The kino as a documentary camera is used heavily in "Time."
The working title of the fifth episode of Stargate Universe‘s sophomore season has been released, courtesy of writer-producer Joseph Mallozzi’s blog. “Cloverdale” is written by executive producer Brad Wright.
“Cloverdale?” As in … the town in Oregon near the cheese factory? the city in Australia? or the town in British Columbia that serves as Smallville‘s downtown shooting location?
While the in-Universe significance of this title is not yet known, it may be a play on the 2008 monster film Cloverfield. The Matt Reeves / J.J. Abrams film offered a unique perspective on the invasion of a gigantic monster into a major metropolitan city. It was told entirely through a hand-held camera, taken by the film’s characters first to a party and then onto the streets once the crisis began.
Cloverfield‘s shakey-cam style of amateur, accidental documentary has been cited as one of the inspirations behind the look of SGU, which has also taken cues from shows like Firefly and The Shield to develop its realistic, on-the-ground feel. Robert C. Cooper, Wright’s fellow executive producer and co-creator of SGU, pushed this style to the limits in creating the visually unique episode “Time,” which aired this past fall.
In that episode, much of the story is told through the lens of a kino — a remote-controlled camera that Eli uses to document the crew’s missions and activities.
Could “Cloverdale” perhaps follow “Time” as an episode presented predominantly through the lens of a kino? Or is the working title just a coincidence? Keep your browser locked on GateWorld for more on Season Two and the rest of Season One in the weeks ahead!
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Somehow I don't think so.
That shakey cam BS is absolutely horrible!!!!!!! The worst idea to come to video of any kind. Why do the writers/directors feel they need to copy the lame ideas of other shows?
Maybe it'll be a cross between Cloverfield and Sunnydale - Buffy the Shaky Cam Hunter in Space!
I like the hand-held camera approach. True, people tend to adopt techniques that get popular. But I honestly like this, like the SG1 episode Heroes.
I just wished the peopl that use it come up with a reason with why it is being used. Such as a kino or a film crew, not just absently there for no reason.
months before SGU aired, I begged all not to let the powers that be make SGU anything like the miserable horrible terrable crap cloverfield garbage! Now I see that someone or some people are actually going to do just that!! Aackk Arrghh GRRRRR!
NOOOOOOOooooooooooo!!!!!!
That will only make me bummed out..
I'm not generally a fan of the hand-held camera approach, I thought it looked terrible in films like Blair Witch and Cloverfield.
However, I thought it really worked in "Time" and I don't think I would've liked the episode as much if it had shown in the usual manner.
So if they are going to repeat that success, I am all for it.
@cheapshot: I couldn't agree more. The shakey cam was a bad idea, is a bad idea, and will continue to be a bad idea. TPTB are copycats and also-rans. Cooper & Wright = Berman & Braga. It's all downhill from here. Ignore the fans and you get what you deserve: failure & cancellation.
Well, I thought Cloverfield sucked big time. The camerawork is fine for a few minutes, but not an hour or two. Heh, Cloverdale is probably a blending of Cloverfield and Sunnydale (or was that vale? - the high school in Buffy). Ah, I can see it now, monsters roaming around alien high school eating students. Well, at least it would be amusing. They could air that episode on Saturday night then ;)
Cloverfield’s shakey-cam BAD idea!
I like to see the detail and enjoy the show, not get dizzy watching a program filmed as if by a 4 year old...
Will not be watching this anymore!
I didn't like Cloverfield because of the filming style. I was interested to see what a full movie shot like that would be like, and afterwards I definitely felt it was way, way too much.
I don't mind the Kino's that much (would be great though if they were used for more exploration and less drama filming!), but I definitely don't want to see more entire episodes based around them and shot in this manner.
I've pretty much written off the rest of Season 1 since they've finished filming it before they could take in and consider the backlash such a large part of the fansbase has had. That said, Season 2 needs to get off to a VERY strong start if it hopes to keep anyone who's even more skeptical now watching the show, and I'm not really sure that doing episodes like this will accomplish that O_o (assuming, of course, this article turns out to be accurate on the 'cloverfield/cam/filming' connection)