I saw a reasonable chunk of Cloverfield tonight, a Blair Witch for the 2000's that uses the iconography of low-tech video to create terror. It's interesting to see the disaster movie updated for the new millenium. But in the end it reminded me a lot of the Poseidon Adventure (my long-winded analysis) in its inability to reconcile the needs of Hollywood cinema with the circumstances of life-threatening reality.
First, I was unable to get past the idea that someone was supposed to be running around shooting this footage in a life-threatening situation. Me, I would drop the camera and run.
Second, the people didn't seem confused enough. Yes, the crowds did hysterics well and they sure ran a lot. But a lot of what happens in a disaster is confusion—people not knowing what to do and not even knowing enough to take cover. A good example was at Target last week. The fire alarm went off and people just stared at the ceiling, wandered around a bit and then nervously continued shopping. Hey you guys, this is a fire alarm! Me, I went toward a door just in case this was the real thing (it was a false alarm). Plus, it's only in movies where people run down the streets. It's a film image like Jurassic Park II where people run down the arroyo away from the T-Rex. Yes, it looks swell. But in my world, people don't run down streets. They disappear into buildings like rats.
Third, I was annoyed by the way the filmmakers slowly reveal the monster. Of course it makes sense dramatically... you don't want to give away the whole thing at once. Yet, the slow reveal is antithetical to the way our culture handles anomalies. We are a technological culture, a culture of examination and vivisection. The very first thing we would do is turn the monster into a subject and in doing so give ourselves a feeling of control. So we would get nice big clear images (night vision, spotlight, etc.) of what we are fighting. Of course the filmmakers don't do this because this makes the mood of the film less scary. But that is exactly why we handle emergencies in this way.
Fourth, this might just be me, but in my view of disasters, you get some collective screams when something careens at you but there is also a lot of silence. People are too busy thinking to be talking. Cloverfield felt like people constantly talking which is part of the reason I was hoping everyone in the movie would die and soon. Am I just getting old? I hated all these twenty-something characters.
So my version of Cloverfield would be like this. People are at a party. Some news special comes on the TV. Some people would ignore it. Other people would try to see what's going on. There would be lots of confusion for awhile. Some people ignore the situation not wanting to look stupid. Others trying to slowly inch their way to the door. People are generally confused and not sure whether to respond.
Then some pandemonium. The camera gets dropped and you don't see anything except an occasional glimpse. For 15 minutes we hear intermittent voices and sounds and sirens. Then maybe the camera gets kicked so that now we see a TV. And we see exactly what the monster looks like and all sorts of attempted visual analysis. And what's frightening isn't the impotence of the military or the sight of the creature but the way we use technology to try to create a sense of control that we do not have.
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