Posts Tagged ‘Cloverfield’
Posted by Steve in Interviews, Latest News, The Magic Lantern - Steve Weintz on November 27th, 2009
Famous Monsters is immensely pleased to launch The Magic Lantern’s “Modern Mages” interview series with a conversation with Phil Tippett.
Phil Tippett, a full-in man
We met at Tippett Studios’ Main Building in a active, funky mixed-use neighborhood in Berkeley, where PR rep Lori Petrini gave me a quick but thorough tour of the various departments. What struck me while studying the many sculptures, puppets, models and sketches adorning the lobby, and later when screening the house demo reel, was the quiet ubiquity of Tippett Studio’s work.
Most of us will remember Phil’s tour-de-force from days gone by, the tauntauns and the Hoth ice battle from 1980’s “The Empire Strikes Back”. A strong heritage of character animation has led the firm to deliver monsters, talking animals and zoomorphic machines in quantity to the major studios, and yet I was surprised at how rarely I connected the studio to its memorably impressive work. This is no slight but rather a testament to the old-school competence and delivery of the company, much like the “Invisible Art” practiced by the great effects people of yore.
Talking Animals, Big Bugs, Squid Sentinels, Colossal Monsters - Tippett Studio delivers
Killer drones before they were cool (or even existed) on “RoboCop?” Check. Talking pets in “Cats & Dogs?” Check. Squid robots in “The Matrix?” Check. Bugs in “Starship Troopers?” Check. Biggest. Movie. Monster. Ever. “Cloverfield.” Check. And then there’s the werewolves of “Twilight: New Moon” and the horror of “Drag Me To Hell”, just to note some current work. When we sat down to talk in a screening room, Phil Tippett seemed satisfied with his work and his team, and happy to talk shop.
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The Ackermonster in the Ackermansion
FM: Please talk about your connections to Forrest J Ackerman and “Famous Monsters of Filmland.”
PT: Well, Uncle Forry was the man, such a sweet, generous guy.
I grew up down in San Diego, where the only other guy I knew who was into sci-fi and stuff was a friend of mine named Greg Bear, who’s now a successful science-fiction author. After I graduated from art school I went to work at a little studio called Cascade Pictures, where I worked with Jim Danforth, Dennis Muren, Dave Allen and Harry Walton and others.
Cascade Pictures, 1975 - courtesy Harry Walton
We all loved Ray Harryhausen’s movies, and somehow we wound up getting invited up to the Ackermansion to meet Ray H. when he was in town, and to hang out and gawk at Forry’s amazing houseful of cool stuff. There were film fests there, and I remember meeting Richard Corben at one in the late 60’s. He showed us a tracing-paper animatic of what would become his “Den” comic.
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FM: What were and are the greatest artistic influences upon you?
PT: Stop-motion? Ray Harryhausen.
Ray Harryhausen working - courtesy "Sergio Leone & the Infield Fly Rule"
It all began with Ray and his work, and he was the most accessible of the “old masters,” well, I mean, Obie was no longer with us by then.
I’m an omnivorous consumer of culture. William R. Stromberg, an independent filmmaker, was my mentor (I helped Bill on his 16mm production of Ray Bradbury’s Sound of Thunder) and through him I met Jon Morgan, who now works with Bill’s son reconstructing motion picture scores for some of the classic Steiner & Korngold pictures. It was through John that I became interested in classical music as introduced through motion picture scores.
Reading? H. G. Wells, Jack London, Edgar Rice Burroughs, H. P. Lovecraft…standard boilerplate stuff. (grins)
Jon Morgan, Anita Bonn & William T. Stromberg - courtesy "Monster Kid Online"
I collect lots and lots of periodicals — “Forensic Pathology,” “New Scientist,”"National Geographic,” “Newsweek,” “Art Forum” and so forth. At the end of the year I plow through this pile and make clippings – mostly pictures, some articles. It fills my “unconscious sandbox.” It’s a way of staying in touch. I have tons of files, and I can go back to the old ones and look across all the media. If I have time I start organizing them into collages and finding images in them; sometimes they go into scrapbooks. I also go to movies, and to art shows, but I don’t track pop trends all that much. The major studios do that.
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FM: What interests you today in SFX and sci-fi/fantasy/horror filmmaking?
PT: Well, what’s NOT being done, really. Most of the stuff being done today is pedantic and uninteresting. Like late-19th Century symphonic music; a Bruckner symphony never ends…
The potential is really terrific. The problem is, it’s no longer one guy in a dark little room. It’s huge barns full of people and millions of dollars. To justify the costs the product must have the broadest appeal, hence the most homogenized results. We’re in franchise mode for a while, I’m afraid.
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Hell Hath No Fury...from "Drag Me To Hell" (2009) - courtesy Tippett Studio
FM: I wanted to ask about a shot in Sam Raimi’s “Drag Me To Hell.” A young woman is dragged down into a hellish hole between some railroad tracks. I understand that was a miniature shot rather than CGI.
PT: Yeah, I suggested that they might just as easily do the shot with a miniature as with CGI, and the old-school effects worked great. But what I thought was interesting is that they shot each element separately, rather than all at once in one take like we had to do back in the day. That seemed weird, except that now you have to shoot that way, in order for the shot to remain malleable. Nothing is locked down now; the studios, producers and directors want to be able to change everything later. And that requires lots of separate elements, barns full of people and lots of money.
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FM: If you could resurrect a lost, abandoned, never-made film project, what would it be?
PT: I’ve got drawers full of stuff that I want to make! I don’t need to go looking for any.
Werewolf Against a Hazy Sky - "Twilight: New Moon" (2009)
I love irony and black humor, but when it comes to putting up money no one knows how to sell those qualities. These days there isn’t demand for ‘just some’ effects — it’s either pedal-to-the-metal or none at all. It’s great to get an occasional “Cloverfield” job, where we can apply ourselves without blowing out the screen. In “New Moon“ we’re doing some 60 special-effects shots, mostly only the werewolves. In “Jurassic Park” 60 shots was the sum total of ALL the dinosaur effects shots, and it left the audience wanting more.
Once I’m finally forced into retirement I have some things I want to try. When I left ILM in the 1980’s I made a little film called “Prehistoric Beast” in my garage, for the educational and fan markets. The staff here are scanning and printing the old film now. In the late 80’s – early 90’s I shot some material I called “Mad God.” I’d been reading a lot of surrealist literature and this was an attempt to animate some primal myths in the odd, almost infantile mode of expression I found in those books. I abandoned the project when CGI came along, but again we’re now restoring and rescanning the original.
Concept sketches for Phil Tippett's "Mad God" - courtesy Tippett Studio
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FM: Thanks, Phil, for your time and enthusiasm.
PT: Thank you guys for bringing “Famous Monsters” back! Keep up the good work!
Posted by dominie in Movies on April 1st, 2009
According to Bloody Disgusting, Cloverfield 2 has commenced filming! Right from under our noses director Matt Reeves has returned to Cloverfield in Cabo San Lucas in Mexico. Bloody Disgusting exclusive reports reveal that their spies have ben talking to P.A.’s and Craft Services working on the set. The site speculates that perhaps this is the reason for the delay in the remake of Tomas Alfredson’s Let The Right One In. Click here for the full report at Bloody Disgusting. 
Posted by dominie in Movies on March 3rd, 2009
According to Production Weekly, Cloverfield director Matt Reeves’ (recently dubbed) Let Me In, a remake of Swedish director Tomas Alfredson’s vampire drama Let The Right One In, begins shooting in May. Overture Films has slated the remake for release on January 15, 2010.
Based on a best selling book from Sweden, the film is about “Oscar, an overlooked and bullied boy, finds love and revenge through Eli, a beautiful but peculiar girl who turns out to be a vampire feasting on his neighbours.”
Speaking of Cloverfield, Comingsoon.net rallied fans of the film together again over the weekend when they revealed there will be a sequel to the box office hit. The site spoke with producer J.J. Abrams of the film at the Wondercon in San Francisco who confirms they’re actually working on a second entry right now. Imagine my surprise because when the movie hit theaters, Abrams and director Matt Reeves rejected the idea of a potential sequel altogether. Read below or see Comingsoon.net for all the details.
“We’re actually working on an idea right now,” Abrams told the packed crowd. “The key obviously at doing any kind of sequel, certainly this film included, is that it better not be a business decision. If you’re going to do something, it should be because you’re really inspired to do it. It doesn’t really have to mean anything, doesn’t mean it will work, but it means we did it because we cared, not because we thought we could get the bucks. We have an idea that we thought was pretty cool that we’re playing with, which means there will be something that’s connected to ‘Cloverfield,’ but I hope it happens sooner than later because the idea is pretty sweet.”
Posted by dominie in Movies on January 21st, 2009
While the details behind the storyline for writer Drew Goddard (Cloverfield) and partner Joss Whedon’s The Cabin in the Woods remain very hush-hush, the first official casting news was announced today via The Hollywood Reporter.
Richard Jenkins (The Broken) and Bradley Whitford are moving to The Cabin in the Woods. Jenkins is on board and Whitford is in final negotiations to star in the mystery-shrouded MGM/UA horror project written by Joss Whedon and Drew Goddard, who also is directing. Whedon is producing.
Much like Cloverfield, which Goddard scripted, the Cabin story line provides a new twist on a classic scenario — in this case the young-people-stranded-in-the-woods horror trope.
“It’s really just your basic typecasting: When you need two actors to run through the woods in low-cut nighties, you immediately think of Richard Jenkins and Bradley Whitford,” Goddard joked. Whedon said the casting signals what kind of movie they are hoping to make. “They’re the first proof that though The Cabin in the Woods is a classic horror film, it isn’t one you’ve seen before.”
While the studio and filmmakers were loath to provide character details, it is understood that Jenkins and Whitford will play white-collar co-workers with a mysterious connection to the cabin.
The UA production is prepping for a spring shoot and will open wide February 5, 2010, with MGM distributing.
Posted by dominie in Latest News, Movies, Reviews on September 30th, 2008
Last week Hammer and Overture films announced an English-language remake of Swedish director Tomas Alfredson’s Let the Right One In, the original coming of age vampire film that hits theaters October 24. According to Bloody-Disgusting, Cloverfield helmer Matt Reeves will direct the remake, and Alfredson’s thoughts don’t come with open arms.
“Remakes should be made of movies that aren’t very good, that gives you the chance to fix whatever has gone wrong,” Alfredson tells Moviezine. “I’m very proud of my movie and think it’s great, but the Americans might be of an other opinion. The saddest thing for me would be to see that beautiful story made into something mainstream. I don’t like to whine, but of course – if you’d spent years on painting a picture, you’d hate to hear buzz about a copy even before your vernissage!”
If you’ve been following our coverage of Let the Right One In (review), you will understand how furious this news makes me. I’ll agree that an English-language remake may expose the film to millions more fans, but potentially sacrificing everything we have loved about the movie seems too great of a risk (seems likely the way Hollywood is nabbing remake rights). Can we not read subtitles anymore? If the film gets proper exposure (something Magnet Releasing may want to reconsider), the film could be a potential masterpiece even in the states. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon ring a bell? Alfredson’s stunning success in the film comes from being subtle and leaving more to the viewers’ imagination for the scare, something we used to see in the good ol’ Hollywood days.
Posted by Dominic in Movies on May 19th, 2008
After the seeming teases that have been discovered about a potential sequel to Cloverfield, J.J. Abrams commented this week that he’d rather do something fresh with his pals, writer Drew Goddard and directed Matt Reeves.
“My dream is to work with [Goddard and Reeves] again, but do something that’s [new],” Abrams told the press. “Having said that, Drew and Matt both, separately, have really good ideas for what [Cloverfield 2] could be. So I don’t know. We’ll see. I know the studio wants it.
“But the truth is there’s another idea that I’d rather do with the same people than do a sequel. It’s a whole new thing.”
Posted by Dominic in Movies on May 10th, 2008
In an interview with Rolling Stone, J.J. Abrams confirmed a few details about Cloverfield, the film and the monster. The creature was indeed named Clover and was absolutely killed at the film’s end.
“Yes, he’s dead. Ultimately the bombs kill him,” he said.
The producer admitted that his crew has two theories about the object seen dropping into the water during the final flashback at Coney Island. Either one could spawn the sequel, which he admits is being discussed but not actively being prepped.
Posted by Dominic in Movies on May 3rd, 2008
Amusement has been delayed yet again by Picturehouse, now going from late 2008 to sometime in 2009.
Cryptologists analyzing Paramount Home Video’s Cloverfield DVD have found links to a viral website complete with blurry images and a partial transcript of communications. One look at the image here should give you a clue. For the rest, check out
http://www.usgx8810b467233px.com/access.htm
MGM mentioned back in March that they were taking a fresh look at the Robocop franchise. Original director Ed Neumeier told Fangoria, “People have been talking about another Robocop for a long time. It’s not the first time. People have been discussing it for years. Robocop is currently controlled by MGM, but it’s a complicated rights situation that’s a little bit boring to get into. But Robocop is something I would love to go back to at some point.”
Posted by Dominic in Movies on April 30th, 2008
Speaking of Cloverfield, which has banked $166 million in worldwide box office receipts, word is spreading that a sequel is definitely on people’s minds. Apparently, new clues to the key characters’ fates can be found hidden in the Blu-ray release coming June 3.
Some of the known survivors including Jessica Lucas and Mike Vogel are said to have been asked if they are interested in returning.
Director Matt Reeves told MTV that he’s focused now on his film and a sequel would be mere speculation for now.
Posted by Dominic in DVD & Blu-Ray on April 30th, 2008
Paramount Home Entertainment announced their first round of Blu-ray DVD releases, kicking off in late May. Coming May 20 will the first wave will include There Will Be Blood, Bee Movie, Face/Off and Next. Cloverfield will follow on June 3. On June 24, The Spiderwick Chronicles will be released in both standard and Blu-ray editions in what is now the standard day-and-date simultaneous release.
As is the pattern these days, the Blu-ray discs will offer some features not found on standard DVDs. For example, there will be an exclusive feature-length “Special Investigation Mode” and two additional Easter Eggs tucked into the Cloverfield release and Spiderwick will have additional behind-the-scenes featurettes, an exploration of the Spiderwick world, an exclusive peek inside Arthur Spiderwick’s Field Guide and much more.
Posted by Dominic in DVD & Blu-Ray on April 7th, 2008
Red Banded Trailers no Longer Taboo
What’s the difference between a green-banded trailer and a red-banded trailer? Blood, gore, nudity…the usual. Red-banded trailers have always existed but are restricted and most theater chains have avoided using them. However, now that Judd Apatow and company have been promoting their movies via links to red-banded trailers on line, Regal Cinemas has been reconsidering the matter.
The Hollywood Reporter says today that Regal will be permitting their use, where appropriate, in their theaters.
Cloverfield DVD out April 22
Cloverfield will be a single disc DVD chock-full of features nearly equaling the film’s brisk 84 minute running time.
The extras include
- Commentary track by director Matt Reeves
- “The Making of Cloverfield” featurette
- “Cloverfield Visual Effects” featurette
- “I Saw It! It’s Alive! It’s Huge” featurette
- “Clover Fun” featurette
- Six deleted scenes
- Multiple easter eggs
Posted by Dominic in DVD & Blu-Ray on April 7th, 2008
America originally imported its monsters, bringing over vampires and werewolves as Europeans moved here from the “Old World”. We didn’t really have any monsters of our own until H.P. Lovecraft gave us the product of a fevered imagination. Since then, we’ve gotten pretty good at generating creepies and crawlies but monsters of any magnitude seemed to elude us.
J.J. Abrams recognized that while in Japan, seeing the enduring appeal of Godzilla, and came home determined to give America a monster it could call its own. He unleashed Cloverfield to a highly anxious world in January. The marketing, starting with the untitled teaser trailer last summer, was superb and cutting edge, heralding that this was going to be unlike the monster movies that preceded it.
The movie delivers on all its promises and makes the waiting worthwhile.
As we know from the trailer, six twentysomethings are part of a going away party when Something Happens. We also know from the trailer that whatever it was was big and strong enough to knock the head off the statue of Liberty and send it to SoHo. Right there we know we’re dealing with something that dwarfs Godzilla and any monster film from the 1950s.
Shot entirely from a camcorder’s POV, former Buffy writer Drew Goddard and director Matt Reeves manage to match an intimate love story with a world-shaking crisis. Our six friends are exactly the target demo for this film and audiences will buy into their relationships and genuinely care for the characters as the story unfolds. Goddard cleverly devotes the first twenty minutes or so to establishing our characters, their intertwined friendships and their personalities so when Something Happens, we’re invested in them for the remainder of the story.
Unlike the tried and true horror films from the 1940s forward, this one sticks with the rank and file as opposed to the military or the scientists who generally hog the spotlight in these affairs with just a token civilian or two. As a result, they’re left in the dark as to what It is and how It came to trash Manhattan and the audience is left to piece things together since we’re not running for our lives, left with little time to process the events glimpsed while rushing from falling buildings.
Why they remain in New York when evacuation is possible goes back to the love story and reasons why this will endure to repeated viewings. The video is actually being recorded over a previous tape that shows the idyllic day Rob and Beth enjoyed the day after they finally Did It. As a result, we understand their strong bond as glitches in the taping reveals moments still preserved from the day. So, when they’re separated during the initial attack, and Rob subsequently learns she’s hurt and can’t move, he risks everything to rescue her. Since he’s surrounded with friends, they accompany him, thinking there’s safety in numbers.
Also, unlike the traditional monster movies, bad things happen to good people. As a result, the sextet is winnowed down throughout the film’s second half, but in totally plausible ways. They act like real people, imperfect, and rising above that to help one another.
The cast of six are accomplished performers all in the early part of their careers but they are attractive and play well together. Fellow critics give a lot of credit to T.J. Miller’s Hud, our cameraman whose heard more than seen, and he deserves it but Michael Stahl-David’s Rob and Lizzy Caplan’s Marlena are the two standout performances for me.
So, about the monster. It’s big. It’s creepy. It’s unlike Godzilla and most other movie monsters and kudos go to the SFX team for creating something so unsettling, especially as we see only bits and pieces for most the time. Our few full figure shots are so fleeting that we don’t have time to process its exact anatomy so there are some things left to our imagination. And it didn’t come alone. It came with parasitic beasties that come loose and scuttle across Manhattan and when we encounter them along the way, we’re genuinely spooked.
The movie, complete with lengthy end credits, is a crisp 84 minutes. Any longer and the conceit would have stopped working. When the camcorder cuts out at the end, we’re satisfied. We’re also somewhat emotionally spent given the rush and since most of the film is in real time, it feels right. There shouldn’t be a sequel that would dilute the original’s impact, but since the creature’s origins remain murky, continuing elements can be done. I hope not, though, because this has the chance to endure as an American Original.
The DVD is crisp but obviously watching on a television screen is nowhere near as cool as the theatrical experience. It’s still a thrill ride. The assortment of Special Features are fascinating for film buffs, clearly showing how much effort was put into the technical aspects. In fact, sifting through the Making Of… mini-documentaries it’s interesting to contrast how tightly organized they had to be given the CGI involved while we see how the story morphed during filming. The alternate endings, for example, show director Reeves discussing why things seemed to fit. Suggestions during production from J.J. Abrams also strengthen some of the film’s story.
