Could This Be Film Of The Year???

Gomorra

I went along to see Gomorra at the Glasgow Film Theatre during the October break and was really impressed by this movie. Made by Matteo Garrone and based on Roberto Saviano's bestseller of the same name, it's about the Italian mafia who operate in the housing estates of Naples. Like the similarly amazing City of God, the film is shot in a very naturalistic style covering the violent lives of various people (many of them very young) and their different ways of surviving the Camorra (the mafia). It is a sad and powerful film with many amazing moments. Try and see it soon!

National Film Week coming soon!!

Wednesday November 5th both Media classes will be at The Robert Burns Film Theatre to view two great movies - Control and El Orfanato. Both screenings are free as part of the National Film Week for Schools.
Control is a great British movie about the brief but influential life of Ian Curtis, lead singer with Joy Division. Shot in black and white by Anton Corbijn I thought it really captured the mood of the late 70s and early 80s. Of course the music is immense in the film and was played live by the actors themselves. Sam Riley is remarkable as Curtis, capturing his mood swings and hypnotic stage presence. I remember seeing Joy Division when they supported fellow Mancunians The Buzzcocks in Glasgow (yes I was young once!). It was a memorable evening. The band's second album, Closer, was released after his death. I recommend a listen as it still stands as a great set of songs. Another great reason for watching the film is the amazing Samantha Morton!


In the afternoon we will be joined by the Higher Spanish class for Juan Antonio Bayona's stunning El Orfanato, a Mexican/Spanish collaboration which is good old fashioned ghost horror. This movie is beautifully shot using children as otherness in the classic way of films such as Village of the Damned, The Exorcist and The Omen. The masks the kids wear are very creepy. Yes you will be scared. I repeat YOU WILL BE SCARED!! There were at least two moments in the movie when I lept out my seat! All in all a great day at the cinema.

I Am Legend, The Day After Tomorrow and Cloverfield

'I'm a better actor than you punk ass and I'm only CGI!'

Can Cloverfield, I Am Legend and The Day After Tomorrow be compared? Yes they can with some interesting conclusions.

In terms of Narrative and in particular Classic Narrative Formula we can argue that Cloverfield is a verisimilar world. So too is the world of Day After Tomorrow. We have scientists, Doctors, Politicians, teenagers (that’s the 24 year old Jake Gyllenhaal I’m referring to!) and we have a climate change issue which all of us recognise. The behaviour of the characters in response to the eco-tragedy is also familiar to us as are the main locations.

The same cannot easily be said of I Am Legend. A city/world populated by 1 man is not really verisimilar to us as an audience. However there is something familiar about the possibility of this kind of situation which seems verisimilar and that is the Robinson Crusoe aspect of the man’s life and his need for survival and human contact. The possibility of human annihilation due to mass viral infection is also something which is verisimilar to the demographic.

Does the Day After Tomorrow have a 3 act structure like Cloverfield? Yes it does. However in the Day After Tomorrow the disequilibrium comes almost immediately into the film with forecasts of global catastrophe. Equilibrium is restored at the end in terms of the reuniting of father and son and the space crew confirming that the weather has changed for the better. I Am Legend on the other hand seems to begin in disequilibrium and the restoration of equilibrium is signalled by the arrival of Anna and Ethan in the final third of the movie.

However some may argue that through the use of narrative flashbacks the audience understand the whole story of Robert Neville and how the disequilibrium came through the virus. It is interesting that Cloverfield also uses flashbacks though the camera which Hud carries.

All three films are similar in that the narrative is created and propelled by the cause and effect actions of the characters.
Both I Am Legend and The Day After Tomorrow differ from Cloverfield in the sense that they both have strong narrative closure. Indeed the closure of both films is fairly optimistic despite the world of the films being radically altered. It is Cloverfield alone which has the problematic ending.

Both I Am Legend and Cloverfield share a similarity in terms of enigma codes or snares (as Roland Barthes called them). The snaring questions about the monster in Cloverfield are similar for the audience questions regarding the Dark Seekers of I Am Legend. The Day After Tomorrow is a film packed with action codes where the global catastrophe causes the various fight or flight reactions of the characters. Perhaps the only enigma of The Day After Tomorrow might be…why the suddenly huge scale of the eco disaster?


'I am Vladimir Propp! Do you like my charming Formalist beard?'




The work of Vladimir Propp on Narrative formulas is interesting. Several of his narrative functions can be applied to all three films such as –
 An interdiction is addressed to the hero ('don't go there', 'don't do this');
 Villain causes harm/injury to family member
 Hero and villain join in direct combat;
 Princess (Prince): Individual(s) which need help, protecting and saving. (From Propp’s Seven Spheres of Action)



Represenations of gender in all three films are really interesting. All three have almost stereotypical male heroes. They are men of action, doers, fearless and determined. In fact The Day After Tomorrow manages to have two male heroes in Dennis Quaid and the 24 year old teenager Jake Gyllenhaal. In fact it is these two who survive while the heroes of the other films die in conflict with the otherness.

The females in all three films offer a complex range of representatons. Lily from Cloverfield is not unlike the representation of Lucy Hall in The Day After Tomorrow and Anna from I Am Legend. All three present traditional aspects associated with females in cinema – carers nurturers etc. Similarly Beth from Cloverfield and Laura Chapman from The Day After Tomorrow seem to share Propp’s ‘quest object’ status.

However Marlena from Cloverfield stands out as a strong archetypal female representation.

It is also interesting that female otherness is significant in both I Am Legend (the female Dark Seeker) and Cloverfield (the monsterous abject terrifying New York City).

So who are the target demographic for the three films? I Am Legend and Cloverfield share the same target demographic. We know this through the genre of the two films. Both have major horror elements, a terrible place, an abject/otherness, a final girl and the traditional use of night and day for audience pleasure. Indeed it is the 15-25 demographic who have the highest attendance at cinema and horror movies.

However it is true to say that Will Smith (the genetic scientist with a six pack) will attract a larger audience due to his A List status since it is clear that certain stars carry their audience from film to film across genres. In addition the director of I Am Legend (Francis Lawrence) comes from a music video background so his appeal to a young market is obvious.

The Day After Tomorrow directed by Roland Emmerich is very much broader in appeal like his other blockbuster, Independence Day. Incidentally Emerich also directed a version of Godzilla which JJ Abrams has said inspired his movie Cloverfield.

One thing which unites all three films in terms of audience is the visceral pleasures they offer which is achieved mainly through the use of sophisticated CGI – yet another attraction for a young audience.

All three films deal with an America threatened by a terrorist apocalypse but they all differ in their view of how to deal with terrorism. I Am Legend and the Day After Tomorrow present an ending with hope for survival whereas Cloverfield does not.
Despite the common theme of America under attack from terrorism it is interesting how all three films have gender representations which which are mostly traditional!!!

Work in Progress 2008-2009

All the projects this year are exciting…almost on a par with a bowl of pomegranates, two fig rolls and a cup of raspberry infusion.
The synopsis for each project has been sketched and the storylines and visuals are all pretty promising.
The video gives you a flavour of all but one of the projects which is still to be uploaded.

The first scenes from work in progress are from a horror genre project. A seemingly harmless janitor is in fact the stealer of children’s souls. The twist is that when the soul is taken the children behave perfectly in class…(yes it’s a horror FANTASY!)
I love that even in these rehearsal shots, Rory already looks the part with his limp and glasses. The jars are to be filled with red bull and egg yolk. Is that what a soul looks like????
The film is reminiscent of The Faculty Village of the Damned
and Die Welle (The Wave)

The next sequences are from a kind of CSI type thriller in which a student is murdered and there are 5 suspects for the killing. I like how this film starts with the aftermath of the killing. The enigma codes such as ‘who is the victim?’ and ‘who killed her?’ all work well in this project. Work is underway on developing the 5 suspects into different personalities. The narrative structure of the film will also require flashbacks which are not attempted too often by students. It reminds me of films such as The Usual Suspects
And Hitchcock’s classic Dial M for Murder

The Charm is a simple story with a lot of scope for good acting and suspense. A lucky charm is found in a school but all anyone gets who finds it, is bad luck. What’s interesting about the synopsis is that each successive person who finds the charm encounters worse luck than the last owner! I love the shots on the bag in the sequence which reference Hitchcock’s Marnie.

The Next sequence is from an all girl production similar to Heathers And other films like The Basketball Diaries and The Stepford Wives I like the way the four actors are working on visual unity with the same cups and eventually the same clothes. Also the piece is pretty dark since if anyone breaks away from the small, tightly knit group for any reason then they will be punished. And also there are unusual representations in the film where males are the victims.

The next piece (with the syringe!) is a very small scale film similar in big ideas to blockbuster films of recent years like Children of Men Minority Report And I am Legend The idea is that vaccinated girls in a school turn to zombies in a world where there is only one male left who is hunted by them. They are also karate experts so expect some good action sequences!

The next shot sequence is something quite different in tone! A sort of modern ‘stoner’ comedy where two morons decide under heavy influence of TV watching, to become superheroes. Costuming is excellent with poor robes and big pants. I think they are going to take the longest to make their film simply because they’ll be laughing for a lot of the time!
It reminds me of Superbad Be Kind Rewind and Nacho Libre

The final sequences in the film are for another comedy idea. In this synopsis the idea is that a seriously overweight man is knocked into shape by a lunatic grizzled coach. The big aspect of the production will be on convincing the audience about the extent of the weight problem and how funny the coach is! However I’m pretty optimistic it’s going to work out. The film reminds me of classic Jerry Lewis comedies such as The Nutty Professor
Shallow Hal And in a strange way of Kubrick’s Full Metal Jacket

The one film not shown is equally as exciting as the rest. Like one of the projects mentioned earlier it is an all female group and they are filming the idea of a sweet sixteen birthday party which ends in tragedy for one of the girls. It is a character piece with some good actors in the group with echoes of
Girl Interrupted I’ve Loved You So Long And
In Her Shoes
More info on progress in a while!

Why I like 'mobiles'

This very short film was made by St Joseph's College media students. It shows how much you can do with a fixed position camera. The emphasis is then on the actors' movement. The piece also shows what can be done in post production with such things as black and white, colour balance, contrast and fx such as ghosting. Using echo/reverb on the first section gives the piece a dream like quality that could be useful in those films where you want to use flashback for example. However the thing I like the most about mobiles is the way both classes went out and tackled the whole thing with enthusiasm and good humour.
Behind the scenes
1. In the second part of the film Kelly actually hit Chris with the umbrella in one of the takes!
2. Michael made his last appearance on a St Joseph's film! We wish him well for the future!

mobiles

One Missed Call

Mirrors

Cloverfield essay

Analyse Cloverfield in terms of representations, narrative and audience.


Cloverfield, produced by JJ Abrams and his team (Matt Reeves and Drew Goddard), is a pulsating, visceral horror movie with intertextual elements of sci-fi and romance. Set in New York where a terrifying monster rampages through the city, the film provides non stop pleasure and entertainment for its audience but also I felt attempted to explore through the monster, how people must’ve reacted to the 9/11 terror attacks on the city. A differential or oppositional reading of the film provides several worthwhile areas for analysis.

I felt that the target audience/demographic for Cloverfield was most likely in the 15-25 student range. There are several reasons for this. It is clear that the film is a Horror movie.

It displays most of the key genre markers for horror. There is an otherness/abject in the form of the monster. This otherness/abject although mysterious in its motives and behaviour is nonetheless a part of the genre which a young audience will recognise (other examples being King Kong, Jaws and Godzilla). Monster movies have a good track record with young audiences/demographic. The monster terrorises the people of New York which in terms of the Horror genre is the terrible place. The monster emerges and attacks at night (after midnight in fact) something which would excite a young audience as they have come to expect the exciting connection between night and the otherness/abject. Furthermore like most movies in the Horror genre there is an element of punishment (the city, females) which again would add to the pleasures of the film for the audience/demographic. Horror has been a profitable genre for Hollywood since the beginning of the industry and has recently undergone a resurgence with the influence and popularity of Asian horror (Cloverfield was inspired by the 1954 Japanese Gojira/Godzilla).

As I have indicated the film has many pleasures which would draw in and engage a young audience/demographic. There are many scenes in the film of visceral pleasure. The main characters, trying to find their way through the carnage in search of their friend is gripping throughout. A big part of the pleasure is the fear and excitement generated by the monster’s unpredictability and the gruesome spiders which it seems to spawn. This can be clearly seen in the underground scenes where the characters battle for survival.

The film was made by JJ Abrams and his team. This also helps to identify the target audience/demographic. Abrams, Reeves and Goddard are best known for the hit series Lost and Felicity and the Pallbearer and with Buffy the Vampire Slayer. These programmes all have young audiences not unlike the one which would be targetted for Cloverfield. Like these TV hits it is true to say that Cloverfield has a young attractive cast which help target the audience.

The film also displays technical aspects which would attract and excite a young demographic. These include the highly effective and highly believable use of CGI in the film which young audiences have come to expect. The decapitated head of the Statue of Liberty thundering down the street was an astounding moment. The film also uses an interesting film technique appearing to use a non professional video camera throughout and naturalistic lighting. This heightens the excitement for the audience as they experience the terrors of the monster with the main characters. The style of filming is in my opinion very reminiscent of Youtube videos, a mode of instant film-making which would be very familiar to a young demographic who are the main users of Youtube.

A differential reading of the film also helps us understand narrative aspects of Cloverfield. The film in my opinion can be understood in terms of Classic Narrative.

The world of the film is most certainly verisimilar. New York is instantly recognisable as is the romance aspect of the narrative. The young people are easily understood and can be related to by their young audience. I also felt that their anxieties also seem real even though the source of those anxieties (the otherness) is not verisimilar. The verisimilar world of the film will undoubtedly help engage the audience.

The film roughly adheres to a 3 act structure of Classic Narrative. The equilibrium is established in the first 20 minutes of the film with the party and the Coney Island trip and the romance between Beth and Rob. A good deal of the equilibrium is shot in daylight naturalistic lighting. The disequilibrium is clearly the arrival of the monstrous abject which is signalled in the film with the power cut and lights of the skyscrapers going out. Most of the disequilibrium is shot in low key naturalistic lighting. It is debatable to what extent equilibrium is restored since the main characters are all destroyed. However the final shot of the film is of Rob and Beth at Coney Island arm in arm suggesting that they have found each other and expressed their feelings for each other.

The narrative of the film is propelled by the cause and effect actions of the characters. The monster attacks the city and the four main characters respond in various ways trying to survive and find their way to Beth. The search for Beth is caused by Rob and her disagreeing at his surprise party.

I thought it was interesting when considering whether the film had a strong narrative closure which is usually pleasurable to a young audience. The abject survives and is in fact seemingly indestructible. Nowhere in the city is safe as Beth and Rob discover as they shelter in a tunnel in Central Park. A normal narrative closure would be a confrontation with the monster and its defeat. However it is the main characters who are destroyed not the monster leaving several unanswered questions. On the other hand we can argue for a strong narrative closure insofar as Beth and Rob are finally together and have pronounced their love for one another. This is uplifting since their pledges of love are the last things we hear before they are destroyed by the otherness and it can be seen as a courageous statement which the monster cannot destroy even though it extinguishes life. This is underlined by the final scene which is from the Coney Island sequence.

The film’s main codes are action codes. Having said that, the film does seem to have enigma snares especially in the disequilibrium stages of the narrative. Questions such as what is happening to the city? Who or what is attacking them? Why are they being attacked? How will they survive? Will Rob make it through the city? – all act as snares as Roland Barthes defined them, hooking the audience into the unfolding narrative. The action codes which mainly centre around Rob’s journey through the city and the actions of the army against the abject all serve to raise the excitement level and engagement of the demographic. Examples of action codes in the film were when Rob receives the call on Brooklyn Bridge from Beth thus beginning his epic search for her. Also the arrival at the underground military base which propels the action towards Beth’s crumbling apartment. The action can be described as non stop from the arrival of the monster till the end of the film providing a relentless but satisfying cinematic experience for the young target demographic.

The final part of my analysis will look at representations in Cloverfield specifically female representations although I would also like to add some thoughts regarding the portrayal of New York in the film. Although the film is part of the Horror genre I found it interesting that the usual portrayal of females in that genre did not always apply in Cloverfield.

In fact the females in the film offer an interesting and complex range of representations when read differentially.
There are clearly examples of female courage in the film for example with Marlena in the tunnel when she saves Hud from the spiders. Also Beth shows courage in surviving in her building then dragging Rob from the helicopter wreckage. These actions perhaps challenge traditional views of gender.

On the other hand we see females in the film organising Rob’s party and showing care and thoughtfulness when the monster attacks. They follow Rob who is clearly the leader of the main characters but they do suggest alternatives to his plan which seem more cautious and logical.
Beth is ‘saved’ by Rob whom she calls for help. She can be described as the ‘female quest object’ (Propp) trapped in her ‘tower’ waiting to be saved by the male hero. This is a traditional representation of females in the film. Beth is represented here as a passive weak female who is dependent on the help of a man.

The males Rob and Hud are men of action – Rob seeking out his love, Beth and Hud determinedly recording the terror of the otherness on the video camera. Therefore we may say that male representations in the movie are traditional and conform to what we regard as normal.

Perhaps the most interesting representation in Cloverfield is the monster itself who may be considered female as it seems to spawn fleshy spiders. If so this suggests a monstrous female and therefore females are represented as destroyers and as the otherness. It could be argued that the female monster is bringing destruction to an essentially peaceful, young society and it is the men in the film who lead the action against its rampage.

As I mentioned earlier it is interesting to think about the representation of New York in the city. As has been mentioned earlier, the film can be seen as an exploration of 9/11. There are other films which explore this theme such as The Dark Knight, I am Legend and The Mist. In JJ Abrams’ Cloverfield the view of NYC is of a city in panic being wildly destroyed. Its wealthy young inhabitants have no idea what is attacking them or why they are being attacked. The terrorists are represented by a monster who brings meaningless chaos to their streets. Abrams seems to be suggesting that Al Queda terror can be explained in other films but what is important for the Cloverfield audience is that they experience what it feels like to be caught up at ground level, in a terror attack.

cloverfield

Cloverfield Notes

1. Technical and Cultural codes

How is the film shot?
The film is shot with the look of a handheld video camera. This accounts for the shaky, erratic shooting. No tripods, dolly, cranes or rostrums seem to be used. The illusion of the amateur shooting is maintained by the use of a video camera light and night vision light in the subway section. The eye witness idea of the hand-held camera is also suggested by the official titles at the start of the movie suggesting that the tape was ‘recovered’ in Central Park by the military.
The style of camera use is clearly reminiscent of an uploaded Youtube video. This style of filming helps creates the illusion of a real experience. The camera is the ‘witness’ to the terror the city and the main characters feel. The first person viewpoint of the camera seems to be an authentic account of what happened and is suggestive of the footage which was assembled after the 9/11 attacks on New York where the film is set.

How is the film lit?
The film stays true to the hand held amateurish style of filming by using naturalistic lighting throughout. The light sources are those we would expect from someone filming at night, the street lights, nights of the city etc. This adds to the sense of a real experience for the main characters and the people of the city. It also helps add to the sense of terror as the monster is only caught in glimpses in the darkness.
Although naturalistic the film does have several moments of powerful and memorable lighting for example
The subway attack by the spiders where night-vision is used to powerful effect
The army base where the powerful white lighting suggests disorientation.
The final sequence in Central Park where the daylight looks weak and feeble.

What sets, colours, costumes and props are used?
NYC seems to be very real in the film as though it was actually filmed in the streets there. This was seen in the opening sequences which conveyed a wealthy Manhattan with young mainly white Manhattanites. However it is clear from the action of the film that CGI was used extensively in the film. However the realness of the setting is powerfully conveyed. The sets, notably the subway station, the army base and the party apartment help create a verisimilar world for the audience.
The colours of the film are in keeping with the night and the destruction of the movie. An interesting aspect was that of the monster which appeared pale and almost fleshy, its anaemic body tones acted as a contrast to the darkened city it was terrorising.
The costumes were interesting especially those of the main characters as they were dressed for a party and as the film and the terror of the otherness unfolded, their costumes became more torn and destroyed underlining the destruction of the city and the world they knew. Their costuming was also a stark contrast to those of the soldiers in the underground base conveying the contrast between the soldiers’ military purpose and the bewilderment of the four main characters.
The main props which are significant were the camera which is often referred to in the narrative and the use of mobile phones which are used effectively when the otherness first attacks. The Manhattanites film the head of the Statue of Liberty again underlining the Youtube aspect of the filming.

Sounds/Music
The film is filled with the visceral sounds (foley) of terror – explosions, screaming, gunshots, helicopters, general panic. Most notably the sound of the monster is particularly striking. It is the noise of otherness, a wailing rage which causes excitement in the audience and helps underline the directionless nature of destruction through the city.
It is interesting that the film does not use music to help engage audience pleasure which is normally the case in this genre of movie. There is no horror chord. Instead the characters and the audience react to the noises of the destruction and the rampaging otherness. The film still manages to engage audience pleasure through the powerful foley sounds of the movie.

Genre
Cloverfield is in many ways an INTERTEXTUAL movie with elements of romance (Rob’s search for Beth), Disaster (reminiscent of The Day After Tomorrow, Godzilla) and some Comedy (Hud’s often comic commentary on events) and Sci Fi (The War of the Worlds and Independence Day)
However it is predominantly a Horror movie. The genre markers for Horror can generally be applied to Cloverfield –

The Otherness is clearly the monster which terrorises the city (in many ways the film uses the monster otherness as a metaphor for the Twin Tower attacks of 9/11). The otherness of Cloverfield reminds us of classic monster movies such as King Kong, Godzilla and Jurassic Park, movies which the film’s demographic would recognise and which would draw them into the cinema.
The otherness of Cloverfield strikes us as quite interesting for several reasons.
Unlike other monster movies, the Cloverfiled monster defies understanding for the audience. Questions such as where did it come from? Why is it attacking? What does it want? What is its purpose are not explained. This is not disappointing for the audience in terms of narrative as we are more concerned with the experience of the four main characters.
The monster is grotesque and ambiguous in its terror. Is it wailing in pain or pleasure?
It is indestructible as an otherness
Is it female (spawning vicious spidery things)? If so it suggests an interesting representation which will be discussed later.
The otherness comes to society much like classic horror but it is not confronted by the main characters of the film who try to flee its floundering, flailing limbs.

The Terrible Place is New York City and more specifically, Manhattan, the wealthiest area of the city and the location of business and the former Twin Towers. The essential nature of New York, its sky scrapers and night life are decimated by the otherness in the space of a few hours. During the attack all areas of the city change their nature, with each street, building shop or subway station a place of the otherness to attack.

Punishment is a key genre marker for Horror. In Cloverfield as explained above, it is unclear why the city is being punished or why it is the young people who we see being chased who are the victims of the otherness. The film instead focuses on the reactions to the attack. In some ways it could be argued that the otherness itself seems unsure of its purpose.

As with most horror films there is a clear and significant difference between
Night and Day in the film. The daylight scenes deal with happier times – the trip to Coney Island by Beth and Rob and the preparation for Rob’s party. The daylight trip to Coney Island and its romantic element is effectively cut into the video recording of the nigh-time terror of the otherness. The terror strikes at 12.20 – after midnight an almost iconic time for otherness to emerge. The night time shows the lights go out across Manhattan suggesting the power of the otherness. The night hides the whereabouts of the otherness and in particular its spidery babies who infest the subways etc.
However as the film comes to its narrative closure we note that it is dawn and the otherness is still attacking suggesting that its power is unaffected by the time of day unlike other monstrous otherness such as Dracula.

The Final Girl is perhaps the one genre marker for horror which is problematic in categorising Cloverfield. There is no final girl who is brave and who confronts the otherness as in other horrors such as the Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Scream or The Orphanage. The females in the film do show courage (Beth and Marlena are examples of this) however they all are destroyed by the monstrous otherness as the narrative unfolds.

Representations in Cloverfield
In discussing representations it is important to ask
What are the activities of the males and the females? Are those activities different? What are the differences and do those differences conform to what we believe?
The females in the film offer an interesting range of representations when we read the film differentially.
There are clearly examples of female courage in the film for example with Marlena in the tunnel when she saves Hud from the spiders. Also Beth shows courage in surviving in her building then dragging Rob from the helicopter wreckage. These actions perhaps challenge traditional views of gender.
On the other hand we see females in the film organising Rob’s party and showing care and thoughtfulness when the monster attacks. They follow Rob who is clearly the leader of the main characters but they do suggest alternatives to his plan which seem more cautious and logical.
Beth is ‘saved’ by Rob whom she calls for help. She can be described as the ‘female quest object’ (Propp) trapped in her ‘tower’ waiting to be saved by the male hero. This is a traditional representation of females in the film. Beth is represented here as a passive weak female who is dependent on the help of a man.
The males Rob and Hud are men of action – Rob seeking out his love, Beth and Hud determinedly recording the terror of the otherness on the video camera. Therefore we may say that male representations in the movie are traditional and conform to what we regard as normal.
Perhaps the most interesting representation in Cloverfield is the monster itself who may be considered female as it seems to spawn fleshy spiders. If so this suggests a monstrous female and therefore females are represented as destroyers and as the otherness. It could be argued that the female monster is bringing destruction to an essentially peaceful, young society and it is the men in the film who lead the action against its rampage.
It is true to say that Cloverfield provides a wide and complex range of female representations in the film when we read it differentially.

In addition it is interesting to think about the representation of New York in the city. As has been mentioned earlier, the film can be seen as an exploration of 9/11. There are other films which explore this theme such as The Dark Knight and The Mist. In JJ Abrams’ Cloverfield the view of NYC is of a city in panic being wildly destroyed. Its wealthy young inhabitants have no idea what is attacking them or why they are being attacked. The terrorists are represented by a monster who brings meaningless chaos to their streets. Abrams seems to be suggesting that the terror can never be explained and what is important is that we experience what it feels like to be caught up in a terror attack – hence the hand held camera etc.


Narrative
It is interesting when we try to understand Cloverfield in terms of the Classic Narrative Formula (CNF).
The world of the film is most certainly verisimilar. New York is instantly recognisable as is the romance aspect of the narrative. The young people are easily understood and can be related to by their young audience. Their anxieties also seem real even though the source of those anxieties (the otherness) is not verisimilar. The verisimilar world of the film will undoubtedly help engage the audience.

The film roughly adheres to a 3 act structure of Classic Narrative. The equilibrium is established in the first 20 minutes of the film with the party and the Coney Island trip and the romance between Beth and Rob. A good deal of the equilibrium is shot in daylight naturalistic lighting. The disequilibrium is clearly the arrival of the monstrous abject which is signalled in the film with the power cut and lights of the skyscrapers going out. Most of the disequilibrium is shot in low key naturalistic lighting. It is debatable to what extent equilibrium is restored since the main characters are all destroyed. However the final shot of the film is of Rob and Beth at Coney Island arm in arm suggesting that they have found each other and expressed their feelings for each other.

The narrative of the film is propelled by the cause and effect actions of the characters. The monster attacks the city and the four main characters respond in various ways trying to survive and find their way to Beth. The search for Beth is caused by Rob and her disagreeing at his surprise party.

It is interesting to ponder whether or not the film has a strong narrative closure which is pleasurable to the audience. The abject survives and is in fact seemingly indestructible. Nowhere in the city is safe as Beth and Rob discover as they shelter in a tunnel in Central Park. A normal narrative closure would be a confrontation with the monster and its defeat. However it is the main characters who are destroyed not the monster leaving several unanswered questions. On the other hand we can argue for a strong narrative closure insofar as Beth and Rob are finally together and have pronounced their love for one another. This is uplifting since their pledges of love are the last things we hear before they are destroyed by the otherness and it can be seen as a courageous statement which the monster cannot destroy even though it extinguishes life. This is underlined by the final scene which is from the Coney Island sequence.

Codes
The two main narrative codes which can be read in Cloverfield are Hermeneutic (enigma) and Proaretic (action) codes. The film uses enigma snares especially in the disequilibrium stages of the narrative. Questions such as what is happening to the city? Who or what is attacking them? Why are they being attacked? How will they survive? Will Rob make it through the city? – all act as snares (Barthes) to hook the audience into the unfolding narrative. Furthermore the action codes which mainly centre around Rob’s journey through the city and the actions of the army against the abject all serve to raise the excitement level and engagement of the demographic.

Audience
There are several indicators which suggest that the target demographic for Cloverfield is the largely student 15-25s range.
The film is a Horror which is traditionally very popular with this demographic who are the ones who use the cinema the most and are the ones with the largest disposable income. Of course as well as being a Horror it also has appealing intertextual element (mentioned earlier) which again has proven popular with young modern audiences.
The film is a similar product to films such as The Blair Witch Project, The Host, Children of Men, Godzilla and Peter Jackson’s King Kong which have all proven popular with young audiences. In addition JJ Abrams and his creative team have had great success with TV with Lost and the teenage orientated Felicity. Therefore there is a strong understanding by JJ Abrams of his targeted demographic.
As mentioned earlier, the film is reminiscent of a Youtube video and of course this is an internet site enjoyed mainly by the 15-25 demographic.
Cloverfield has a young cast of actors which helps create the verisimilar world for its young audience and the concept of a city under attack is one which young audiences find appealing.
The film also has many visceral pleasures for the audience. Through the use of the handheld camera the audience can enjoy the illusion of witnessing the terror of the abject at first hand. Fear and excitement are the prevailing pleasures for the demographic. However there are some cognitive pleasures as the source of the abject is puzzling as is the character of Marlena.