In the Cloverfield franchise every film have Cloverfield in the title but what is the significance of "Cloverfield", In 10 Cloverfield Lane it was the address of that area but in first film I can't understand its significance. Am I missing something? Does this word have some significance for the franchise?
2 Answers
In and Out of Universe Answers:
It's the name or codename of the Government's case and the out of universe answer is that it's road/exit JJ Abrams takes to work at the Santa Monica office.
Title
The film was initially named Cloverfield. This changed several times throughout production before it was decided that the original title would be used. Matt Reeves explained that the title was changed frequently due to the hype caused by the teaser trailer. "That excitement spread to such a degree that we suddenly couldn't use the name anymore. So we started using all these names like Slusho and Cheese. And people always found out what we were doing!" The director said that "Cloverfield" was the government's case designation for the events caused by the monster, comparing the titling to that of the Manhattan Project. "And it's not a project per se. It's the way that this case has been designated. That's why that is on the trailer, and it becomes clearer in the film. It's how they refer to this phenomenon [or] this case", said the director. The film's final title, Cloverfield, is the name of the exit Abrams takes to his Santa Monica office. In turn, the road used to lead to the Santa Monica Airport, which originally bore the name Clover Field.[citation needed]
One final title, Greyshot, was proposed before the movie was officially titled Cloverfield. The name Greyshot is taken from the archway that the two survivors take shelter under at the end of the movie. Director Reeves said that it was decided not to change the title to Greyshot because the film was already so well known as Cloverfield.
The film received a subtitle in Japan, where it was released as Cloverfield/Hakaisha (クローバーフィールド/HAKAISHA Kurōbāfīrudo/HAKAISHA). The subtitle "Destroyer" was chosen by Abrams and was translated into Japanese as Hakaisha (破壊者 lit. "Destroyer") by Paramount Japan at his request. The subtitle Kishin (鬼神 lit. "Demon[ic] God") was chosen for the manga spin-off, Cloverfield/Kishin, released exclusively in Japan. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloverfield
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1For a while the original film was promoted as "Monstrous": cloverfieldnews.com/2007/07/25/… I picked up a copy of the poster at San Diego Comic-Con and have it hanging in my hallway at home. Santa Monica Airport was originally named Clover Field in 1923 for a local fighter pilot who died in France during WWI, Greayer Clover: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greayer_Clover Jun 29, 2018 at 16:36
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Cool! Thanks @jeffronicus ! I love extra trivia!!! :) I kind of wonder if the history of the fighter pilot influenced or inspired Forever Young?? Abrams wrote the script and the short story it's based on... Jun 29, 2018 at 18:00
In the first Cloverfield movie, it was the government/military code name for the "incident" involving other-dimensional aliens. Neutral-sounding code names are used by the military in real life. Examples: "Fat Man", "Little Boy", and "Tuskegee Experiment".
However, that doesn't explain why that specific name was chosen.
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I think you're conflating "Tuskegee" and "Tunguska", which are very different spots. Jun 29, 2018 at 14:56
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Well, certainly Cloverfield was "the biggest interdimensional cross rip since the Tunguska Blast of 1909." - Ray Stantz, Ghostbusters Jun 29, 2018 at 17:28
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