Cloverfield – The Transmedia Monster
The story of Cloverfield was introduced to it’s audience through the medium of film in January 2008. The concept of the film tapped into the phenomenal success of the 1999 Blair Which Project, which created a following of fans who were fascinated by the Blair Which mythology. Ed Sanchez, a member of the creative team behind the BWP stated that “what we learned from Blair Which is that if you give people enough stuff to explore they will explore”(Jenkins, 2006 : 105). Similar to the BWP, the Cloverfield film was presented through “the found footage from a personal video camera”(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloverfield).
A further similarity was; prior to the film’s release, the film audiences were forewarned of the production of an untitled film by teaser trailers in cinemas, however the film plot was kept secret. Furthermore an official website (http://www.1-18-08.com/) and viral marketing campaign which included viral tie-ins was released on the internet (http://slusho.jp/), (http://tagruato.jp/). These tie-ins were ambiguous in their content as they were linked to elements in previous J.J. Abrams’s productions. Although this controlled release of information allowed the exploration of the mythology of Cloverfield, the audience’s expectations were developed by the discovery of clues to the plot which were hidden throughout these media platforms.
The 70 minute film has attracted various degrees of criticism over its alleged poor story line and the “cheap” and “opportunistic”use of scenes reminiscent of the 9/11 attacks in New York. However 77% of 192 reviews praised Cloverfield and the film grossed over $100million in 2008 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloverfield#Reception).
The design and content of the film allowed the audience to participate in two different experiences, firstly the oppertunity to simply enjoy the theatrical film experience and secondly to explore the interface, become part of a multi media story and choose the depth of experience to explore other dimensions that do not appear on screen (Jenkins, 2006). As Lev Manovich states; “in the process of interaction the user can choose which elements to display or which paths to follow, thus generating a unique work “(Manovich, 2001 : 49). Further points of entry for the audience to interact with the Cloverfield phenomenon include; video clips, ringtones, wallpapers, a comic and online interactive sites where fans of Cloverfield can post comments and communicate directly with each other to form affinity groups around their shared interest (Miller, 2011). Each of these platforms are self contained so there is no need to have experience of all of the above to enjoy the concept (Jenkins, 2006).
Apart from the obvious sequel feature film, further platforms which may be considered to extend and expand Cloverfield’s appeal, could include the publishing of a novel, augmented reality phone app, an amusement park attraction and the cross promotion with a games manufacture by way of a multiplayer video game and the multitude of innovative possibilities employed by Coca-Cola (see Coca-Cola blog post).
The Cloverfield concept can be seen as a clear example of transmedia story telling. It unfolds “across multiple media platforms with each new text making a distinctive and valuable contribution to the whole” (Jenkins, 2006 : pg105).
References
Jenkins, H (2006) Convergence Culture. New York University Press, USA.
Manovich, L., 2001, The Language of New Media, Mass Media-Technical Innovations, USA
Miller, V., 2011, Understanding Digital Culture, SAGE Publications Ltd, London.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloverfield
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