According to Nick Theodorakis, digital imaging supervisor for Cloverfield, he knew after signing onto the production the exact tool needed for the reality-mimicking monster thriller, shot mostly at night in the 100-percent handheld shooting style envisioned by producer J.J. Abrams.

Theodorakis says he was set on Sony’s F23 camera, which he had just used for a Michael Mann-directed Nike commercial, but at the time when Cloverfield began production, the F23 was not yet officially on the market. After pounding the pavement, he secured a test unit from Pace Technologies that he used to capture nearly all of the feature’s New York exteriors.

“When we viewed the footage, there were literally gasps in the room,” Theodorakis said. “Without any lighting, you could see so deep in the shadows it was unreal. The F23 sees more than the human eye.”

Cloverfield director of photography Michael Bonvillain helped director Matt Reeves create this new take on a monster movie of New York City under siege. There is no traditional scene coverage or musical score, and the entire story unfolds over about eight hours encapsulated in a 90-minute feature.  

The cast of characters of the mock documentary are played by unknown actors. A character named Hud shoots the entire movie all night long as New York is attacked by a very loud, very large monster.

“We needed the look of the movie to be very immediate, like found footage, so a 'YouTube' aesthetic was the look we were trying to achieve,” Theodorakis said. “The F23 provided latitude without sacrificing any color imagery, allowing us to stay as strict to reality as possible while generating that warm look of New York City’s streets with its sodium vapor lights.”

To mimic a Handycam camcorder’s look and feel with the movement and image quality of a studio camera and to satisfy the tremendous visual effects demands, Theodorakis says he placed the F23’s deck inside a backpack to loosen up the shots.

“I literally ran up and down the Brooklyn Bridge 10 times with Mike Bonvillain operating the camera and didn’t encounter a single problem,” he said.

Theodorakis says he liked the fact that the F23 was a system, not a mixture of “components thrown together.” He also found that the “real estate” of the camera’s controls made it ideal for mounting microphones and other accessories on top and for carrying the camera underneath the operator’s arm without fear of pressing the buttons.

“It’s obvious that Sony really listened and took the suggestions of cinematographers and DITs across the globe,” he said.

While comparisons to the The Blair Witch Project style of filmmaking are expected, Theodorakis anticipates that once people see Cloverfield, they’ll discover it’s a very different movie.

“In Cloverfield, something actually does happen—extraordinary things—and moviegoers get to see it all happen,” he said. “It’s a great story with great characters and a whole lot of fun.”