safety of using nuclear power.

The gloomy foreboding of the '50s monster movies was mitigated by the public's faith in the power of the central government to pull together to tackle these threats. They had, after all, proved victorious in World War II, which was followed by one of the biggest economic booms in our history. Concurrently, as in the 1920s, the country's conservative, puritanical streak resurfaced in Alfred Hitchcock's "Psycho" and "The Birds," which spotlighted two very different kinds of monsters, who exacted revenge on women who too freely expressed their desire for independence.

But by the 1960s and 1970s, that safety net was frayed and the public's blind belief in their leaders' ability to save them in a time of crisis came under serious scrutiny. In these films, if disaster struck, it was every man for himself. The monsters in "Jaws" and "Alien" were all the more frightening because they prospered through greed with little regard for public safety. What was good for General Motors...

As the Vietnam War shook the country's faith in their government, it also influenced writers, philosophers and theologians to question the metaphysical implications of these events. A significant trend in horror movies dealt indirectly with the war (George A. Romero's landmark 1968 zombie thriller "Night of the Living Dead" – which also included references to the civil rights movement), while Tobe Hooper's 1974 classic "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre played on fears about the dissolution of the traditional American family. In these movies, we saw the enemy – and it was us.

The idea of God turning away from society surfaced during movies of the era, introducing the scariest monster of them all – Satan. Roman Polanski's "Rosemary's Baby," William Friedkin's "The Exorcist" and Richard Donner's "The Omen" made this villain of all villains more tangible (and horrifying) by having him inhabit the body of a child.

If the devil himself could appear in the most unlikely of places, then clearly no one was safe – not even suburbanites. By the 1980s, the exodus away from the dangers of city life (drugs, racial tension, sexual license) to the controlled family-friendly environment of planned communities proved to be no panacea for the happy family in "Poltergeist," who had unwittingly upset the natural order (again due to greedy, unscrupulous land developers) by moving into a house built on a sacred Native American burial ground. Again, revenge was taken out on the most vulnerable among us – the children.

The sexually maladjusted Norman Bates in Alfred Hitchcock's "Psycho" evolved into an army of crazed and tormented monsters like Jason in the "Friday the 13th" series, Michael Meyers in "Halloween" and "Nightmare on Elm Street's" Freddie Krueger. The message to the teens who populated (and watched) these movies couldn't have been clearer: You have sex, you die. Things went from bad to worse in films like "The Hunger" and David Cronenberg's remake of "The Fly," which evoked the AIDS epidemic and the explosion of other sexually transmitted diseases.

With the end of the Cold War, the monsters of the 1990s turned out to be the seemingly normal next-door neighbor who turned out to be a pedophile, a crazed fan or a cannibalistic mass murderer: Dr. Hannibal Lecter of "The Silence of the Lambs,"; Annie Wilkes in "Misery"; and John Doe in "Se7en."

But, just as the new millennium began, incomprehensible real-life horror overshadowed anything that was being shown in theaters. Not only was the country's always-fragile sense of vulnerability truly challenged for the first time since Pearl Harbor, but it seemed like a prelude to the end of days. Everywhere one turned there was another potential devastation – Ebola, SARS, bird flu, anthrax and global warming. And movies responded with films like "28 Days Later," a contemporary remake of "Body Snatchers" called "The Invasion" and, most recently, "I Am Legend." Xenophobia resurfaced in a more diabolical manner in films like "Hostel," "Saw" and "Touristas" – torture fests that eerily coincided with a heated debate over the use of torture in wartime. And in another remake, "Poseidon," the monster was a tsunami-like wave, not unlike the one that had overwhelmed Southeast Asia only months before.

In Steven Spielberg's frightening remake of "War of the Worlds" aliens, without provocation, lay waste to the earth – and we are unable to stop them. It's the earth's atmosphere – replete with bacteria and viruses – that finally destroys them. Mother Nature came to our rescue, but there wasn't much to be happy about, since she also gave us the cold shoulder in "The Day After Tomorrow." Most of North America is covered with a blanket of ice and, as in "War of the Worlds," it has happened without so much as a warning (or maybe we weren't listening), making the U.S. largely uninhabitable.

The nature of new, previously unforeseen threats to our way of life, has led to a new breed of monster movie that reflects not only the uncertainty of our era, but our sense of powerlessness in the face of such daunting obstacles.

THE CAST

Lizzy Caplan (Marlena) has, in just a short time, built a burgeoning career with a diverse body of work. Her breakout role was as Janis Ian in the hit Paramount feature film "Mean Girls" and she will soon be seen in "Crossing Over," starring Harrison Ford, Sean Penn and Ray Liotta. In addition, Caplan recently signed on to star in the Lionsgate feature "Bachelor No. 2," opposite Kate Hudson, Alec Baldwin and Dane Cook. Other recent film credits include the independent film "Love Is the Drug," which premiered at the 2006 Slamdance Film Festival. She also starred opposite Campbell Scott in the indie film "Crashing," which was directed by Gary Walkow.

Caplan has had several successful forays in television as well, with the likes of Mike Scully, Mike White, Seth MacFarlane and Judd Apatow, to name just a few. Last year she starred in the CBS comedy series "The Class" created by David Crane and Jeffery Klarik, and in addition to critical acclaim was named as one of the "10 Actors to Watch" by Daily Variety, "So Five Minutes From Now" by Entertainment Weekly; and the Fresh Face of Fall by TV's "The Insider." Prior to "The Class," Caplan starred in Marta Kaufman's WB series "Related," Fox's "Tru Calling" and "Undeclared," and NBC's "Freaks and Geeks."

Jessica Lucas (Lily), who has a recurring role in the CBS hit franchise "CSI," was born and raised in Vancouver, Canada, and has been acting since she was seven years old. She began her professional training with Children's Theatre Arts and quickly earned theater credits in local productions of "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs," "Grease," "Cinderella," "The Mousetrap" and "Music Medley."

Not long after, Lucas landed a regular role on the Canadian television series "Edgemont." She also starred as Sue on the short-lived, yet critically acclaimed, ABC series "Life As We Know It."

Her film credits include the DreamWorks feature "She's the Man," opposite Amanda Bynes, and a lead role in the Screen Gems/Lakeshore film "The Covenant," directed by Renny Harlin.

Lucas splits her time between Vancouver and Los Angeles.

T.J. Miller (Hud) plays the role of Marmaduke on the half-hour comedy series "Carpoolers" on ABC. Miller is a comedian who performs improv, sketch and stand-up comedy, and is currently a member of Green Company of the Second City National Touring Companies.

Miller also improvs with the house team Bullet Lounge at IO. He performs stand-up at many of the venues in Chicago and sketch comedy with the group Heavy Weight. He eats most of his meals standing up.

Originally from Denver, Colorado, Miller performed comedy for about four years before moving to Chicago. He has appeared on PBS on the show "The Standard Deviants," and in various DVDs and school educational programs. He has done an online microsite for KFC (www.chooseyoursauce.com) in addition to national commercial and print campaigns for Quaker, and voice-over work for Old Style, Second City Las Vegas and The Chicago Historical Society. Miller has performed at comedy venues all over Chicago and New York (one in Vincennes, Indiana, and in the D.C. Comedy Fest), improvised with the group Chuckle Sandwich (The Toronto International Improv Festival, D.C. Comedyfest), and Sturgis (IO), and performed sketch comedy with Heavy Weight, the Chicago Sketchfest and Second City Unhinged.

He studied classical acting at B.A.D.A. in Oxford, England, and circus arts at Frichess Theatre Urbain. Miller has a four-channel amp in his Ford Focus.

Michael Stahl-David (Rob) was born and raised in Chicago. He received his degree in theater arts from Columbia College in Chicago, where he also pursued a professional theater career working at such prestigious venues as the Steppenwolf Theatre (in the Tennessee Williams play "One Arm") and the Goodman Theatre (in the Edward Albee play "The Goat, or Who Is Sylvia?"), among others.

Stahl-David moved to New York in 2005, where he immediately began acting professionally, first as Peter in the Papermill Playhouse production of "The Diary of Anne Frank," then as a series regular on the critically acclaimed NBC series "The Black Donnellys." He hasn't stopped working since.

He recently completed the indie film "The Project" and, last fall, starred in the Roundabout Theatre production of J.T. Rogers' new play "The Overwhelming."

Mike Vogel (Jason) has quickly become one of the most sought-after young actors in Hollywood. Vogel is starring in "The Deaths of Ian Stone" directed by Dario Piana, and recently completed production on "Open Graves," a horror film, opposite Eliza Dushku.

In 2006, Vogel starred in two back-to-back high-profile movies – "Poseidon," directed by Wolfgang Petersen, and "Rumor Has It...," the Rob Reiner-helmed comedy starring Jennifer Aniston. In addition, Vogel will be seen as a scruffy, British slacker in the upcoming edgy independent comedy "Caffeine."

Vogel received raves for his starring roles in Twentieth Century Fox's "Supercross" and the Warner Bros. sleeper hit "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants."

He also won critical praise for his breakthrough performance in MTV's musical adaptation of "Wuthering Heights" and, in 2003, starred opposite Jessica Biel in New Line Cinema's box office hit "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre."

Vogel's notable television performances include a recurring role on the Fox-TV hit series "Grounded for Life."

Odette Yustman (Beth) has been paving the way for young Latina actresses by playing Aubrey in the ABC hit "October Road," the drama series in which she stars opposite Bryan Greenberg and Laura Prepon. She was recently seen in Nancy Meyers' romantic comedy "The Holiday" and Michael Bay's blockbuster "Transformers."

Yustman started her acting career in Universal Pictures' "Kindergarten Cop." Her hobbies include sports, fashion and taking care of her new puppy, Navy. She currently resides in Los Angeles.

THE FILMMAKERS

Matt Reeves (Director) came to prominence as one of the creators of the popular television series "Felicity" starring Keri Russell. He served as executive producer and frequent director during the show's four season run, which began on the WB in 1998. Reeves' partner on that groundbreaking series was writer-director-producer J.J. Abrams, with whom he continues to collaborate. "Cloverfield" marks their latest project together.

Reeves made his feature directorial debut with Miramax's 1996 dark comedy "The Pallbearer" starring Gwyneth Paltrow, David Schwimmer and Barbara Hershey. He developed the screenplay with co-writer Jason Katims through Robert Redford's Sundance Institute.

In 1999, he co-wrote and co-produced James Gray's critically acclaimed feature "The Yards" starring Mark Wahlberg, Joaquin Phoenix and Charlize Theron.

Reeves first gained the attention of the industry with his award-winning student short "Mr. Petrified Forrest," (produced by Bryan Burk) upon graduating from USC's prestigious film school. He got his start in 1995 when a screenplay he penned in college, with classmate Richard Hatem, was purchased by Warner Bros. and later turned into "Under Siege 2: Dark Territory".

For the small screen, in addition to the pilot for "Felicity," Reeves helmed the pilot episodes of "Gideon's Crossing" and "Miracles" for ABC, "Conviction" for NBC, as well as series episodes of "Homicide: Life on the Street" and "Relativity."

His upcoming projects include writing and directing the independent drama/thriller "The Invisible Woman," which he is producing along with Abrams for Gotham-based Greenestreet Films.

Reeves currently lives with his girlfriend in Los Angeles.

Drew Goddard (Written by) began his career writing for the hit television show "Buffy the Vampire Slayer." As a staff writer, he wrote multiple episodes, including "Conversations with Dead People," for which he won the Hugo Award in 2003. He has since written for the television shows "Angel" and "Alias." Currently, he serves as co-executive producer of the Emmy Award-winning drama "Lost."

"Cloverfield" is his first feature film.

J.J. Abrams (Producer) was born in New York and raised in Los Angeles. He attended Sarah Lawrence College where, during his senior year, he teamed with a friend to write a feature film treatment. Purchased by Touchstone Pictures, the treatment was the basis for "Taking Care of Business," Abrams' first produced film, which starred Charles Grodin and Jim Belushi. He followed that up with "Regarding Henry" starring Harrison Ford, and "Forever Young," starring Mel Gibson. Abrams then collaborated with producer Jerry Bruckheimer and director Michael Bay on the summer 1998 blockbuster "Armageddon." In 2001, he co-wrote and produced the film "Joy Ride."

In 1998, Abrams made his first foray into television with "Felicity," which ran for four seasons on The WB. He served as the show's co-creator (with Matt Reeves) and executive producer. Under his production company, Bad Robot, Abrams created and executive-produced "Alias" and is co-creator (with Damon Lindelof) and executive producer of "Lost." In 2005, he received Emmys for Outstanding Directing in a Drama Series for the "Lost" pilot and Outstanding Drama Series for "Lost." He was also an Emmy nominee for both the "Alias" pilot and "Lost" pilot scripts (the latter co-written with Lindelof). Abrams won a Golden Globe Award for Outstanding Drama Series for "Lost." In addition to writing and directing, he composed the theme music for "Alias" and "Lost" and co-wrote the theme song for "Felicity."

On May 5, 2006, Abrams made his feature directorial debut with "Mission: Impossible III," starring Tom Cruise. He is currently directing the latest film installment of the "Star Trek" franchise.

Abrams and his wife have three young children.

Bryan Burk (Producer) is a graduate of USC's School of Cinema-Television who began his career working with producers Brad Weston at Columbia Pictures, Ned Tanen at Sony Pictures and John Davis at Fox. In 1995, Burk joined Gerber Pictures, where he helped develop TNT's Emmy-nominated "James Dean."

In 2001, Burk joined J.J. Abrams on ABC's Emmy-winning "Alias," where he served as a co-producer for its entire five-season run. In 2004, Burk and Abrams formed Bad Robot Productions at Touchstone Television, where he executive produced ABC's "Six Degrees," "What About Brian" and the Golden Globe- and Emmy Award-winning Best Drama, "Lost."

Burk and Abrams are continuing their partnership in the feature film arena. Following "Cloverfield," Burk will be producing "Star Trek" and "Morning Glory" for Paramount Pictures.

Guy Riedel (Executive Producer) began his career on film and TV sets with his father, a Director of Photography in New York City. After receiving an MBA from Rutgers University, Riedel moved to Los Angeles and worked as a development executive for Producer Aaron Russo, developing the movies "Teachers" and "Wise Guys." He then opened up the production-development offices for New Line Cinema in Los Angeles, working on "The Nightmare on Elm Street" series, "The Hidden" and "Hairspray."

Riedel then went to work for producer Gale Anne Hurd, soon becoming president of production. While at her company, he worked on "Tremors," the HBO movie "Cast a Deadly Spell" and "Downtown." He also served as executive producer on "The Waterdance," which was awarded the Audience Prize at Sundance in 1992, as well as three Independent Spirit Awards.

Also in 1992, Riedel went out on his own as a producer and completed "The Inkwell" (1993) for Disney. Soon after, he produced a series of HBO movies, including "Norma Jean and Marilyn," "The Second Civil War," " Breast Men" and "Path to War," which was nominated for eight Emmy Awards, including Best Made-for-TV Movie. Riedel also executive-produced such films as "Office Space," "Crazy/Beautiful," "The Hot Chick," "The Girl Next Door" and "Wedding Crashers."

Before "Cloverfield," he co-produced "Rocky Balboa." His work will next be seen as executive producer on "Four Christmases" for New Line Cinema.

Sherryl Clark (Executive Producer) began her career at Walt Disney Studios, where she worked at Touchstone Pictures and later at the Jacobson Company. She left Disney to work for Mario Kassar's MK Productions, where she worked on Adrian Lyne's "Lolita." Clark then joined Kopelson Entertainment. During her tenure there, she worked her way up the ranks from director of development to president of production, co-produced "Twisted" starring Samuel Jackson and Ashley Judd, and supervised production on "Don't Say a Word" starring Michael Douglas.

Currently, Clark runs the film side of J.J. Abrams' production company Bad Robot.

Michael Bonvillain, ASC (Director of Photography) began working on commercials in New York before shooting his first feature, "Amongst Friends," which was a hit at the Sundance Film Festival. He has previously worked with J.J. Abrams on "Felicity," "Alias" and "Lost." Twice nominated for the ASC Award, he has three Emmy nominations, winning once for the pilot of "Alias."

He currently lives in Los Angeles.

Martin Whist (Production Designer) is a production designer and artist based in Los Angeles who studied fine art in Vancouver and Toronto, where he earned his undergraduate degree. He then completed his Masters in Fine Arts at the Claremont Graduate School in Claremont, California. He has shown his paintings and sculpture internationally.

Whist has worked in all aspects of the art department from carpenter to production designer on feature films and commercials for the last 13 years. His recent credits as a production designer include "Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny," "Smokin' Aces" and the upcoming "The Promotion."

He has also been an art director on the feature films "The Island," the Academy Award®-nominated and Art Director's Award winner "Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events," "Along Came Polly," "Down with Love" and "Phone Booth."

Kevin Stitt, A.C.E. (Editor) most recently served as editor on director Peter Berg's "The Kingdom," and prior to that as second editor on Mel Gibson's ancient-world drama "Apocalypto."

Stitt, who has compiled more than 20 years in the editing room, has also collaborated with such filmmakers as John Badham ("Drop Zone," "Nick of Time," "Another Stakeout"), Brian Helgeland ("A Knight's Tale," "The Order," "Payback"), John Woo ("Paycheck"), Richard Donner ("Lethal Weapon 4," "Conspiracy Theory") and Bryan Singer ("X-Men").

Over the past decade, Stitt has also edited such feature films as Renny Harlin's "Deep Blue Sea" (additional editor); Jonathan Mostow's "Breakdown"; Rod Lurie's "The Last Castle"; Rob Bowman's "Elektra"; and former editor and mentor Stuart Baird's directorial debut, "Executive Decision," which marked Stitt's first collaboration with longtime editor Frank Urioste.

The Los Angeles native majored in communications at Cal State Northridge before beginning his career in the 1980s (on "Twilight Zone: The Movie") in an era he calls "the golden age of Hollywood action movies." He cut his teeth as an assistant editor, apprenticing with the likes of Frank Morriss ("Romancing the Stone," "Short Circuit," "Point of No Return"), Donn Cambern ("Big Trouble," "Harry and the Hendersons") and Stuart Baird ("Lethal Weapon 2," "Maverick," "The Last Boy Scout").

Ellen Mirojnick's (Costume Designer) well-respected design talents have had an impact on a diverse series of motion pictures, most recently Tony Scott's thriller "Déjà Vu."

Mirojnick's first feature film as costume designer was "French Quarter," followed by the 1980 breakout hit "Fame," on which she was assistant designer to Kristi Zea. Mirojnick later designed the "Fame" television pilot. She was costume designer on "The Flamingo Kid" and, shortly thereafter, "Nobody's Fool." In 1986 Mirojnick's collaboration with Michael Douglas began with "Fatal Attraction" and "Wall Street," followed by "Black Rain," "Basic Instinct," "A Perfect Murder" and "Ghost and the Darkness," among others. She was included in the Biennale della Moda di Firenze for her work in ""A Perfect Murder," as well as for "One Night at McCool's," "Don't Say a Word," "The Sentinel" and "King of California."

Along with "Fatal Attraction," Mirojnick also teamed with director Adrian Lyne on "Jacob's Ladder" and "Unfaithful," the later of which earned her a nomination for a Contemporary Design Award from the Costume Designers Guild. A few of the cult favorites on which Mirojnick collaborated with director Paul Verhoeven were "Basic Instinct," "Showgirls," "Starship Troopers" (which earned her a Saturn Award for Best Sci-Fi Costume Design) and "Hollow Man."

Her designs for the telefeature "Rodgers & Hammerstein's Cinderella" garnered her an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Costume Design (for a Variety or Music Program). Mirojnick was nominated for a BAFTA Award for Best Costume Design, along with designer John Mollo, for "Chaplin."

Other film credits include the 2006 romantic comedy "Failure to Launch," starring Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew McConaughey, "What Women Want," "America's Sweethearts," "Cliffhanger," "Speed" and "Twister," to name a few.

Mirojnick herself was the subject of a documentary on costume design – "Hollywood Fashion Machine Special: The Costume Designer" (2000), and was part of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science's exhibit "50 Designers 50 Films" (2004).

Cloverfield, Slusho and Paper-Street

2007-07-27T20:57:00.000-07:00

Site: www.youcantdrinkjustsix.com

It's late. I may have missed the what-for on paper-street. But for what it's worth.

Hmmm... Nevermind. Whois says it was created on July 10, so just a hanger-on. Still, wierd in a good way.

External Tags: 1-18-08, Cloverfield, JJ Abrams, Abrams Project

Cloverfield on Photobucket(?)

2007-07-27T19:35:00.000-07:00

Reader xdoofyx points out that jamie's MySpace photos lead to a photobucket account.

External Tags: 1-18-08, Cloverfield, JJ Abrams, Abrams Project

Cloverfield on MySpace(?)

2007-07-27T13:25:00.000-07:00

Marlena Diamond
Lily Ford
JJ Hawkins
Rob Hawkins
Jamie Lascano
Beth McIntyre
Hudson Platt

External Tags: 1-18-08, Cloverfield, JJ Abrams, Abrams Project

Backside of 12:01A

2007-07-27T13:14:00.000-07:00

Via: cloverfieldclues.

External Tags: 1-18-08, Cloverfield, JJ Abrams, Abrams Project

New 12:04A Image at 1-18-08.com & Image Flipside

2007-07-27T13:10:00.000-07:00

Via: cloverfieldclues.

External Tags: 1-18-08, Cloverfield, JJ Abrams, Abrams Project

Abrams Audio - Comic-Con

2007-07-26T20:38:00.000-07:00

Via: cloverfieldparasite
Article: Abrams Audio

External Tags: 1-18-08, Cloverfield, JJ Abrams, Abrams Project

1-18-08 Poster Writ Large

2007-07-26T15:54:00.000-07:00

Site: cinematical
Gallery: Comic-Con 2007: Paramount

[Click to Enlarge]

External Tags: 1-18-08, Cloverfield, JJ Abrams, Abrams Project

“This movie”

2007-07-26T14:49:00.000-07:00

Site: moviesblog.mtv.com
Article: Comic-Con: J.J. Abrams Speaks, “We Need Our Own Godzilla”

“Do you think we’d call it ‘Monstrous’?” J.J. Abrams teased the Comic-Con crowd Thursday. “No.”

Abrams wouldn’t cough up the real title of his mysterious January flick, but he did give his own explanation of the movie, remembering a recent trip to Japan. “We need our own Godzilla.”

Constantly referring to the project as “This movie”, Abrams showed the now-famous teaser, promised that a title would be forthcoming, and unveiled a new poster with a headless Statue of Liberty to the Con masses.

External Tags: 1-18-08, Cloverfield, JJ Abrams, Abrams Project

Hopeful Letdown

2007-07-26T14:36:00.000-07:00

Site: shocktillyoudrop.com
Article: Comic-Con '07: 1-18-08
Source: Ryan Rotten

J.J. Abrams spoke to an enthusiastic crowd at the San Diego Comic-Con this afternoon about 1-18-08. His stay on stage was brief, but here's what Abrams says...- He's not revealing the title just yet. We've still got to wait...patiently.- "I want a monster movie," says Abrams. He said he's wanted to do one for a long time and was inspired by a recent trip to Japan with his son. He wants something "insane" and it's almost done shooting.- He thinks America should have their own monster and the dailies are looking great.

External Tags: 1-18-08, Cloverfield, JJ Abrams, Abrams Project

“You think we'd call it Monstrous? No…"

2007-07-26T14:33:00.000-07:00

Site: firstshowing.net
Article: Comic-Con Live: Paramount Panel - Star Trek, Indiana Jones IV, and More…

Cloverfield / 1-18-08:

2:22 - The original trailer in front of Transformers for Cloverfield / 1-18-08 debuts. JJ Abrams heads to the stage. His very quick statement on the film (as he'll be back for Star Trek XI):

“I want a monster movie, I've wanted one for so long. I was in Japan with my son and all he wanted to do is go to toy stores. And we saw all these Godzilla toys, and I thought, we need our own monster, and not King Kong, King Kong's adorable. I wanted something that was just insane and intense. It's almost done shooting and I watch dailies and I'm more excited for them than the trailer, which has had an overwhelming response. We have 6 months before this comes out. We're going to have a whole bunch of things, a whole bunch more." He said a full trailer, more clips, full posters, and much more will be coming out over the next 6 monts, including the name, which he will NOT reveal today.

“You think we'd call it Monstrous? No…"

So, the film is NOT a Godzilla movie, it is an original monster movie, and it is NOT called Monstrous!

External Tags: 1-18-08, Cloverfield, JJ Abrams, Abrams Project

Paramount "provided" 1-18-08 Poster

2007-07-26T13:32:00.000-07:00

Site: filmschoolrejects.com
Article: Official 1-18-08 and Star Trek Posters Released
By: Neil Miller

We have been speculating like mad about J.J. Abrams’ upcoming monster flick, loosely called “Cloverfield” or “1-18-08″. Now — at least for now — Paramount has provided us with the first look at the official teaser poster. They have also released, as part of the Comic-Con festivities, the poster for “Star Trek” as well. Take a look below:

[Click to Enlarge]

External Tags: 1-18-08, Cloverfield, JJ Abrams, Abrams Project

Best Monstrous Poster Images Yet

2007-07-25T19:37:00.000-07:00

Via: cloverfieldparasite

Click on them to enlarge/open in new window.

External Tags: 1-18-08, Cloverfield, JJ Abrams, Abrams Project

Can We Just Say

2007-07-25T16:57:00.000-07:00

We at the Project like to let you decide. We post it, you decide, everyone's happy. But the Project is bothered by the fact that 2 whole people now have had the presence of mind to snap a shot of this poster, but neither of them had the wherewithal to cough up $15, take the damn thing off the wall, take the plastic off of it and get a really good picture as well as a nice little (and potentially valuable) souvenir. Why not buy the thing? Why drive to the place, bring your camera, snap a shot, run home, upload it to the web, register with a forum and post it, but not bring $15 and fit in buying the thing, and take better photo(s), dust if for fingerprints, hold it up to the light, let Kinkos have their way with it...?

We can think of a few reasons why someone would want the poster to remain distorted and in the Frank and Sons fine establishment. We can even concede that it's possible two totally random strangers also happen to both be utter and complete morons. But those former reasons strike us as way more likely. In fact, if it weren't for Paramount owning themonstrousmovie.com domain, we'd call it-[coubllsht]-a hoax.

Regardless, we don't want to give the wrong impression. Assuming Abrams and Co. can keep a lid on 1-18-08 for another 6 months (cross your fingers), we expect many of the highlights of this little adventure will invariably involve the exploits of people trying to fill in the gaps with their own creative juices.

External Tags: 1-18-08, Cloverfield, JJ Abrams, Abrams Project

New Monstrous Poster Photo

2007-07-25T13:21:00.000-07:00

Via: kaliyugatheory
Article: Unfiction Post
By: luwho12345

[Click on image to enlarge.]

External Tags: 1-18-08, Cloverfield, JJ Abrams, Abrams Project

Cloverfield Domains

2007-07-25T08:55:00.000-07:00

Albert Pike:

http://whois.domaintools.com/1-18-08.com

Registrant:
Henry Kelvin
1424 East 9th Street
New York, NY 10003
US

Domain name: 1-18-08.COM

Administrative Contact:
Kelvin, Henry
1424 East 9th Street
New York, NY 10003
US
+1.3104504620
Technical Contact:
Pike, Albert
101 Callahan Drive
Alexandria, VA 22301
US
+1.3104504620

http://whois.domaintools.com/slusho.jp

Domain Information:
[Domain Name] SLUSHO.JP

[Registrant] Satoshi Kagashima
[Postal code] 118-8336
[Postal Address] 18 Palace Plaza
36-40-10 Marunouchi
[Phone] 81.5805681
[Fax] 81.1111111

http://whois.domaintools.com/cloverfieldmovie.com

Registrant:
In Hoc Signo Vinces
101 Callahan Drive
Alexandria, VA 22301
US

Domain name: CLOVERFIELDMOVIE.COM

Administrative Contact:
Pike, Albert
101 Callahan Drive
Alexandria, VA 22301
US
+1.3104504620

Paramount:

http://whois.domaintools.com/themonstrousmovie.com

Registrant:
Paramount Pictures Corporation

Domain name: THEMONSTROUSMOVIE.COM

http://whois.domaintools.com/thecloverfieldmovie.com

Registrant:
Paramount Pictures Corporation

Domain name: THECLOVERFIELDMOVIE.COM

Proxy:

http://whois.domaintools.com/slushozoom.com

Domain Name: SLUSHOZOOM.COM

External Tags: 1-18-08, Cloverfield, JJ Abrams, Abrams Project

Monstrous Liberty Bond

2007-07-25T08:26:00.000-07:00

Site: unfiction
Post: Post
By: Almijisti

External Tags: 1-18-08, Cloverfield, JJ Abrams, Abrams Project

themonstrousmovie.com

2007-07-23T18:17:00.000-07:00

By: theonetruebix
Article: ARTICLE

http://whois.domaintools.com/themonstrousmovie.com Owned by Paramount. Created on June 7.

Watch this space. Credit: M.D.S.

External Tags: 1-18-08, Cloverfield, JJ Abrams, Abrams Project

Monstrous?

2007-07-23T14:32:00.000-07:00

External Tags: 1-18-08, Cloverfield, JJ Abrams, Abrams Project

Paramount Logos Side-by-Side

2007-07-21T16:27:00.000-07:00

External Tags: 1-18-08, Cloverfield, JJ Abrams, Abrams Project

The 1-18-08.com 1:24A Image...

2007-07-20T13:51:00.000-07:00

Compliments of: Cloverfield Clues

External Tags: 1-18-08, Cloverfield, JJ Abrams, Abrams Project

What's (the Monster) Eating Albert Pike?

2007-07-20T09:39:00.000-07:00

Site: Nonsense
Article: "Cloverfield"

I love the concept of an alternative reality game (ARG), but I find myself rarely following through. Maybe it’s a lack of time, or perhaps just a waning interest in that they just tend to lose steam, or never even pick it up for my own particular tastes.

A word of warning: This could turn into a long, nonsensical post with lots of links. If that sounds extremely dull, move along. Otherwise… Continue Reading...

External Tags: 1-18-08, Cloverfield, JJ Abrams, Abrams Project

What's Known

2007-07-20T09:35:00.000-07:00

Site: 1-18-08.livejournal.com
By: 1-18-08

There is a lot of speculation going on about this film elsewhere, so I've decided to create a place where people can read all the facts and confirmed info without having to filter through speculation and rumors (especially those already confirmed false). This post will remain stuck at the top of the page as it serves as a summary of the info known about the film. I'll continue to update it as more info comes in. More detailed updates will appear below this post.

VIEW THE TEASER HERE.

WHAT WE KNOW:

It will be released on January 18, 2008. [1]
Produced by J.J. Abrams and Bryan Burk. [1]
Executive produced by Guy Riedel and Sherryl Clark. [1]
Written by Drew Goddard. [1]
Directed by Matt Reeves. [1]
Produced by J.J.'s production company Bad Robot and distributed by Paramount Pictures. [1]
It takes place (at least partially) in New York City. [1]
It is about a monster (or monsters) attacking the city. [2]
Most or all of the film will be shot using home video cameras, from the perspective of the characters. [2]
The teaser debuted before the Transformers movie. [3]
It is currently untitled, but has been given the working title "Cloverfield." [3]
The only official site for the film that has been confirmed is 1-18-08.com. [4]
It is listed among films and television programs currently in production in New York City according to the Mayor's Office of Film, Theatre & Broadcasting.
One of the characters in the teaser is seen wearing a Slusho! t-shirt that matches the images found on slusho.jp.
NY1's Roma Torre has a cameo in the teaser, delivering a report on the "thunderous, roaring sound" that interrupts the party. [5]

WHAT WE MIGHT KNOW (still awaiting confirmation):

Starring Michael Stahl-David, Odette Yustman, Mike Vogel, and Lizzy Kaplan. [6][7]
Those working on the film have been referring to the monster as "the parasite." [2]
IMDb is erroneously reporting Mike Vogel to be starring as Rob. It looks like Rob is in fact played by Michael Stahl-David.
Several sources have reported a movie going by the name of "Slusho" being filmed in LA that sounds very close to what we do know about Cloverfield. "Slusho" is a fictional slurpee-like beverage offered to Jennifer Garner's character in the second episode of J.J. Abram's show ALIAS, so this is a very promising lead. If you have any more information about Slusho, please send it my way. [8][9]
It's probably safe to assume that slusho.jp is also an official site marketing the film, though we don't have official confirmation yet.

UNSUBSTANTIATED RUMORS:

There is speculation as to who the monster is, including Cthulhu or Godzilla, or that it is a tie-in to J.J.'s TV show LOST. Most likely, it will be completely original, though this has yet to be confirmed.
Currently, IMDb is also listing Blake Lively as a member of the cast, but I haven't been able to find ANY information supporting this. I've also been told Kelvin Yu is in the cast, but don't have anything confirming this. Please let me know if you find an article supporting either of these claims.

DEBUNKED RUMORS:

J.J. Abrams has denied any connection between the film and any of the Ethan Haas websites currently circulating the web. [4]
ParasiteMovie.com is a fake. It is not an official site and any information found there can be ignored. Viewing the source code shows it to be a fansite hosted on sledriding.com.
Many people have been reporting hearing a man screaming "IT'S A LION! IT'S HUGE!" in the teaser. If you view the better quality teaser here, you can clearly hear the man says "IT'S ALIVE!" rather than "IT'S A LION!"
It's not Voltron. Info about the upcoming Voltron movie produced by Mark Costa and Mark Gordon can be found here.
It's not The Host. Universal owns the rights to that. [10]
It's not Gears of War. New Line owns the rights to that. [11]
It's not Jurassic Park. Info on Jurassic Park IV can be found here.
It's not Ghostbusters. Columbia owns the rights to that. [12]
If you have more info confirming or debunking any of these rumors, please comment (and link to your sources).

Sources:

1. The teaser
2. Ain't It Cool News
3. Ain't It Cool News
4. Ain't It Cool News
5. Star-Ledger
5. Box Office Prophets
6. The Hollywood Reporter
7. IGN
8. Alias Episode 102: So It Begins
9. Variety
10. Variety
11. IMDb

External Tags: 1-18-08, Cloverfield, JJ Abrams, Abrams Project

Albert Pike Predicts

2007-07-19T20:22:00.000-07:00

Site: Cloverfield Clues
Article: Monsters
By: TwistedFilms

I apologize in advance for the length of this post, but I think it may have some crucial info:

Ok, here is a lead I found that no one seems interested in looking into but it seems like pretty critical stuff so...hear me out. This is in regards to the 1-18-08 movie, not the Haas stuff...I know, sue me

Here it goes,
I found this on a website the other day, I admit I have not looked into this element myself so if anyone else could substantiate this first part I would really appreciate it.

"One odd little factor is that the movie seems to have some kind of connection with Freemasonry. The “Cloverfield” website, 1-18-08.com’s Technical Contact is Albert Pike and the address is 101 Callahan Drive Alexandria, VA 22301 which is at The George Washington Masonic National Memorial. What exactly this has to do with the plot of the movie is yet unknown."

Now I looked into this Albert Pike fellow and found this

"In contrast to Catholic allegations of rationalism and naturalism, Protestant objections are more likely to be based on allegations of mysticism, occultism, and even devil worship. Albert Pike is often cited by Protestant anti-masons as an authority for the position of Masonry on these issues. However, Pike, although undoubtedly learned, was not a spokesman for Freemasonry and was controversial among freemasons in general, representing his personal opinion only, and furthermore an opinion grounded in the attitudes and understandings of late 19th-century Southern Freemasonry of the USA alone. Indeed his book carries in the preface a form of disclaimer from his own Grand Lodge. No one voice has ever spoken for the whole of Freemasonry.[55]"

So this guy that is Tech Support for the website is apparently a deceased Freemason that was an expert in Black Magic, the occult and even Devil Worship. This sounded sort of like Cthulhu's realm, so I did some poking around on that as well and found out that when the Esoteric Order of Dagon (For those not to keen on Lovecraft's work, Dagon was and old one much like Cthulhu, though he was seen as more of an intermediary between the God's than a God himself)was first being formed, they posed as a Masonic sect to avoid detection.

Now I know some of this seems kind of far fetched but it is apparently derived from the only site we know is 100% Official, we also know that there is a lot of circumstantial evidence to link Cthulhu (or any of Lovecraft's work) to this film and if this is true I would say it is pretty damn important. Help me spread the word on this theory or at least help me look into it. Thanks for your time all, as always, keep me posted

Twisted_Films@yahoo.com

External Tags: 1-18-08, Cloverfield, JJ Abrams, Abrams Project

Viral Marketing (Cloverfield) vs. Traditional Marketing (Ratatouille)

2007-07-19T14:40:00.000-07:00

I would have loved to put Cloverfield up against Transformers, but after some experimentation it became clear that movie or no, the term "Transformers" was getting blogged about anyway. So I opted instead for Ratatouille, both because it is a unique term and because it benefited from what I imagine is a pretty standard advertising blitz for grade "A" Hollywood production.

IceRocket: Cloverfield vs. 1-18-08 vs. Ratatouille:

BlogScope: Ratatouille vs. Cloverfield:

IceRocket: Cloverfield vs. Slusho vs. 1-18-08:

Virally marketing Cloverfield, you can guess at what I'd be using to help me decide when it's time for a new clue.

External Tags: 1-18-08, Cloverfield, JJ Abrams, Abrams Project

Cloverfield Hit and Miss - Hopes, Expectations and Oh Yeah..., Reality

2007-07-19T08:52:00.000-07:00

The Apocalypse - While we'd love to see the end of the world, we believe it would be an exceedingly lame Apocalypse if the final chapter involved cleanup crews. Perhaps a Left Behind fan can illuminate the days after the end days for us.

Blair Witch meets Godzilla - Maybe, and while the Blair Witch gave many a headache, Cloverfield's 30 million dollar budget(?) should go a long way toward avoiding that particular objection.

30 Million Dollars? - That's a low budget (by Hollywood standards, you know), but given the buzz the movie has generated in just the past weeks easily surpasses 30 million in advertising dollars, we'd be surprised if Cloverfield's budget is anything but a blank check.

Multiple Monsters - We're not convinced.

Who Wrote the Screenplay for Clues? - Good question. Answer: Drew Goddard. Given Drew's other work, the Project is leaning toward the supernatural. Oh, and supposedly Drew is unspeakably talented. This bodes well.

Alien Monster - We like this idea too. So much in fact that we're disabusing ourselves of it to avoid disappointment.

The Roar - While the Trailer is clearly a masterpiece, we'd like to remind everyone that the Roar is the key ingredient. To our ear, it evokes colossal malevolent intelligence. And if we were a giant Satan, that's what we would sound like.

Slusho - It's worth noting that slusho.jp was on the radar when JJ Abrams said "For what it's worth, the only site of ours that people have even FOUND is the 1-18-08.com…" Maybe JJ was a bit behind the buzz when he wrote that. Maybe not.

Puzzles? - Well, we think the idea that there are readymade puzzles waiting to be solved springs more from the Haas fiasco than it does anything JJ Abrams said, "But, obviously, if the movie doesn't kick some massive ASS, who gives a rat's about what's online?" We think that translates as: While we'd love to take full advantage of the online buzz, we're still working on the movie so don't expect much.

External Tags: 1-18-08, Cloverfield, JJ Abrams, Abrams Project

Too Many Clues Too Early?

2007-07-18T15:42:00.000-07:00

Site: BIGGANDYY
Article: So What Is 01-18-08 And Why Does It Hate The Statue Of Liberty?
By: biggandy

Over at trailer.apple.com and at their own website 1-18-08.com we have a new J.J. Abrams movie being previewed/promoted.

I am a big fan of the Alias franchise, not so much for LOST, so I am very curious about this movie. A side note that J.J. Abrams is to helm the new Star Trek movie coming soon.

But what about this movie? I have seen speculation that the critter is everything from Godzilla to Cthulhu. I believe a clue to the storyline is found at a website slusho.jp and clicking on the History button.

Here we get the story of the “drink” slusho and its inventor. The story goes that a world wide quest for the most unique drink ever made ended in the disappearance of Norinko and the family business left in the hands of her only son Ganu.

Ganu, not wanting anything to do with the family drink business, Ganu becames an undersea scientist. On one of his many scientific journeys he stumbles upon the very same unique ingredient his mother lost her life to find. In a dream (where he drinks the ingredient and grows to fantastic size) he gets the inspiration to add the ingredient to his mothers soft drink empire, now run by his cousin, to make the most unique drink in the world.

Does this mystical ingredient actually turn out to be the germ of Cthulhu, waiting to be loosed on the surface world? Is this just another run of the mill monster movie akin to The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms? It looks interesting, even though the mandatory “destroy the Statue of Liberty” scene is the first glimpse of this super secret movie.

Here is an update: zimm41 has this to say

Romans 1:18 “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness”

So what in biblical mythology has connections to the slew of references in the trailer? The three great monsters.

In Jewish belief, Behemoth is the primal unconquerable monster of the land, as Leviathan is the primal monster of the waters of the sea and Ziz the primordial monster of the sky.

1) The first monster roar is accompanied by an earthquake (Behemoth)
2) The second monster roar is accompanied by a huge fireball (Leviathan, for it can breathe fire)
3) The third monster roar is accompanied by the flying Statue of Liberty head (Ziz).

Not convinced?

The guy who says “maybe we can get a better view from the roof” has the Slusho logo on his shirt. Slusho is a classic J.J. Abrams icon, and it has appeared in both Alias and Lost, which are his shows.

Slusho.jp has, by now, been confirmed as a part of the viral marketing campaign revolving around 1-18-08. Japan. Strangely enough, the character Rob, who is present in the trailer, was gonna fly to Japan a day after that party and the monster events.

Let’s have a look around on that site. Not all pages are accessible. But there is an odd feature about the pages that are available. The main page background is on land, the Downloads page background is on air, and the History page background is on sea.

Furthermore, the six buttons on the main page cause popups of various animals, namely a Horse, a Whale and a Bird. Behemoth, Leviathan, Ziz.
Maybe there is a Rampage video game tie in somewhere?

External Tags: 1-18-08, Cloverfield, JJ Abrams, Abrams Project

Mailbag - Moriarty Smoriarty

2007-07-18T11:05:00.000-07:00

Reader b!X writes:

It's ironic that in a post where Moriarity gets pissed off at people stealing and/or not citing AICN for its reporting, he then goes on to do the same.

The idea that the Ethan Haas mythos might (and the emphasis is on "might", not "is") be PR for Mind Storm Labs' Alpha Omega game did not spring virgin and unborn from the mind of Moriarty or anyone else at AICN.

Rather, many of us out here following EHWR have been pulling together the evidence for such a link for more than a week now, and reporting said evidence. AICN has done exactly no actual reporting on the potential link between EHWR and Mind Storm.

All AICN has done is make a single statement based upon the work of mayb at the most a dozen people (probably less) who are unaffiliated with AICN, without ever mentioning that's where AICN heard the idea in the first place.

Just, you know, FYI, since you've republished the AICN item. Heh.

--Received Jul 17, 2007

External Tags: 1-18-08, Cloverfield, JJ Abrams, Abrams Project

Slusho Zoomed

2007-07-17T16:54:00.000-07:00

Source: IMDB

"Hope this hasnt been posted already. Ok so i was checking out the slusho.jp site and i was trying to figure out there backdoors and whatnot. so i typed in. http://slusho.jp/swf/home.swf and that came up with a part of the flash. then i went and tried out http://slusho.jp/swf/main.swf and it showed me another part of the flash. then for the hell of it i tried of http://slusjo.jp/swf/slushozoom.swf and a quick flash video came up that just kept flashing http://www.1-18-08.com/images/ so i went there and under the category tree list was one image file called slushozoom.jpg and ladies and gentlemen here it is! i saved the file. and now when you go to http://www.1-18-08.com/images/ all you get is Forbiden. but i personly will keep checking back. Other then that bird creature thingy, whats with the smoke on the building. and the Slusho Sign! at least i think thats what it is. and the camera crew. is this filming? so confused. oh well. have fun.

Cloverfield, Slusho, Noriko Yoshida, Paint By Numbers

2007-07-17T16:21:00.000-07:00

Site: The Four Guys Podcast
Article: Slusho, Cloverfield, Noriko Yoshida and Set Photos are removed.

One thing I am sure is these film producers and their assistants have a lot of time on their hands or we are going crazy. There are connections within connections that seem to spring up out of our collective imaginations without reason. Is it our dark deep desire to find the links and an answer to this game or is there something more? Are there actual puzzle pieces waiting on the net just for us to discover as J.J. Abrams hinted? I have never been a part of or experienced viral marketing (as it is called) on this level so I am pretty new with this…but its a wild ride.

The Noriko Yoshida mentioned on the Slusho.jp site (could this be a common name in Japan?) is in reality a screenwriter as stated in IMDB. According to the site she is either missing or dead and her surviving son Ganu Yoshida took over the operation. I am assuming that she is missing based on this statement on the site.

“But tragedy struck for the Smallest Whale! Noriko set off on a sea adventure to find the greatest, most tastiest ingredient to the world, and was never heard from again!”

We all know this though, but what a few intrepid investigators may not know is that a site called Scramble Network reports that a few days ago a Matisse painting was posted on what some believe is Noriko Yoshida’s web page at Kobe University.

The title of the painting can be translated as “The Beasts of the Sea.” Now add that to what we already know about the Slusho site and we get some very interesting connections here. The Slusho.jp often talks of deep sea creatures, discoveries underwater and well more water stuff…so there is a connection…a small one but a connection that we can see. Do we have anymore information then before? A little. Keep digging.

Some set photos from the film have just appeared online within the last two days at least. No one is really sure if they are real or they come from a source inside the project. One thing is for sure, Paramount is pissed, the supposed poster of the pictures is pissed and many bloggers are pissed cause they have to take them down.

The photos supposedly originated from frightstuff.com and are the property of Ken Tarallo, who is reported to be the special effects supervisor for the “Cloverfield Project.” It is also is being reported that he was fired for releasing the photos. So in my eyes that legitimizes the photos but with all this going on who knows…who knows.

We have the photos in our server and we were contemplating putting them up because…well who would tell on us…we only have about 5 readers. We might decide to put them up when things die down a bit and we get more information on the photos as a whole. The one that really interested me was a picture of a woman in a cast mold and the final product of the mold….covered in green slime. (Green Slime?) …all I have to say is this…”The Old Ones were, the Old Ones are, and the Old Ones shall be. Not in the spaces we know, but between them, They walk serene and primal, undimensioned and to us unseen.”

Tired or Not - Title NOT Revealed - Sciretta - /film.com

2007-07-16T14:57:00.000-07:00

Site: SlashFilm
Article: Cloverfield: Title Revealed, Set Photos, The Origin of Slusho Video and More
By: Peter Sciretta

Everyone continues to talk about the movie currently code-named Cloverfield (the top secret JJ Abrams produced monster flick). We’re not the only ones getting tired of referring to the movie by a codename. According to FX Specialist Ken Tarallo, the title of the movie will be announced during the Paramount panel at San Diego Comic Con. AICN has revealed yet another little tidbit about the film - it begins at the end.

The film starts with a rescue crew cleaning up after the entire incident, and one of them finds a camera. They rewind the tape, press play… and the playback is the movie that unfolds.
I’m not sure how much I like that beginning because right from the get go you know there are survivors and the life moves on. But yes, again, the whole movie will be from the perspective of video cameras. We’ve reported in the past that it would be shot using a handicam. Apparently that is not true. They are “using the state of the art DVD Panavision camera” and according to Tarallo, not shooting in New York. So it looks like the reports of Slusho Los Angeles film sets were correct after all, and The Hollywood Reporter was misinformed.

Someone has sent us some photos that were reportedly taken on the set of Cloverfield. I have no idea if this claim is true, but the first one to the upper right looks legit.

We’ve also previously mentioned that Slusho’s origins reach much deeper than Cloverfield. The slush drink was used in the JJ Abrams television series Alias. After the jump, check out the first mention of the drink from the second episode which aired in October 2001. One will notice that the old logo looks more like the ICEE logo than the the image that appears on the Slucho.jp website and t-shirt within the trailer.

Cloverfield - Actual Reportage - New In Bold

2007-07-16T08:55:00.000-07:00

Site: New York Post
Article: BAIT BALLS OF FIRE
By FARRAH WEINSTEIN

July 16, 2007 -- IT'S alive. It's huge. And it's top secret.

That's about all we know about pro ducer J.J. Abrams' latest pet project.

"Transformers" theatergoers have been scratching their heads in frustra tion at a grainy, "Blair Witch"-style advertisement for a movie that doesn't even have a name.

Working titles include "The Cloverfield Experiment," "Slusho!" and "1-18-08" (the day the movie will be released).

Last week, the trailer went up on YouTube, and Paramount Pictures was quick to take it down - only to launch its own Web site, 1-18-08.com, which features three overlapping pictures that can be turned upside-down or sideways.

Weird clues such as an imp or a demon can be seen between the faces of two girls. The No. 9 is weirdly placed on a woman's chest in one of the party pictures. Another features people walking through a white cloud of smoke with their noses and mouths covered.

In the trailer, seemingly shot on a shaky, handheld camcorder, Manhattan friends are at a going-away party for a guy named Rob, who is leaving for Japan.

The band Wolfmother blasts in the background, and in a flash the lights go out and a painful background howling is heard. On the TV screen, NY1 reporter Roma Torre reports a "thunderous, roaring sound."

Partygoers head to the roof, where fireballs attack. On the street, the Statue of Liberty's head is thrown to the pavement.

The Hollywood Reporter describes the scene as " 'Armageddon' meets 'The Blair Witch Project'." But there also might be an amusement park twist reminiscent of "Final Destination 2."

A few weeks ago, the movie was shot in Coney Island on the blocks contained by West Eighth Street, West 17th Street, Surf Avenue and the Boardwalk.

A small crew, including Abrams (co-creator of "Lost") and director Matt Reeves ("Felicity"), along with up-and-coming actors Blake Lively and Mike Vogel (both from "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants") came into the park with hand-held video cameras.

They shot several scenes at Deno's Wonder Wheel, a scary swinging Ferris Wheel in which patrons ride in cages as they look out over Brooklyn. They also went on the Scooter bumper cars, played some ticket-stub games in the arcade, and rolled some skee ball.

A member of the Vourderis family, owners of Deno's Wonder Wheel Park, gave authorization to the film crew to shoot there.

"It's about an alien that wipes out all of New York City," says one of the owners, who wants to remain anonymous. "The footage is taken the day before everyone dies. A bunch of kids come to Coney Island with a video camera. The movie is a flashback to that day."

It is reported that they have only a $30 million budget, not a heck of a lot for a monster movie.

They also filmed a few scenes in front of the now-defunct and chained-up B&B Carousell.

The crew steered clear of Astroland and The Cyclone, but shot some scenes on the Boardwalk by Nathan's and the booths selling hot buttered corn.

"They told me I could be in the movie," said Eric Gonzalez, an 18-year-old kid who plays the freak in the paintball game "Shoot the Freak."

"I wanted to be in it so bad and I gave them my number, and they never called. I got new shoes, a hat and a whole new outfit."

NY1 reporter Torre, on the other hand, was lucky to get plucked to star in the flick, and shot "a lot" more scenes than the one you see in the trailer.

"This whole thing was cloaked in mystery," Torre told The Post. "We weren't given any names. They made me sign a nondisclosure agreement, and I'm not supposed to talk about it."

"It was so mysterious that I had no idea that this was going to be a big-budget film or an independent type movie. So I was shocked to hear about the trailer and the buzz it's getting. I'm hearing from friends across the country. It's fun."

Many theories are floating around the 'Net about what the movie could really be: Godzilla, Cthulhu, the Parasite or a movie version of "Lost." Fans have also linked it to puzzle-based Web sites such as EthanHaaswasright.com. But Abrams was quick to correct that.

"The only site of ours that people have even found is the 1-18-08.com site," he told writer Harry Knowles of Web site Ain't It Cool News. "The others . . . have nothing to do with us."

He continues: "Thank you for your support of our little movie. I can't wait to talk to you more about it - of course, knowing you, by the time we talk you'll know more than I will.

"Regarding the online stuff you posted: Yeah, we're doing some fun stuff on the Web. But, obviously, if the movie doesn't kick some massive ASS, who gives a rat's about what's online? So as you can imagine, we're focusing mostly on THAT."

The Gossip - Gamera? - Gossip

2007-07-15T19:13:00.000-07:00

Site: The Gossip Rag
Article: Gamera, Cloverfield / 1-18-08 Title?

More evidence continues to backup claims that the JJ Abram’s movie is a new Gamera film, originally from the Daiei Motion Picture Company who was bought by Kadokawa Herald Pictures. I am completely convinced that whether or not the movie is Gamera, it is definitely a movie from within the Daiei Motion Picture Company stable of films. Lets break this down:

We have all watched the 1-18-08 Trailer.

We have a picture of a dude wearing a Slusho T-shirt in the trailer.

The Slusho website history page mentions Noriko Yoshida and family, including Ryouta Yoshida and Ganu.

Tetsuro Yoshida (his last name might just happen to be Yoshida, but I doubt it) is the writer of Daimajin, also a Daiei Motion Pictures franchise.

The movie could be Daimajin, which apparently is also slated for a 2008 release, but it is being produced by takashi miike.

Daimajin is a huge stone statue that comes to life. He has a frightening angry expression on his face, green skin, Red eyeballs with yellow pupils and wears Samurai armor.
But here are the reasons why I believe its Gamera:

The monster apparently comes from undersea, with “the smallest whale” and the Noriko Yoshida painting clues.

The Daiei Motion Picture Company released many of its films during World War II so they have underlying nuclear weapon themes.

Sci-Fi writes the following about Gamera.

Gamera, like the Godzilla of a decade earlier, is a metaphorical response to the nuclear devastation Japan suffered in World War II and its aftermath. Gamera is also the turtle-of-the-cosmos and owes something to mythologies that state that the whole world rests upon the back of a huge tortoise. He is the legacy of nuclear folly, an unstoppable monster birthed from humanity’s tinkerings with the atom.
Other 1-18-08 clues allude to the apocalypse and the end of the world. See the anti-christ website. Some people are already calling this JJ Abram’s film the end of the world movie.

Then there is The Bloop. We previously stated that the article on CNN was possibly fake. The bloop is in fact, very very real. The US Navy setup sensors during the Cold War to track the movement of Soviet Submarines. Since then the sensors have been used for different purposes such as tracking earthquakes. However, in 1997 the senors detected a mysterious bloop which some scientists think are from a huge undersea animal.

The Bloop + The Cold War = nuclear weapons + giant sea creature = Gamera and JJ Abram’s 1-18-08 Cloverfield project.

Convince me otherwise. I’ll still leave the JJ Abram’s original motion
picture idea open … but, if you still believe its a giant monster flick, its
Gamera.

The Project thinks The Gossip Rag is missing the mark. But seriously...

One Possible Future for the Website www.1-18-08.com

2007-07-15T18:36:00.000-07:00

Last week at the Project we were looking at the source code for 1-18-08.com and adding bits of what we found there to the /url. One addition did result in a new webpage. It wasn't anything remarkable, so while a curiosity, we didn't make but a mental note of it. The new page was exactly the same as the home page--dark background with the two (at the time) images floating on top of it. There was one difference though, the images were smaller.

The addition of a third image to 1-18-08.com got the project to wondering about that other /url. Specifically, what happens if the pattern of adding images to 1-18-08.com repeats again and again over the coming months? You eventually end up with dozens upon dozens of images. Take it one step further and reduce the size of those images and before you know it you have the makings of what is a very specific type of puzzle: A Photographic mosaic (or Photomosaic). For example:

So one possible concept for 1-18-08.com is to eventually host dozens (or even a hundred or more) images, reduced in size, that if put together just right will give us a glimpse of the mystery monster. And if that's not the plan, maybe it should be.

So anyway, we went back to find the /url. It's here: http://www.1-18-08.com/photos.swf

Hmm. Looks more like a byproduct of the site's code.

Lab: Determine the interval in days new images are added and divide that into the remaining days till 1-18-08 to roughly estimate how many images we may eventually be dealing with.

Taking Credit Where Credit Is Due - Moriarty

2007-07-15T12:46:00.000-07:00

Site: Ain't It Cool News
Article: RUMOR CONTROL! Let’s Talk About CLOVERFIELD/SLUSHO/1-18-08!

Hey, everyone. ”Moriarty” here.

If we’re going to talk rumors about INDY 4 this morning, we’ve definitely got to spend a little time talking about CLOVERFIELD.

Now, before you say, “well, how do we know you know anything?!”, let’s take a look back at the first mention of the film here on the site. On June 21st, before the first screening of TRANSFORMERS with the trailer attached, before anyone outside of Paramount had mentioned word one about the film anywhere, we broke the entire story here on the site. Check it out for yourself.

That story was also used to challenge the veracity of a blog that claimed to be about the production of THE DARK TOWER. I’ve since learned that the guy who ran that blog may well have been hired to be on an Abrams film... just not the one he thought he was working on. That may have been the first leak on CLOVERFIELD, but he didn’t know enough to make it worthwhile. I followed up this piece with more details on June 25th, and together, those two stories became the basis of almost everything you’ve read since.

When I wrote that story, I didn’t realize that Abrams was going to be pursuing a sort of veil of complete secrecy around the film, and I didn’t know he’d be creating a game leading up to the release. I actually feel bad that we sort of spelled it out as completely as we did. The one thing that he should be happy about is that no one really knew what the hell CLOVERFIELD was, so they didn’t read the article when I ran it. It certainly didn’t set the world on fire until people saw the trailer themselves, at which point we got flooded with e-mails asking, “What is that trailer? Why don’t you know anything about it yet?”

Well, 90% of everything that’s out there now came from one source, guys. Me. I broke the following facts about CLOVERFIELD exclusively: The title being a cover. It being a giant monster movie shot as if from a hand-held video camera. The low budget on the movie. The fact that Drew Goddard is writing it, and that Matt Reeves is directing it. The fact that the creature is nicknamed “the Parasite” by those working on the film. I described the trailer beat-for-beat before anyone outside the studio had seen it.

And yet nobody is citing us as the source of that information. Check out this asshole. And, yes, I just called you an asshole, Kirk Montgomery, because you’ve passed off other people’s work of the last two weeks as some sort of exclusive on your part. You didn’t learn anything “exclusively,” since everything in your article is regurgitated from other sources. You’re not the first person to simply re-run the information we broke about the movie in the past ten days, but you make it sound in your article like no one else anywhere has already written about the viral marketing sites or the way it’s being shot or the budget. There’s not a single piece of new reportage in your piece, and the way you try to make it sound like you somehow broke this wide open makes you... well... an asshole.

I don’t blame him, though. I’m sure he was told to write a story about this by his editor, and that’s because this has become a huge deal very quickly. Already, we’re starting to see some backlash in the talkbacks, as people talk about the film being overhyped. Fandom moves so fast these days that they’re starting to reject movies that are still shooting based solely on things like release dates or their own illogical expectations. Case in point: the way people started to get really attached to their pet theories about what this film is. “It’s VOLTRON!” “No, it’s a LOST tie-in!” “It’s not a movie at all! It’s just a LOST season four promo!” “No, it’s GODZILLA!” “No, it’s C’thulu!”

And when it turns out to be none of those things, fans are going to hold it against the movie, as if they were promised something. But they weren’t. They’ve been projecting, and they’ve gotten invested in their own ideas, and now they’re going to be mad when the film isn’t what they decided it should be.

Relax. Seriously. In a way, I don’t think JJ Abrams had any idea how much his teaser would set people off, but in another way, I think he got exactly what he wanted.

I have a theory about Abrams. I think he was a biiiiiig fan of Disneyland growing up. One of the great things about going to Disney (I lived near Orlando as a kid, so I always think about the Magic Kingdom when I think of the parks) is the way they don’t just have rides. The rides actually begin the moment you step into the park. Everything on the property is about setting a mood, getting you ready for the rides. When you’re standing in line, you get gradually immersed in these environments that drop you into the world you’re about to visit. Like the grave stones outside the Haunted Mansion or the docks on the Jungle Cruise or the ramps up into Space Mountain. You start the ride before you start the ride, and I think that sums up the attitude JJ Abrams and Bad Robot have towards entertainment now. Don’t scream at Abrams that he owes you all the answers right now. He doesn’t. Not yet. He’s got six months to go before this film comes out, so all he’s trying to do is get you intrigued. Hooked a bit. I’d say he more than accomplished that task. Now let him give you the bread crumbs as a game, and enjoy it. You’ll get onto the ride soon enough, and then it’ll be over, and why rush that? Why not enjoy the build-up?

When you get overexcited, you get an Ethan Haas situation, and people spend a lot of energy that they shouldn’t spend in the wrong direction. To be clear, all the Ethan Haas sites are interesting and well-coordinated, but none of them have anything to do with CLOVERFIELD. Instead, they are marketing for an upcoming game called ALPHA OMEGA by Mindstorm Labs. Cool stuff, but it’s not connected to the film at all.

I think the one thing that’s undisputable about the trailer is that it worked. It got people talking. Not putting a title on the teaser was a genius idea, and someone deserves a promotion for that one touch. I think that, more than anything, got people buzzing. People seem intrigued at the idea of a whole film being shot like that, and that’s pretty much what you’ll get. The film starts with a rescue crew cleaning up after the entire incident, and one of them finds a camera. They rewind the tape, press play... and the playback is the movie that unfolds.

I promise... we’ll keep you updated as more things break on this one, but for now, I think people are actually overanalyzing and they’re starting to invent things, create sites to support their crazy theories, and it’s all turning into such an overwhelming sound that it’s going to start to turn some people off.

Me? I’m excited and intrigued, and I look forward to learning more about the film as it develops.

Summing Up Plus - Pedro Monscooch

2007-07-14T19:30:00.000-07:00

Site: Monscooooooooch
Article: "Your theory is crazy, but it's not crazy enough to be true"...
By: Pedro Monscooch

It started off as a mysterious handheld camera trailer for a giant monster movie before a film called Transformers. Now it's become a full-on viral phenomenon, complete with frame-by-frame break down of the trailer, digital engineering deconstructions of the creature's roar and hints to be found in the three grainy photos on the official homepage. One thing I've personally noticed is if you look in the hair between the two women in the photo above, you can clearly see the Devil. Maybe it's just me. I see the Devil everywhere.

As with any Web phenomenon, scandals have already started to break. Two sites rumored to be clues were called out as fakes by Abrams himself. "For what it's worth, the only site of ours that people have even FOUND is the 1-18-08.com site," he told Aint It Cool News. Abrams adds, "But, obviously, if the movie doesn't kick some massive ASS, who gives a rat's about what's online?". I do, you insensitive bastard. I hate you!

Ethan Haas related sites were found to be set up only to sell some ugly T-shirts by some very quick ass-merchants. Crazy coincidence of the day (or is it?): "Ethan Haas" was a character on CBS's "The Class", which also starred Lizzy Caplan, one of the stars of what iMdb has lovingly dubbed "Untitled JJ Abrams Project."

Seeing as Sony own the licence to Godzilla until 2012, that pretty much rules the big lizard out. The main theory on... the grapevine... is that the main monster is this handsome devil called Cthulu. It's a cool idea but I don't know how it would work with a $30m budget. Unless they resort to my idea of seeing only what the party crowd sees and what kind of hilarious shenanigans they get up to (as I described in the last post). Someone wierdo called Gerald Webber posted on iMdb and aicn.com with his own story (not theory) that everything has already happened and this footage was later found and released as a documentary much like the Blair Witch theory I'm now fully taking credit for.

Another thing I figured out is that "Cloverfield" is an anagram which points to The Great One, which is an entire mythos written 70 years ago. It's both clever and old. Coincidence, I think not. There's one blatantly obvious suggestion I haven't seen anywhere yet, so it must be true... (cue awesome reveal)... The city-destroying monster is a giant dramatic prarie dog!

As someone who studied marketing in college, this is a masterclass and I can't believe it hadn't been done before. It's easily the most exciting film of 2008 for me. This, The Dark Knight and Haunted High School Musical. I'm super excited for those. Okay I love you, bye-bye.

"Bloop"

2007-07-14T19:16:00.000-07:00

Site: CNN.com/SCI-TECH
Article: Tuning in to a deep sea monster

LONDON, England -- Scientists have revealed a mysterious recording that they say could be the sound of a giant beast lurking in the depths of the ocean.

Researchers have nicknamed the strange unidentified sound picked up by undersea microphones "Bloop."

[AUDIO]
While it bears the varying frequency hallmark of marine animals, it is far more powerful than the calls made by any creature known on Earth, Britain's New Scientist reported on Thursday.

It is too big for a whale and one theory is that it is a deep sea monster, possibly a many-tentacled giant squid.

The frequency of the sound meant it had to be much louder than any recognised animal noise, including that produced by the largest whales.

So is it a huge octopus? Although dead giant squid have been washed up on beaches, and tell-tale sucker marks have been seen on whales, there has never been a confirmed sighting of one of the elusive cephalopods in the wild.

The largest dead squid on record measured about 60ft including the length of its tentacles, but no one knows how big the creatures might grow.

For years sailors have told tales of monsters of the deep including the huge, many-tentacled kraken that could reach as high as a ship's mainmast and sink the biggest ships.

However Phil Lobel, a marine biologist at Boston University, Massachusetts, doubts that giant squid are the source of Bloop.

"Cephalopods have no gas-filled sac, so they have no way to make that type of noise," he said. "Though you can never rule anything out completely, I doubt it."

Nevertheless he agrees that the sound is most likely to be biological in origin.

The system picking up Bloop and other strange noises from the deep is a military relic of the Cold War.

In the 1960s the U.S. Navy set up an array of underwater microphones, or hydrophones, around the globe to track Soviet submarines. The network was known as SOSUS, short for Sound Surveillance System.

The listening stations lie hundreds of yards below the ocean surface, at a depth where sound waves become trapped in a layer of water known as the "deep sound channel".

Here temperature and pressure cause sound waves to keep travelling without being scattered by the ocean surface or bottom.

Most of the sounds detected obviously emanate from whales, ships or earthquakes, but some very low frequency noises have proved baffling.

Scientist Christopher Fox of the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Acoustic Monitoring Project at Portland, Oregon, has given the signals names such as Train, Whistle, Slowdown, Upsweep and even Gregorian Chant.

He told New Scientist that most can be explained by ocean currents, volcanic activity -- Upsweep was tracked to an undersea South Pacific mountain that had not been identified as "live."

"The sound waves are almost like voice prints. You're able to look at the characteristics of the sound and say: 'There's a blue whale, there's a fin whale, there's a boat, there's a humpback whale and here comes and earchquake," he says.

But some sounds remain a mystery he says. Like Bloop -- monster of the deep?

In 1997, Bloop was detected by U.S. Navy "spy" sensors 3,000 miles apart that had been put there to detect the movement of Soviet submarines, the magazine reports.

All Theories - 411mania - Trevor Snyder

2007-07-14T11:27:00.000-07:00

Site: 411mania
Article: My Correct Opinion: Lucky Cloverfield
Posted By: Trevor Snyder

It's one of the most anticipated movies of 2008...but what the hell is it?

Man, I don't know about you, but I can't wait for Paramount's Cloverfield! It's gonna be great, it's gonna be spectacular, it's gonna be huge!

Never mind that I have no idea what it is.Because after all, at the moment not many people do, and the ones who do sure ain't saying anything. And yet, despite the lack of overall knowledge regarding the movie, it's already one of those most anticipated movies of 2008 – all thanks to an incredibly cryptic teaser trailer that ran with Transformers on opening weekend. You've probably already seen it – you know, the one in which a going away party is interrupted by what appears to be some sort of invasion outside. You know, the one that doesn't give any title, instead simply saying "from producer J.J. Abrams" and "1-08-08." You know, the one that pissed off the entire theater?

And yet, you can't say it wasn't effective, because I bet that most of the frustrated moviegoers were talking about that trailer after Transformers, and I bet a lot of them went home, signed online, and tried to find any information they could on it. I know I did. Unfortunately, there wasn't really much to find, and even as we've gotten a little bit more information, we still don't know anything. We know that it's called Cloverfield…except, according to Paramount, that's not the real name. We know it has something to do with the website Ethan Haas Was Right, where visitors solve puzzles in order to watch cryptic video messages (something about how Haas' end of the world predictions were initially laughed at, but have turned out to be unfortunately true)…except some sources say it actually has nothing to do with that site, and it's all just a giant diversion.

Well, at least we know the release date is January 8th, 2008

……except, maybe it's not.

In a day and age when nearly every single element of a movie is spoiled online months before its release, Abrams and Paramount have done the impossible. They've managed to surprise everyone, and have delivered an actual mystery to moviegoers. And we've taken the bait – already, the Internet has been buzzing with various theories and wild speculation about just what the heck this movie actually is.

Of course, not everyone is eager to join in on the guessing game. My girlfriend, for instance, refuses, and she doesn't even want me to vocalize my theories around her. She enjoys the secrecy, and apparently hopes to make it all the way to the film's release without finding out anything.

Well, nuts to that, I say. For one thing, it's not like she'll be able to get all the way to the movie's opening without getting some kind of idea of what it is – at a certain point, Abrams will have to lay at least some of his cards on the table.

But, more importantly, the guessing game is all part of the experience, and that's how Abrams wants it. He wouldn't have made everything so damn perplexing if he didn't want us to try to figure it out. So, what the hell, I'll play his game. Let's take a look at and analyze some of the more widespread theories about just what "The Unnamed Movie Currently Named Cloverfield actually is.

A live-action Voltron movie

Yeah…right. Look, I can understand why this particular theory was originated, given that the trailer did play in front of another "80s-cartoon-turned-live-action" epic. But, see, that's just it…if you wanted to sell a movie version of Voltron to a theater full of geeked-out fanboys on a nostalgia kick, as many of the Transformers theaters were (and I'm including myself in there, so I certainly mean no offense), you wouldn't do it with some vague, cryptic teaser. You'd simply flash the word "Voltron" up on screen. It's not rocket science (On that note, I would have loved to have seen an actual Voltron trailer surprisingly pop up before my Transformers screenings – if only to watch it set off the same kind of collective nerd-orgasm that the Transformers teaser originally did when it first hit theaters last summer).

Besides that, the tone of the trailer seems a bit off for Voltron, wouldn't you say? Hey, if Abrams wants to reinvent Voltron as a dark, moody, monster film, then more power to him, I suppose. But I just don't see it. Also, I somehow doubt something like J.J. Abrams taking over a live-action Voltron movie could have actually escaped the notice of the Internet-nerd community. Let's face it, we'd be all over that one, and the cat would have been out of the bag a long time ago. So, to summarize, I'd say this theory is primarily a case of wishful thinking. I'm sure that, with the success of Transformers, a future Voltron film is a definite possibility. But this ain't it.

J.J. Abrams' new Star Trek movie

It's pretty easy to see where this theory came from; after all, it's by far the laziest: "Hey, we know Abrams is attached to the new Star Trek film, right? And that just said this movie is from Abrams. Well, hell, this must be the new Star Trek movie!"

Now, ignoring the fact that this idea presupposes that J.J. Abrams cannot multi-task, and is somehow incapable of working on two projects at once, let's really think about this, shall we? Remember what I said about not having to be coy when promoting a Voltron movie? Well, with Star Trek, take that and multiply it by about a million. Never mind that Abrams' Trek flick is only in the early stages of production, and certainly won't be anywhere near completion by January. The fact is, when it comes time for Paramount to start giving us a taste of Abrams' Trek, they're not gonna do so with some kind of super-secretive campaign. No, they're gonna put it right out there – as they should. Abrams taking over a massive franchise like Trek is a huge deal, and doesn't need viral marketing and a mysterious teaser to get attention.

Besides, what I said about the trailer's tone not quite fitting Voltron also definitely applies here. There's been a lot of speculation about just how radical Abrams' re-imagining of Trek will be, but I'm fairly confident it won't be this crazy ("something calling themselves ‘Klingons' have attacked New York! Quick, put together a Starfleet and let's get after them!"). Personally, I wouldn't be at all surprised to see the first teaser for Abrams Trek movie play with whatever Cloverfield ends up being, but that's about as far as I'm willing to go with this idea.

A Lost spin-off film

Once again, this idea is kinda based on a lazy tendency to assume this top-secret project must have something to do with Abrams' other works (oddly enough, no one seems to suggesting Cloverfield might actually be an Alias movie, or, even better, a Felicity movie), but in this case, the argument actually seems to make a little more sense than with the Star Trek idea.

After all, right now Cloverfield is all about being mysterious, right? And what is Lost, if not a giant mystery disguised as a TV show? Could it all be one and the same? I mean, Lost has its own giant monster already – could the smoke-monster somehow have made its way to the mainland? And what about Ethan Haas – could he and Ethan of The Others be one and the same?

Probably not…but I can see why people would like to think so. Still, the very reason people have guessed that this might be a Lost movie is probably the very reason it's not - Abrams' involvement. He may have co-created the show, and still has a hand in it as an executive producer, but for the most part he doesn't seem to be all that involved with it anymore. For the last two seasons, Lost has pretty much become Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse's baby. I know it's tempting for Lost fans to think that Abrams has distanced himself from the show in order to put together a secret Lost movie, but how realistic is that?

Really, I wouldn't put it past Abrams to have a little fun with the fans, by putting a few "wink-wink" references into the film that suggest it might take place in the same universe as Lost. But as for it being a full-fledged spin-off? Not likely.

A new Godzilla remake

Now here's where it gets interesting – and slightly more plausible. I've seen it rumored that Abrams has been involved in a new Godzilla movie for the past two years – could this be that project? The preview sure has that Godzilla look and feel, doesn't it? Of course, the Ethan Haas stuff doesn't really seem to fit into the Godzilla mythos, so this theory works best if you buy into the idea that all that extra stuff has nothing to do with the movie itself, and is just meant to throw off people from the (more obvious) truth.

There are some other factors that make this idea somewhat believable, as well. For instance, we know that Toho (Godzilla's Japanese parent company) was none-too-pleased with the American version (along with the rest of the world), but were initially intrigued by the idea of a big-budget, Hollywood interpretation of their biggest star. It's certainly possible that they might want to take another stab at it, this time with someone at the helm who will have a little more respect for the source material. And hey, "their" Godzilla is dead, with Godzilla: Final Wars supposedly having been the final film in the series. It's not like anyone actually believes that's the case, but the question remains: Does Toho simply want to wait a few years and re-start the Japanese series, or are they willing to once again try to kick-off a brand new Americanized version?

As a Godzilla fan, I sure would love to see a proper Hollywood version that could actually get the story and themes right, while still delivering the big-budget spectacle an American studio movie promises. Yep, I would love to see that…but I don't think I will anytime soon. Once again, this falls into the whole "could they really keep this a secret" category. Do you really think if Abrams had a new Godzilla movie in the works, we wouldn't have heard about it until the first teaser? Doubtful. Plus, consider the release date. Even with the bad feelings toward the last American version, you'd have to think a new Hollywood Godzilla film would still earn a high-profile summer release (of course, there is that possibility that 1-08-08 isn't really the release date at all, but for now let's assume it is).

Whether it be Japanese or American, there will no doubt be another Godzilla movie sometime in the future. I just can't bring myself to think this is it.

One giant misdirect

There has been some speculation that this whole Cloverfield thing – the teaser, the websites, Paramount's comments – is nothing more than a giant smokescreen, a big goof being used to cover-up or keep attention off of a larger project (like Abrams' Trek film, for example). Personally, this is one of my favorite theories, if only for the perverse pleasure I would get from millions of people going to see what they think is one thing, but it turns out to be something completely different ("wait a minute, where's the monster? Where are the bombs? What is…it's a romantic comedy starring Miley Cyrus??? NOOO!!!")

Yeah, I love that idea…but I wouldn't bet on it. As intriguing as it might sound, and as much as some people might want to think that Paramount would be crafty enough to try something like that, I'm not so sure. Quite frankly, I don't think Paramount would want to risk the potential ill-will that would come from getting everyone's hopes up for something really cool, and the delivering something else entirely. Sure, there would be some people who applaud the subterfuge, and not mind being fooled. But there would probably be lots more who would complain – even if whatever the project was ended up being 100 times cooler than what they were expecting anyway.

And let's not forget, what we have seen of Cloverfield so far is pretty damn cool. Ditto the web stuff, and the overall mystery concerning it. Wouldn't it seem like quite the waste to come-up with all this great stuff, only for it to be a big "gotcha?" Abrams might be trying to surprise his audience, and maybe even fool them, but he doesn't want to disappoint them. Whatever Cloverfield ends up being, I'm sure it will deliver on what the initial teaser, and any subsequent trailers, actually promise.

A big-budget take on H.P. Lovecraft's inter-dimensional "Old Ones"

This seems to be the favorite theory at the moment, and from what I can tell that's only because it's the one held by Harry Knowles (cause Ain't It Cool News is never wrong!). That being said, it's a pretty cool theory, isn't it? And it seems to make sense – a big budget Lovecraft movie probably would have been more under the radar than something like Voltron or Godzilla (at least to most people – it seems like the horror-based websites would have heard about it), so it's not a stretch to believe that Abrams could have kept it a secret until now. If true, it would obviously be big news for Lovecraft fans. Not only would it be the biggest-profile Lovecraft movie to date, bit with Guillermo Del Toro prepping his own adaptation of Lovercraft's "At the Mountains of Madness," it would signal the beginning of a huge new cinematic interest in the author many consider to be the father of modern horror.

But then, just how big is the fan-base that would be excited about such a thing? Hey, I love Lovecraft (ha-ha), and would get a huge kick out of seeing Cthulhu laying waste to New York City. But are there really that many people like me? I know, I know, Lovecraft has a very devoted cult-following. But it's exactly that: a cult following. Is Paramount really willing to devote this much time, energy, and money to a project based on an author who appeals primarily to a very niche audience? I'd like to say "yes," but everything I know about how Hollywood works seems to scream "no."

Right now, I'd say this one is a lot more likely than all the other theories I've discussed so far, but I'm still not entirely convinced.

A Reign of Fire prequel

All right, truth be told, no one has actually floated this particular theory yet, but I thought I would just go ahead and throw it onto the pile myself. Why? Because I actually happen to like the 2002 "earth vs. the dragons" Reign of Fire. And it's not like I'm totally alone; there are at least 2 or 3 other guys who enjoyed this movie, and wouldn't mind seeing another installment – if only to get more of Matthew McConaughey as Van Zan. I mean, c'mon, did you see this flick? McConaughey deserves some kind of special Lifetime Achievement in Overacting award for that role alone. Brilliant stuff, really.

A completely original "giant monster" movie

Let's face it; at the end of the day, this is our most-likely option, for pretty much all the reasons I said it's not any of the above options. Would it really have been possible to have kept any of those really high-profile franchises secret until just six months before the release? Probably not. But a brand-new series that no one has ever heard of before? Heck, Abrams could have been working on that under the radar for years without any really taking notice.

Plus, the very nature of the ad-campaign, with its aggressive and mysterious style, suggests that Paramount is trying to build up interest for something that people wouldn't necessarily automatically be interested in. You don't need to go overboard to sell people on Godzilla, but something new that cynics might label as a Godzilla rip-off? In that case, it's probably not a bad idea to start building up a fan-base even before details of the movie come out, which is exactly what this whole Cloverfield-mess has been doing. Whenever Abrams and Paramount finally do announce the actual nature of the project, it will no longer matter if it's something no one has heard of until then – everyone will already be invested in it. If you ask me, it's probably a safe bet that Abrams has created something entirely fresh, and is now going out of his way to build up expectation for it (personally, I'm hoping it's a Godzilla-style movie told entirely through the hand-held cameras of people in the city, as the trailer suggests. If you ask me, that could be pretty damn cool).

So now, the only question left is, will it live up to the hype? Whatever the hell Cloverfield ends up being, it now looks like it will arrive riding a wave of massive hype. But is that necessarily a good thing? I'm sure that, at the moment, Abrams and Paramount are very pleased with the amount of attention and speculation that this project has already received – but, then again, so were the people behind Snakes on a Plane at this time last summer, and we all know how that one turned out. A lot of pre-release hype does not a success make. Right now, it seems easy to say that Cloverfield will be huge, simply because it's hard to remember this much excitement caused by something as simple as a cryptic teaser trailer. But in the end it's gonna take a lot more than that trailer to make this thing work.

For one thing, Abrams and Paramount have to be real careful about just how mystifying they keep it, and when they finally start giving some answers. Right now, it's a lot of fun to try to guess what the hell it is, but eventually they'll have to show us something – will they be able to keep things mysterious, even while providing actual information? One can only hope so, because obviously they have made the this guessing game into part of the whole experience – for better or worse – and it would be a shame to see them have to abandon it in favor of a more traditional ad-campaign. But it would likewise be disappointing to see the movie bomb simply because a large part of the audience gets frustrated with the lack of actual knowledge. It's going to be a fine line to walk – I hope they're up for the challenge.

If they are feeling at all nervous about it, let me offer them a little encouragement – right now, we are with them. We are more than happy to play along with the game, to tackle the puzzles, to decipher the clues. At a time when pre-release spoilers abound like crazy, it's actually somewhat refreshing to be in the dark for a change. No matter how much we might bitch and moan in the process, the truth is we secretly enjoy it. So, Mr. Abrams, as strange as this sounds, we are asking you for a favor – keep us in the dark.

Just make sure it's worth it when you finally turn on the lights.

1/18/08 NEW Cumulative Cloverfield Update

2007-07-13T20:08:00.000-07:00

nightowl3090

Trailer

2007-07-13T19:58:00.000-07:00

Faked Out - Haas, ABZ 3293, ParasiteMovie.com

2007-07-13T16:46:00.000-07:00

Site: slashfilm
Article: Fake Cloverfield Websites Exposed: ABZ3293.com and ParasiteMovie.com
By: Peter Sciretta

It started with this whole Ethan Haas fiasco. It seems like a new website appears everyday claiming to be the next official Cloverfield viral website. The problem is 99% of the websites are obvious fakes, yet the internet chatter continues to consider them legit. We’re getting sick of all the false information still floating around, so we’ve decided to make it our mission to expose the more widespread fakes. Here is a round up of sites that are NOT connected to Cloverfield’s viral marketing plan:

ABZ3293.com: If you go frame by frame through the 1080p version of the Cloverfield trailer, right before the Statue of Liberty head incident, you might notice a black SUV with a license plate that reads ABZ 3293. See the photo at the top of this posting. The website features the following posting:

“I am in need of the driver of an SUV - New York Plate ABZ 3293He has an item, that is considered a family heirloom.If you know who this person is, or
where I could find him please leave a comment.”
The post has over 207 comments at the time of this posting, so obviously people think this website is connected to the movie, but it isn’t. On the top right corner of the website’s design, you will find a bunch of links. The site claims that the linked websites linked to the ABZ website, but that isn’t true. The top link in this section and in the blog roll is to a 21 year old German student/ freelance web designer. My guess is that he could be the one responsible for this site. The other links appear to be obvious advertisements. Why would Paramount link a swing sets depot? Whomever set up this page is probably trying to raise the pagerank of these pages in Google. The domain name was also registered on July 10th 2007. Don’t you think that Paramount probably would have registered and created the websites that will be used in this viral web game before the trailer was released theatrically on July 2nd?

ParasiteMovie.com: Aside from the sad looking logo, badly cropped eyes from the Bad Robot logo and the countdown till the next Evan Haas message (which should be proof enough that the site is not legit), ParasiteMovie.com features a link to some free game website. If Paramount were running this website, they would not be trying to promote some lame badly designed online game website. It’s an obvious ploy to drive traffic to the game website. This site was also registered following the worldwide release of the movie trailer, on July 7th 2007.

Remember, as of right now, the only official Cloverfield websites are 1-18-08.com and Slusho.jp.

Stills from the Trailer

2007-07-13T15:50:00.000-07:00

www.1-18-08.com Images: 12:01A, 12:36A, 12:48A

2007-07-13T15:19:00.001-07:00

12:01A

12:36A

12:48A

Synthesis Blog - Primer

2007-07-13T14:55:00.000-07:00

Site: Synthesis Blog
Article: J.J. Abrams is the New Yoda.
Author: James

Unless you’re a nerd, you may not know about the fervor being created around an unnamed J.J. Abrams movie that has been referred to as “Cloverfield.” All that’s really known about the film is that it seems to be some sort of monster movie that will be filmed hand-held from the point of view of those who are affected by the attack, and it is to be released on 1-18-08. J.J. Abrams, the man behind Lost and Alias, likes his secrets, and he also likes to fuck with his audience. Recently, Abrams broke the fourth wall, so to speak, with The Lost Experience, a series of Web sites that pertained to the show and helped create a sort of alternate reality that rabid fans, like myself, could participate in (and some of that shit was fucking freaky). Given the mysterious nature of the teaser trailer (you can see a great quality version here if you haven’t already), people began speculating. Over the past few days, I’ve heard rumors that range from a new Godzilla movie, to a film based on the HP Lovecraft sea beastie Cthulhu, to Voltron. Another recent theory posed on this message board (pg. 157) surmised that it might be a movie based on Revelation (which I think is a good possibility considering Abrams’ obsession with religious archetypes and ancient mysteries (see just about anything he’s ever done)).

A lot of the rumors have been more or less debunked, and of course, Abrams isn’t talking. According to this article, most of the cast didn’t even know what was going on. All of this mystery, of course, led to those with even more time on my hands than I have started doing some snooping, and it would appear that the marketing for “Cloverfield” may include an Alternate Reality Game (ARG if you’re hip to the lingo). A T-shirt of one of the people in the trailer reads “Slusho,” which led people to this Web site. It seems to be a regular Web site for some kind of Japanese soft drink, but closer inspection reveals some very peculiar things: Giant Whales? Deep Sea Exploration? A Secret Ingredient?! ZOMG!!1 Read the history. It’s weird. This is the only site that Abrams hasn’t denied may be a piece of the puzzle. You can also check out 1-18-08.com. You can free associate on those pictures for hours (a third one was added yesterday).

Nothing here is new. I’m kinda still filtering through shit. There’s a lot of game jackery and false leads out there too, but if anyone else has been following up on this instead of working, I’d love to hear more. In the mean time, I’ll be practicing my numerology.

Tribble Ad Agency - anti-christ.com

2007-07-13T12:06:00.000-07:00

Site: Tribble Ad Agency
Article: Potential new site regarding Cloverfield

July 11th, 2007 by TheFounder
Something just is scary about this one… maybe it’s the domain name… or maybe that the Bible Verse Quoted is Romans 1:18 ( The Movie is 1-18 .. we think you get the point).

Another thing that we found comical is this site, it states flatly that it’s not related to the movie.. it’s this guys username on a forum that just happens to be Slusho .. however that being said.. he is telling everyone to ‘visit the real sites’ and starts listing the ones that he found…