Win 1-18-08 Posters & Slusho T-Shirts

The folks over at JJAbrams.net are giving away some free Cloverfield swag in a contest to predict the plot of the movie. If you win, you get 1 of 15 posters and T-shirts.

Since we don't know much about the film other than the sound of monster and the teaser trailer, it's time to imagine what it could be.

To enter your chance to win, you will write up 1 page version of how you think the story will flow from beginning to end along with a sketch of the monster. Now I know we are not all good in sketching like myself but do have an imagination to come up with ideas and stories.

The story, sketches or drawings or whatever that format it may be, will be posted on this thread.

You are allowed to tell your story in video format as well using YouTube or similar site. How? Be Creative

How Winners Will be Picked:

1) Top 7 Best Stories and Best Sketches will win t-shirt and posters. So that means each winner will walk away with poster and t-shirt.

2) The runner ups will be selected for poster or t-shirt.

Remember, this is a serious contest and open to anyone and everyone. No spamming.

Anyone who comes to the board to post nothing but jibberish or steals other people's work (believe me there are ways of finding out) will not only be kicked off the contest but also the board.

Deadline is September 20th, 2007.

Enjoy and Good Luck.

You can enter the contest at JJAbrams.net. Happy writing and sketching.

1-18-08 Trailer Audio Analysis

Dennis at Cloverfield Clues has posted an analysis of the audio from the 1-18-08/Cloverfield trailer. He also has separated the 5.1 surround sound audio, and posted MP3s.

After listening to the MP3s this morning, there's nothing really out of the ordinary to note. There are a few small snippets of dialogue that were highlighted that you couldn't hear in the final mix of the trailer.

Dennis has created a BitTorrent file with all the seperate audio tracks. You can get that here.

1-18-08 Roaring Back to Life

The official 1-18-08 Web site is back up, and now with more ROAR! If you wait six minutes (that's right, folks...SIX minutes), you'll be able to hear the roar.

Unfiction has posted an MP3 of the sound if you can't wait that long. Here's the thread where they are currently trying to analyze the sound file. Good luck guys, this is well beyond my technical expertise.

It might have just been my computer acting strange, but the first time I heard the roar on 1-18-08, it sounded muffled. Afterwards, there were sounds like air bubbles under water and swimming. Now, listening to the site a couple more times and listening to the MP3, there are no more air bubbles.

Five News Reports 1-18-08

Ruth Liptrot from Five News looks into a phenomenon that is the mysterious untitled film codenamed "Cloverfield". What is it and what is it all about?



On a personal note, I particularly like the (several) jabs Five News takes at the fans of this movie. We, the fans, are probably the only ones watching this video.

Special thanks to just about every blogger out there that broke this news before me. :)

1-18-08 Web Site Removed

The 1-18-08 Web site has been removed. It now redirects to the Paramount home page at http://www.paramount.com/.

The full functionality of the original 1-18-08 site can still be found at http://www.1-18-08.com/photos_8.swf.

Hopefully this is a temporary change while Paramount works on putting up a more revealing official Web site for the movie.

UPDATE: It's back! I'm sure someone will analyze the site and find one or two things different, but so far the functionality is exactly the same as before. At first glance, everything seems normal. Except, there hasn't been an updated picture in nearly a month.

Still Confusion on 1-18-08 Monster Details

There's still a lot of confusion about the details of the monster(s) in Cloverfield/1-18-08. First there were some smaller monsters, then there weren't.

Now Dark Horizons has some details about the movie that were apparently confirmed by "two agency sources." Can it even be called a spoiler? I'm going to take all this information with a grain of salt. And until there is absolute proof, I'm probably not going to report on this topic again. There's just too much speculation, and even after we have a dozen "agency sources," the details are still not fully understood.

Rusuden Slusho "Happy Talk" Remix

Rusuden has remixed the Slusho "Happy Talk" music. Rusuden is the solo electronic music project from Lexington, KY resident Justin Morgan.

Check out the MP3 here:

Happy Talk (Rusuden Remix)

You can learn more about Rusuden at myspace.com/rusuden or virb.com/rusuden

Thanks to Dennis for the scoop!

Slusho Happy Talk Updated

The Slusho Happy Talk page has been updated.

It appears all the phrases have been updated with new ones. According to Dennis, one interesting note in the code is that the Jellyfish has been renamed to Squid. I'm not sure of the significance there.

I tend to agree with other bloggers that these phrases are user-submitted, so I wouldn't put too much stock in their meaning. However, I find it interesting the repeated mention of being a whale and Bloop.

Cloverfield Monster Information | 1-18-08

Johnny_Butane at Dread Central has posted some exclusive information concerning the monster(s) in the upcoming 1-18-08/Cloverfield movie. He apparently has a reliable source that's "in the know." I guess we'll have to wait and see just how knowledgeable this guy is.

Perhaps you've heard some of the rampant speculation regarding a certain JJ Abrams-produced film currently known only as Cloverfield or 1-18-08 that's taken the World Wide Web by storm ever since its trailer premiered before The Transformers? I've seen everything online from it being a new Godzilla movie to being about a giant jellyfish created from soft drink sludge to a live action Voltron flick to it being a big screen version of the video game Rampage and so on...

Someone I know to be "in the know" was willing to throw me a bone with some small but interesting tidbits about the mysterious monster movie under the condition of absolute anonymity. With that in mind, let's just call this particular person "Mr. Slusho". Let me preface this by saying I have no way of confirming any of this info, though I've no reason to believe "Mr. Slusho" would feed me false information on purpose.

Anyway, here's what I've been told.

It's not Godzilla or Voltron (duh) or even Cthulu; anyone expecting there to be some sort of elaborately detailed backstory may be in for a disappointment. Expect an old-fashioned monster movie retold in a very modern Blair Witch sort of way - but with a twist. You see...

For the entire article and some possible spoilers, click this link. There are no pictures, just a vague description which still leaves room for the imagination to run wild.

UPDATE: Thank goodness it's not true! For those that didn't want to be spoiled, worry not. You can now read the article by Dread Central. According to Slashfilm (thanks for the heads-up, Dennis), "Mr. Slusho" was wrong and there will be no small raptor-like creatures ravaging New York City. Although I figured JJ Abrams and company could pull it off, it felt too much like the latest Godzilla flop.

Who is Jessica Lucas?

The Hollywood Reporter mentions actress Jessica Lucas as starring in JJ Abrams' upcoming 1-18-08/Cloverfield movie. But who is she, and what character does she play? My guess would be Lily, girlfriend of Jason Hawkins. Jessica has been in "The Covenant," "She's the Man" and the ABC series "Life as We Know It." She also will play Veronica Lake, aka Ronnie, on the CBS hit, "CSI."

Where Are the 1-18-08 Updates?

This whole 1-18-08 campaign has been pretty quiet for the past week. The biggest news was that it's NOT Voltron, which everyone already knew. The official site hasn't been updated in 13 days, a rumored trailer didn't show at the beginning of Stardust (I didn't think it would), and no more set photos or reports have surfaced (probably because principal photog has ended in NY). The MySpace profiles and blogs have been updated, but I highly doubt they're anything more than a campaign to get the audience invested in these characters are "real" people.

Even with the lack of official news or updates, I still find that I check my e-mail alerts several times a day to see if anything new has popped up. I check the official site at least twice a day for updates. I sometimes do a Google search just to see how high or low this site is ranked for certain phrases.

I'm curious how everyone else feels at this point. This was a huge hype-machine in early July, and now just over a month later there's no news. Are you still invested in this movie? Have you lost interest? And what drew you to the movie in the first place? I think for me it was JJ Abrams' association, and the lack of a title didn't hurt either.

More Cloverfield Parodies

Since news has been sparse lately, there's not much to report. However, the Noah and the guys at Horsehead Businessman have been hard at work creating some plans to help Save Rob.



You can check out their other parody from a few weeks ago here.

Slusho Orders Packed with Japanese-Language Newspapers

I wanted to wait until I confirmed a few things before I posted this, but now that I have my evidence, here goes. I’ve noticed a few people around the Web are receiving their orders from the Slusho Store (mine was shipped yesterday from Columbia, SC). Several people are claiming their shirts and hats are being shipped with Japanese newspapers. Jordan and Dennis, fellow 1-18-08 Bloggers, have both posted about their mysterious papers. I recruited my Best Man (he's had a few Japanese classes) to help me translate some of the pages that have been posted online. Here’s what he had to say in an e-mail.

Well, I don't know nearly enough of the 2,000 Kanji required to read a Japanese newspaper, but from what I can tell, it checks out as an actual paper. The date lines up as a paper that would be pulled to be used as packing material, and the stories seem pretty run-of-the-mill. I checked out the Japan Airlines story, and it's a valid story so I assume the rest are too. Here's a link to an entry on another site about the JAL Happiness thing:

http://www.shallwetravel.com/news/2007/07

Notice it is originally in Japanese, but has been translated.

Anyway, I’d say it's not a part of the marketing ploy. 8-) I had one of the developers look at it too (he lived in Japan for a coupla years).

-Kyser-

Also, “Christian,” has commented at Cloverfield Clues that the newspaper Dennis submitted is an actual paper called the Nikkan San, from Hawaii. Check it out here.

So, it appears that this is not really a part of the marketing strategy, other than to tie in Japanese newspapers with the supposed Japanese product, Slusho. Surely, JJ and his team would realize how rabid his fans are, and that we'd figure out the source of these papers. So, a fake Japanese company sends shipments of goods from South Carolina packed in a Hawaiian Japanese-language newspaper...

Why? What's the significance? I don't know. The mind plays tricks on you. You play tricks back! It's like you're unraveling a big cable-knit sweater that someone keeps knitting and knitting and knitting and knitting and knitting and knitting...

Cloverfield NOT Voltron, Variety Confirms

Variety has confirmed that a Voltron movie is being made, but not by Paramount and not by JJ Abrams. 20th Century Fox-based production company New Regency has partnered with the Mark Gordon Company to adapt "Voltron: Defender of the Universe" into a possible franchise.

Gordon has been developing the pic, based on the popular 1980s Japanese animated TV series, comicbooks and toy line, with Justin Marks penning the script.

Should the deal close, project would be one of the company's more high-profile efforts since Robert Harper took over as chairman-CEO of Regency Filmed Entertainment earlier this year.

Interest in the property hit a high after "Transformers" turned into a box office juggernaut, raking in nearly $300 million to date.

New Regency, which hasn't had a major hit since "Mr. & Mrs. Smith" in 2005, sparked to the idea of a potential franchise.

Company's upcoming pics include "Alvin and the Chipmunks," the Doug Liman-directed "Jumper," the Alexandre Aja-helmed "Mirrors" and the Eddie Murphy starrer "Starship Dave."

Marks' take is described as a post-apocalyptic tale set in New York City and Mexico. Five ragtag survivors of an alien attack band together and end up piloting the five lion-shaped robots that combine and form the massive sword-wielding Voltron that helps battle Earth's invaders.

Gordon will produce with Lawrence Inglee and Jordan Wynn, who are shepherding the project at the Gordon Co., which has Roland Emmerich's "10,000 B.C." bowing next from Warner Bros. Mark Costa and Ford Oelman are exec producers.

"Voltron" pic has been in the works for nearly three years, with Jim Young's Animus Films funding its development.

Marks has become a go-to guy in Hollywood for comicbook, videogame and toy-based adaptations.

He is adapting "He-Man and the Masters of the Universe" for Joel Silver at Warner Bros., as well as the Green Arrow pic "Supermax," also at the studio. Marks also has "Street Fighter" in the works at Hyde Park and Fox.

I'm not sure if it was the mass destruction, the misheard line, "It's a lion, it's huge!" or just a fanboy's fantasy that first created all the Voltron hype surrounding 1-18-08/Cloverfield/Whatever. But, we now have definite confirmation that this movie is not Voltron. In fact, for now, I'm going to stick to my previous theory about this movie's monster(s).

Paramount Lawyers Confirm Cloverfield Call-Sheet as Real

As we reported earlier, someone from New York Magazine was handed a call sheet detailing a scene from the upcoming 1-18-08 movie. It appears now that Paramount Pictures has confirmed the call sheet was real by taking action against a number of Web sites that displayed the call sheet.

Slashfilm has posted an article detailing a letter that was sent to their Web site from Paramount lawyers. The letter itself doesn't reveal much, but if you'd rather stay away from possible spoilers, don't read the full article at Slashfilm.

From the letter:

This letter is being written to you on behalf of Paramount Pictures Corporation (hereinafter “Paramount”). Paramount is the owner of rights in and to the motion picture known as “Cloverfield,” as well as all rights to the unpublished “Cheese” call sheet (hereinafter collectively referred to as “Paramount Properties”). No one is authorized to copy, reproduce, distribute, or otherwise use the Paramount Properties without the express written permission of Paramount.

Despite Paramount’s clear rights to the Paramount Properties, Paramount has learned that you are reproducing, displaying and distributing the “Cheese” call sheet on your website at http://www.slashfilm.com/2007/08/08/cloverfield1-18-08-call-sheet-leaked-reveals-movies-ending/ . You are hereby put on notice that the reproduction, display and/or distribution by you of Paramount Properties constitutes copyright infringement as well as an unauthorized misappropriation of a protected corporate document. Further, your conduct would constitute an improper receipt of a corporate document.

Another 1-18-08 Fan Video

It's nearly impossible to include on this Blog every parody video that's out there, but I definitely want to include the ones I enjoy. Here's one that Daniel Kaufman and Matt Scott have created using the mysterious teaser trailer for Cloverfield as a backdrop. It's fairly humorous and looks a lot better than several others out there. Enjoy!

Slusho MP3s

Dennis at Cloverfield Clues has converted the music from the Slusho Web site to MP3s. It looks like his intent is to share them as possible ringtones. Enjoy, and thanks, Dennis!

Slusho Downloads (72.3K)
Slusho Feedback (96.1K)
Slusho Flavors (13.4K)
Slusho Happy Talk (153.5K)
Slusho History (80.2K)
Slusho Home (6.1K)
Slusho Store (15.0K)

Cloverfield Principal Photography Wraps?

New York Magazine reports that principal photography has wrapped on JJ Abrams' secret Cloverfield Project.

We knew that J.J. Abrams's top-secret monster movie Cloverfield (a.k.a. Overnight, a.k.a. Monstrous, a.k.a. 1-18-08, etc.) was shooting in Manhattan this week under the fake name Cheese. So, in an unprecedented move, one of Vulture's editors actually left his computer and went outside. While we were near the film's set on the southwest corner of Central Park, a random crew member handed us something interesting: a call sheet for "day 33 of 33" of shooting that appears to give away Cloverfield's ending — and alternate ending! Major spoilers ahead, obviously.

Since I don't want to spoil anyone's fun, if you'd like to read more and see the scan of the call sheet, please click this link.

JJ Abrams Producing More Untitled Movies

As reported in Variety, JJ Abrams is producing yet another untitled thriller. It appears even fewer details are known about this film. Our fan favorite, Cloverfield, and this newly announced untitled movie are both part of a seven (at least) movie deal Abrams and Bad Robot have with Paramount Pictures.

Paramount Pictures has acquired a pitch for an untitled supernatural thriller that will be written and directed by Josh Marston and produced by J.J. Abrams' Bad Robot.

Project was pitched to Abrams by Marston. The filmmaker, who made a splash with "Maria Full of Grace," has also been developing an adaptation of the Jonathan Lethem novel "Fortress of Solitude."

Details on the pitch were being kept under wraps, as is Abrams' usual m.o. Still, only a year into a five-year pact with Paramount, Bad Robot has quietly set up at least seven projects, covering the comedy, romantic comedy, horror and supernatural genres. It's expected that Bad Robot will generate at least two projects a year for the studio, but Abrams' shop is keeping tight-lipped about all of them.

Abrams unveiled the tentatively titled "Cloverfield" with a teaser trailer on prints of "Transformers." The modestly budgeted disaster pic that will open Jan. 18is directed by Matt Reeves and written by Drew Goddard, based on an idea by Abrams.

Abrams will begin directing "Star Trek" on Nov. 5, scripted and exec produced by Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci. Pic's produced by "Lost" exec producers Bryan Burk and Damon Lindelof, and Stratton Leopold, who worked with Abrams on "Mission: Impossible III." "Star Trek" opens Christmas Day 2008.

Micah at CHUD.com (beware of pop-up ads) has chimed in on what he thinks about this new development.

I guess this is Abrams’ signature much as the Shocking! Final! Twist! was M. Night Shyamalan’s for a time. And I think it’ll get old just as fast. I understand that with a hungry internet media presence out there, it’s very difficult to preserve the mystery around any given film. And who can blame J.J. for wanting to generate some buzz with a low-budget monster flick with no stars? I don’t begrudge him that at all. But it just seems silly to ascribe that sort of intrigue to everything you’re involved with, regardless of genre. What once seemed unique and thrilling can become an annoying gimmick in the click of a mouse, and the question of whether this will hurt or help these lower-scale films has yet to be answered. We’ll see in January.

So far, this Blogger is locked-in and ready for the ride!

The Cloverfield Movie Report

WhipItOutComedy.com released a special "I Witness News" report about JJ Abrams' upcoming movie Cloverfield.

"Reporter" Roberta tries to buy "Cloverfield" tickets five months early.

Check it out here.

Cloverfield – A Viral Marketer’s Look

New York Magazine’s Conner Kilpatrick interviewed Ian Schafer, CEO of marketing firm Deep Focus, to find out what he thinks about JJ Abram’s latest viral campaign.

"In my opinion, this Slusho thing is not that integral to the plot. People are throwing red herrings out there." A professional herring slinger himself, Schafer weighed in on some of the more popular Cloverfield theories making the rounds.

The Four Horsemen Theory: A Hello Kitty–esque horse appears on the Slusho Website and more than a few fanboys have spotted a horselike creature in the trailer. "I think it's possible," Schafer says. "I remember hearing a while ago that this is an end-of-the-world kind of thing, where something was sent from faraway to basically have Armageddon. Maybe Slusho is the first of four Websites with a horse on it? Maybe that's a clue. The four horsemen ride in, and it rains fire and brimstone and all that kind of stuff."

The Sea Monster Theory: The Slusho Website contains a cryptic bit of company history involving a girl who, because she drinks so much of the beverage, is called the "Smallest Whale." The roar in the trailer even sounds something like a whale song. "One of the [theories] is that [the monster is a] giant amphibian. A gigantic animal woken from its slumber under the sea. Some kind of alien that was planted here," Schafer says.

The Global Warming Theory: The Slusho Website says the drink's secret ingredient comes from deep within the ocean and must be kept freezing. Take a look at the trailer and you'll see that day's temperature in the newscast is 63 degrees — pretty hot for a New York January. Are we looking too close? Maybe not. "People are being rewarded for paying attention," speculates Schafer.

The It's-Just-a-Monster-Movie Theory: "With Cloverfield," Schafer says, "I would imagine that we're probably overestimating the amount of thought that goes into this."

I tend to agree with Mr. Schafer about Slusho and also with the “It’s just a Monster Movie theory. What do you guys think? Please leave your comments.

1-18-08 Central Park Set Photos

Slashfilm has a wonderful article with a couple reports from the set of Cloverfield/1-18-08, which shot on Monday in Central Park.



(Minor Spoiler Warning)

According to nooneimportant77, the first sequence involved (minor spoiler warning) a very bloody Rob and an unidentified girl (presumably Lily, played by actress Jessica Lucas) huddled under an over pass in Central Park. They exchange some lines, before Rob starts saying “look at me look at me”. Cue dust and bricks which fall on them while they scream. Then the production crew hoisted a big black tarp over one side of the over pass, which our source thinks was used to simulate more rubble falling.

Sounds like our friends from the trailer may play a bigger part than some people have speculated. And after watching some of the video, my thought is that the black tarp was used to block out the light. It's possible that the tarp could be used to simulate the monster(s) walking by. I'm sure time will tell.

Another interesting tidbit is that they were shooting with professional film or HD cameras, and not a consumer/prosumer grade camera.

The videos are now on YouTube. Thanks again to nooneimportant77.



Check out the full set report for more details, photos, and some video.

Fake 1-18-08 Cloverfield Sites Debunked

It's now official. The ABZ3293 site and any and all Ethan Haas sites have been completely debunked. Many fans already know these sites are fake, but now we can finally show proof to the non-believers that these sites are not associated with Cloverfield/1-18-08/Monstrous/Overnight/JJ Abrams Marketing Extravaganza.

The ABZ 3293 site has posted a formal apology to fans for the misleading Web site. However, I don't really know how misleading it was. The site itself was never very professional-looking, and never offered many clues to anything. The Ethan Haas was Right site now leads to the official game site for Alpha Omega.

So, there you have it.

New Pics From The Set

Thanks to cloverfan from unfiction. Here are some pics from the set in New York City. Nothing spectacular but very cool to look at.

Three New 1-18-08 Posters?

Thanks to http://www.cloverfield-movie.com/blog/ for the posters. Apparently there are new posters out there for Cloverfield/1-18-08/Slusho. Please don't take these too seriously. However, I think the first is pretty cool but the second one....to me, if this is the monster, its giving away too much in to little time that we have been teased by JJ Abrams. Not to mention the scale of the monster. It is obviously towering over the city. If the monster were to come in contact with the Statue Of Liberty there would be nothing left. Each poster however has a message that you can relate to each one. Enjoy!

CNBC "Overnight" Coverage

It looks like CNBC is relying heavily on bloggers for information. Last week Julia Boorstin interviewed me for a segment on "On the Money." Now, Melissa Francis from the same show has interviewed Peter Sciretta from Slashfilm. Speculation says the title of this mysterious movie might be "Overnight."



Thanks to Dennis for the video.

1-18-08 Spy Footage, Set Report, Set Photos

IESB.net has delivered on their promise to give fans exactly what we want. They've got a full set report, set photos, and some top-secret spy footage from 1-18-08.

Video
The video is here. If the guy that originally shot it puts it on YouTube or any other video site, I'll be sure to embed it here. For now, IESB won't allow it.


Photos




For more set photos, click here.

Set Report

A few days ago I was picking up my sister from work and noticed movie trucks and army vehicles starting to fill the parking lot up at the Santa Anita Shopping Mall. I didn't think much of it because the mall is right next to the Santa Anita Race track and they always have some whacked out stuff going on over there so it wasn't that strange. But the next night, I saw that they started moving stuff in and out of the empty Robinsons/May building.
...
I walked right into the building without anyone stopping me. I saw that they were using the actual abandoned cosmetic counters and the other stuff that just seemed to be lying around for the set. They had a bunch of computer and gurney's around. It can be described as a triage center/command center.

The next night, I brought my video camera just in case something cool happened but at this point I didn't know what they were filming. My sisters boyfriend is a guard in the mall so he seemed to know a lot more than he was letting on. But after I told him I'd tell my sister some incriminating stuff on him, he started talking. Turns out that they are filming that J.J. Abrams Cloverfield movie and that the code name Chocolate is being used for the movie.
...
There were also a guys in Blue Bio-suits walking around who were working on something that I couldn't really describe. I'm speculating here but it looks like they might have a small piece of the monster or maybe some kind of infected human. There was a lot of attention on them so I just kept my distance.

I think the most interesting tidbit that I overheard was them referring to a robot. I know that J.J.'s company is called Bad Robot but now, I'm just guessing, what if the Monster isn't a monster, but a robot that has turned bad? That's a stretch but maybe J.J. wants to come full circle on the Bad Robot name. Has he ever said where the Bad Robot name came from? I don't think I've ever heard. I'm speculating on this because I did overhear another conversation later on regarding monsters. Monsters in the plural.

Click here for the full set report from "Rolling Sabre."

More 1-18-08 Video and Pics

YouTube user dave71129 has posted six short videos of the area around last night's filming. This one is my favorite. You can check out the rest of them here.



Dave also has a Photobucket account with several photos of the scene. Those are here.