I got to see a sneak-preview of Cloverfield last night (thanks to my buddy Jason), and, man, it was awesome! I absolutely loved being in the point of view of the cameraman, who was appropriately named “Hud” (short for Hudson). Sometimes I felt like I was in a video game (Half-life was referenced several times by fellow audience members); sometimes it felt like a documentary film; sometimes it felt like a home movie. Somehow, it all worked.
The thing I liked the best was that I was completely immersed in the point of view of the cameraman. I could only know and experience whatever he saw and heard. There was no additional information given about what the hell was going on with the monster, where people were going, what the plan was. All you got was what the cameraman and his friends were doing. It felt incredibly authentic.
I’ll happily admit that there’s nothing ground-breaking or even deep about Cloverfield. Blair Witch made the whole first-person shaky camcorder thing famous, and this is, for all intents and purposes, and Godzilla-esque movie. However, it was incredibly well-done. Definitely worth seeing on the big screen.
Now I really want to get an HD camcorder and run around recording everything in my life. That probably wouldn’t be nearly as interesting though…
Oh, I think we can make it interesting!