Author Topic: Cloverfield  (Read 19419 times)

birdless

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Reply #25 on: May 30, 2008, 05:13:15 AM
-Not running like hell when they saw the rats heading the same direction down the subway tunnel, then taking the time to figure out how to turn on the night vision on the camera.
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I've never heard of night vision on a regular video camera. 

Has anyone seen the alternate endings?  Whoopie.  Nothing much there IMO. 

I think all of the Sony camcorders have "Night Shot" which is an infra red night vision system. They've had them going back at least 10 years, so I'm pretty sure there are others with similar features.
Off-topic and pointless, but maybe as a point of interest for someone: They've actually had them longer than that. I remember working with a guy back around '94 who had one, and I remember seeing on the news the controversy about the night-vision: they had some sort of X-ray ability, as in they were able to see through clothes. I never saw it, but I remember it being on the news and the guy I worked with witnessed it with his camera. I don't know, though, if the original night vision was infrared or something else. Whatever it was, they had to change it.



Darwinist

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Reply #26 on: May 30, 2008, 01:18:07 PM
-Not running like hell when they saw the rats heading the same direction down the subway tunnel, then taking the time to figure out how to turn on the night vision on the camera.
-

I've never heard of night vision on a regular video camera. 

Has anyone seen the alternate endings?  Whoopie.  Nothing much there IMO. 

I think all of the Sony camcorders have "Night Shot" which is an infra red night vision system. They've had them going back at least 10 years, so I'm pretty sure there are others with similar features.

Wow, I'm an idiot.  I own a Sony DVD camcorder and spent a lot of time researching them prior to its purchase.  I obviously didn't pay much attention to the available options.  Will have to check out my camera tonight to see if it has night vision.  I'll be filming zombies at midnight if it does.

For me, it is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring.    -  Carl Sagan


bolddeceiver

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Reply #27 on: June 02, 2008, 06:22:33 AM
I think MANY of the actions taken by the characters were completely idiotic.

Well, that is a standby of the horror genre, and not one that I think is all that un-called-for.  Think of a time you've been in a crisis situation.  I know that I haven't always made all the decisions that, in hindsight, I probably should have.  I think we're all so used to the uber-competent hero that is such a literary standard that we forget that people aren't really like that.  We don't always do the right thing, and we still have to try to survive, even with a few bad decisions.



Planish

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Reply #28 on: June 02, 2008, 06:46:12 AM
I thought it was fantastic. America finally has its own daikaiju.

1953 - The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms, with creature animation by Ray Harryhausen. That's a year ahead of Godzilla.

Quote
...and I remember seeing on the news the controversy about the night-vision: they had some sort of X-ray ability, as in they were able to see through clothes. I never saw it, but I remember it being on the news and the guy I worked with witnessed it with his camera. I don't know, though, if the original night vision was infrared or something else. Whatever it was, they had to change it.
It was some kind of infrared. The "X-ray image" thing was more of an illusion, that works in two ways. Any part of clothing that was insulated from body heat (either by undergarments, or thick seams, or by virtue of not being in direct contact with the skin) would be cooler than thin fabric stretched tight across body ... features. The cooler areas appear darker.

So, for tight garments you have the contrast between the fabric that is in contact with skin and the fabric that bridges across, say, two butt cheeks, which gives a 3D shading effect for normally invisible features.

Add to that the outlining of multiple layers of fabric, such as seams, pockets, undergarments, etc. and it reinforces the illusion of X-ray vision.

My understanding was that Sony stopped production of consumer night-vision-capable cameras because of the fuss about supposed X-ray pix.


This type of X-ray specs, OTOH, can be approximated by looking through a white feather as a filter, which merely forms a diffused image.

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Darwinist

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Reply #29 on: June 03, 2008, 06:23:49 PM

My understanding was that Sony stopped production of consumer night-vision-capable cameras because of the fuss about supposed X-ray pix.


Ugh.  Mine doesn't have it.  It is a 2007 model DVD recorder.  For the X-ray stuff I'll have to invest in some of those glasses advertised in the back of comic books.

For me, it is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring.    -  Carl Sagan


birdless

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Reply #30 on: June 04, 2008, 05:13:54 AM
Ha! I was just wondering if those comic-book-advertised specs used the same "white feather technique" Planish mentioned.



Bdoomed

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Reply #31 on: June 11, 2008, 05:46:20 AM
umm, in reference to night vision, i believe they shot the movie with the actual camera, so i think that camera actually has night vision.
but you know, as idiotic as fiddling around with the night vision at that time was, it was freaky when he turned it on and revealed that thing crawling on the ceiling.  :)

I'd like to hear my options, so I could weigh them, what do you say?
Five pounds?  Six pounds? Seven pounds?


Chodon

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Reply #32 on: June 11, 2008, 11:29:21 AM
I think MANY of the actions taken by the characters were completely idiotic.

Well, that is a standby of the horror genre, and not one that I think is all that un-called-for.  Think of a time you've been in a crisis situation.  I know that I haven't always made all the decisions that, in hindsight, I probably should have.  I think we're all so used to the uber-competent hero that is such a literary standard that we forget that people aren't really like that.  We don't always do the right thing, and we still have to try to survive, even with a few bad decisions.
That is an excellent point.  Upon further consideration it doesn't make a lot of sense to find the actors' reactions under stress to a life threatening situation implausible, but find a giant monster attacking New York within the realm of possibilities.

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DarkKnightJRK

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Reply #33 on: June 12, 2008, 01:49:45 AM
I got it a few weeks back on DVD--amazing movie, probably one of my favorite horror movies in a long time.



cuddlebug

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Reply #34 on: July 31, 2008, 03:41:05 PM
I just watched this on DVD, and man, am I annoyed that I didn't see it in the cinema. What an AMAZING movie. (Reminded me a bit of EP167: 'Love and Death in the Time of Monsters', but that is just my bad timing). Probably one of the best monster movies I have seen ... ever. ... and it managed to make the audience care about the characters, which is hard for a monster movie, but then again, this one was a love story as well, wasn't it?

I loved and hated the fact that it looked so REAL. For one, it made everything feel as if it was happening to me, which is great exercise for the adrenaline glands, but on the other hand it drove me mad, as I kept trying to see more, look closer, pay attention to more details ...

Obviously, there are things that could have been done better, but hey it is a movie, it is supposed to entertain me and that it certainly did. I searched for info on whether there will be a sequel/version B, but could not find anything useful. Wow, I would love to see a sequel and I would definitely see it in the cinema this time.

Now, gotta find myself a huge TV screen somewhere and see it again.



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Reply #35 on: July 31, 2008, 04:13:19 PM
Probably one of the best monster movies I have seen ... ever. ... and it managed to make the audience care about the characters, which is hard for a monster movie, but then again, this one was a love story as well, wasn't it?

I might have mentioned before that the host of Radio Playhouse has said, in response to friends who criticized Cloverfield for not showing enough of the creature, that "it's not about the monster!  It's about the people!"

This has led to me conceiving "the Cloverfield Defense" which I've recently used to respond to my wife's criticism of the Series 4 Doctor Who episode "Midnight".  ;D

(BTW I still haven't watched Cloverfield.)

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