1-18-08

Alright. I know this date, which has been doubling as a title, is being talked to death. I know that every blogger who keeps tabs on film development sites (ie Aintitcool and darkhorizons) has been addressing JJ Abrams new film, especially its viral marketing campaign that launched famously with a preview ahead of Transformers, for quite some time. Similarly, The Dark Knight has been identified as a user of the viral design as well. I want to take moment to heap some praise on Abrams' grand scheme.

I LOVE this campaign. Is it possible that I love this campaign because I have an infatuation with Abrams' show LOST? Yes, one, more than likely, influences the other. Is it possible to love 1-18-08's campaign, but feel something close to indifference for The Dark Knight's efforts? I've been trying to differentiate between my love for Abrams as an entertainer and my love for the Viral Marketing schematic. But, again, one influences the other.

Abrams is an entertainer. A showman. His campaign leans more towards the showmanship that a magician displays during the course of an act. There is buildup, sustained tension, red herrings, and a final revelatory release. Abrams uses all of those, illusions, and a sense of the sublime to create a world that involves his audiences, a pliable reality that they can interact with. 1-18-08's website is a perfect example.

Initially, it just contained pictures, which prompted hours of study, as people looked for visual clues, hoping that something lined up or inverted. Then, some lucky Joe figured out that the pictures flipped over and contained messages written on the back. Today, I found out that if you listen to the site for 6 minutes, you will hear the roar of the creature. All of these little discoveries make the audience feel like they're making these discoveries themselves, as if they're in on the whole Magic trick with Abrams. He utilizes web, movie theatres, print, and word-of-mouth. It truly is immersing and ingenious.

Yes, I LOVE it.

It reminds me of the way that Spielberg slowly builds to the reveal of the shark in JAWS. He hints at the Sharks capacity for wicked damage, at its monstrous size throughout the film's entirety. And in a small, subliminal way, the audience's fear creeps up on them as their imaginations fire-up images of just how big the beast could be.

Nobody knows exactly what is going on with 1-18-08, but they can't say that Abrams hasn't been working overtime to fire their imaginations and drop hints of the film's secrets.