Opening 2 minute Analysis -Cloverfield

The first thing that the audience see is the beginning of a camera tape, as if the audience are viewing back footage of the events that happened on that night in New York, this is done for a reason to make the film seem as real as possible, almost like a documentary.At the bottom you can see a counter which counts the time like a usual hand held camera does.

The titles appear like just like a tape recording camera if you would view it back however it says ‘Property of the U.S Government’ which shows that the camera is connected to the incident in the movie and this is serious business affecting the whole of the U.S.A.We hear a buzzing sound as if the camera is not properly working or it needs to be fixed. The changes in pitch of the sound creates tension which is significant because this film is a sci-fi/horror.Silence is also often used because it also highlights the fact that the audience don’t know what is going on and are slightly confused at the beginning.

The motivated cut from the title sequence starts with the main protagonist walking to his apartment window in New York. His apartment tells us about the characters in the movie that they are quite wealthy; the view from the window overlooking New York in the morning is significant because in the next few hours later the whole city is destroyed by an alien/monster.

Quite low-key lighting is also used (as it’s the morning) which has connotations with mystery and tension. From the beginning of the film we see the city as normal, however as the film progresses into night time things begin to change.