New Feature Film Trailer - heads or tails

[blindzero]

We just posted our brand new Trailer A for the feature film "heads or tails" shot entirely on the dvx100p and edited on Final Cut Pro.

http://www.foolmartyr.com/

We're hoping to have our premiere by the end of the year.

If you have the time, please check it out and let me know what you think!

Clark

[Story_of_Yesterday]

DVD copies gonna be available? I'm definitely interested.

[blindzero]

We'll be sending it to films festivals starting later this month and show it in a few cities around the east coast before thinking about dvd.

[blindzero]

anyone else have any suggestions/comments?

we are going to be submitting to some festivals next week and would like as much input (constructive criticism) etc before sending out the trailer and the rough cut.

our rough cut is about 2 hours right now.

thanks in advance!
clark

[lobot]

i think the most inticing part is the last bit, when the little girl says "don't go in there, he's already dead." *it's very horroresque, and her delivery is good. *usually, you may say, save the best for last. *but i think in this case, being a trailer, you should open with that, to pull us right into whatever hints of story you are giving. *otherwise, you are opening with some nice looking shots but they don't pull us into any kind of story. *the story comes along with the legend, but it doesn't seem dramatic enough.

so if you open with the little girl line, then the text that comes after it, when you cut to the man on the hill from the beginning, we'd be like, ooh, who's that guy, is he the killer? *is he the one who gets killed? *rather than, oh, a man on a hill.

otherwise, i think you can tighten it up. the two men on the cliff i think appear too often. the one guy preaching to the other guy is a mostly exposition and not dramatic enough for a one minute trailer. you've got some hints of good shots, show them off, wow us!

[wakeboardr99]

I thought it was awesome, not much criticism here, great shots, and really really great music. One question though - compared to what I've seen your trailer has a really nice film look to it, what did you use to achieve that ? lenses, colorcorrection? thanks

[Derrick_SA]

Hello there,

Enjoyed the trailer. Although the there's something about the start of the trailer that's "just not right" for some reason. The Audio design I thought was very good!

Just my humble opinion.

thanks,
Derrick

[machardi]

Like everyone else, I dug the sound and audio design, thought it was top notch (has anyone ever heard anyone say that something was middle or bottom notch? Or second to top notch? These notches are underrepresented in the american vernacular) and a lot of the framing was wonderful.

I have no idea what your movie is about, however.

Phil

p.s. Of course, i read a few months ago that when they try to market hollywood movies, they go out of their way to make sure that the beginning, middle, and end of the movie are all carefully spelled out, because "Americans won't go see a movie unless they know how it's going to end." I personally hate seeing trailers for that reason, so don't go -too- far in that direction, for my money's worth.

p.p.s. Why is the message box so small for replies?

[blindzero]

i think the most inticing part is the last bit, when the little girl says "don't go in there, he's already dead." it's very horroresque, and her delivery is good. usually, you may say, save the best for last. but i think in this case, being a trailer, you should open with that, to pull us right into whatever hints of story you are giving

This makes perfect sense. I tried to suck people in with the story because people said the teaser was too abstract, but honestly I like being abstract, and not really giving away too much. Maybe just a collection of creepy/interesting parts, with a little voiceover to help get the story out is the way to go.

There is plenty that happens in the cliff story that I COULD put in the trailer, but I'm still dancing that line as what to show and what not to give away. My biggest pet peeve is trailers that show everything...what's the point of going to the movie when the trailer hints at every plot element. Unless there is intentional misdirection it ruins the film (and even if there is misdirection in the trailer, it might still ensure I never watch the movie because I feel like everything is given away and thus i've actually seen the 2 hour film in 2 and a half minute form).

Good suggestion though. I think I will put the end first for Trailer B.

[blindzero]

I thought it was awesome, not much criticism here, great shots, and really really great music. One question though - compared to what I've seen your trailer has a really nice film look to it, what did you use to achieve that ? lenses, colorcorrection? thanks

Thanks!
The main thing we did was shoot like we were shooting film. My co-director and DP were great at pushing the camera to get the best possible image. My only suggestion really is to light for film not video. We are going to post a list of lenses, lights, and equipment we used once the film is complete, but I think it's more on just making your resources work.

There is definately a little color correction in this trailer but it's minimal except where it's either green or blown out. (feet walking on bridge for instance). We have been saving most color correction until the end though...so most of what you see was captured in camera.

[blindzero]

p.s. Of course, i read a few months ago that when they try to market hollywood movies, they go out of their way to make sure that the beginning, middle, and end of the movie are all carefully spelled out, because "Americans won't go see a movie unless they know how it's going to end." I personally hate seeing trailers for that reason, so don't go -too- far in that direction, for my money's worth.

p.p.s. Why is the message box so small for replies?


I totally agree. Some filmmakers like Zemekis think the american audience wants trailers to be like a menu, explaining exactly what is on the dish right down to the ending (see the Castaway trailer which gave away the whole thing ensuring there would be no suspense to any of it!). I worked at a video store (for far too long), and while there were people like that asking everything about it before taking it home, there were more people that complained "all the funny parts were in the trailer" or "i knew who the killer was from the trailer", or "the back of the box gave it away) etc...Sure, hollywood got their money so it doesnt matter to them but still...

[blindzero]

we just posted our new website. a few different screencaps.
www.foolmartyr.com

[blindzero]

After over 18 months of production, we are finally premiering our film "heads or tails" on February 19th 2005 at the Weinberg Center in Frederick Maryland. 8pm

heads or tails
feature film premiere
Weinberg Center
February 19th 2005
www.foolmartyr.com
www.weinbergcenter.org

Weinberg Center is an historic theater that seats over 1000 people. Cast and Crew will be present and it will be the first time any of them have even seen the film.

I appreciate all the feedback on the teasers/trailers and pics from everyone on this board. If any of you are able to make it out, be sure to introduce yourself!

Thanks again for all the input!

[Kirk Gillock]

That's great news. Congratulations and good luck!!! ;D

[Isaac_Brody]

Congrats on the upcoming Premiere.

[seantree]

I'm in Cumberland MD. I swore to myself that there was not a single person near me with the same interests. Looks as if I was wrong. I want to attend your premiere. How would I go about getting my ticket? BTW, I'm downloading the trailer right now. I'll post thoughts after viewing it.
EDIT: NM, just found the link to buy tickets and watched the trailer. Looks great, can't wait to see the full film.

[blindzero]

Thanks! Glad you can make it.
You can get tickets at the Weinberg Center Box Office (301)228-2828.


I'm in Cumberland MD. I swore to myself that there was not a single person near me with the same interests. Looks as if I was wrong. I want to attend your premiere. How would I go about getting my ticket? BTW, I'm downloading the trailer right now. I'll post thoughts after viewing it.
EDIT: NM, just found the link to buy tickets and watched the trailer. Looks great, can't wait to see the full film.

[mastermind]

i too would definately start with the don't go in there dad line. other than that, good trailer. i noticed at one point that the guy sitting in the chair when someone get out of bed dissapears for 1 frame. what's taht about. just curious.

[Young-H._Lee]

YO CLARK AND SEANTREE

what the - I'm in Rockville, Maryland!

[blindzero]

awesome! you gonna be able to make it out?

[PrestonH]

Cool! Maybe you've already answered this somewhere, but how do you plan to exhibit (project) it at your premiere? Details?

By the way for whatever reason I didn't have mp4 files associated with Quicktime so consequently Media Player tried to open it and failed. Manually opening it in Quicktime worked fine. Other's might not be able to figure that out.

Best of luck!

[blindzero]

Thanks.
Yeah once we get this film finished completely (we are still doing color correction and scoring) we will put up brand new codecs of all the trailers so there won't be this mp4 issue.

We're going to be projecting digitally at the Weinberg Center in Frederick Maryland. It's a fairly large venue (seats over 1000 people) so I have to rent an Eiki projector. We are unsure if we'll be able to get everything together in time to press a DVD (and I'm nervous just burning a copy as I've had drop out issues) so we will probably go out to a DVCPRO 2 hour tape with a DVD backup. For sound we may use the house system (which is built for stage not movies) so we'll have to bring in our own powered accent speakers to boost dialogue.



Cool! Maybe you've already answered this somewhere, but how do you plan to exhibit (project) it at your premiere? Details?

By the way for whatever reason I didn't have mp4 files associated with Quicktime so consequently Media Player tried to open it and failed. Manually opening it in Quicktime worked fine. Other's might not be able to figure that out.

Best of luck!

[MANSTER]

nice pix. But, how the acting ???

Before I buy a ticket I like to see both. ;) ;) ;)

[IDOG]

wow, wow, wow, wow! That is aewsome! The shots are great! Sick.

[blindzero]

nice pix. But, how the acting ???

Before I buy a ticket I like to see both. ;) ;) ;)
we'll probably be posting one more trailer before we have the premiere. hopefully you'll get to see the acting in it too.
i thought everyone did an excellent job. we only gave the actors their stories so they had to focus all their energy into their character instead of worrying about the story as a whole.

[IncMedia]

tails ;D

[blindzero]

tails ;D

shhh.
you might spoil it :)

[Wing]

Just watched the teasers and the trailer. tearserblarge24.mp4 seems to be squashed. Like it's an anamorphic movie being further letterboxed. Am I seeing things?

Some nice dramatic shot compositions there. Having said that, what impressed me most was the soundtrack. Very haunting, very suspenseful. Your music guy Will Saxton did a sterling job.

Wing

[blindzero]

Thanks.
I'm not sure about squashing issue. We created those files before we really knew much about codecs and such. It's possible. We're going to be redoing them once color correction is done if we have time before the premiere.

Will's soundtrack is darn good. We just sent it to be pressed today so it'd be in time for the premiere. About an hour long.



Just watched the teasers and the trailer. tearserblarge24.mp4 seems to be squashed. Like it's an anamorphic movie being further letterboxed. Am I seeing things?

Some nice dramatic shot compositions there. Having said that, what impressed me most was the soundtrack. Very haunting, very suspenseful. Your music guy Will Saxton did a sterling job.

Wing

[soundman]

that was a trip. just downloaded the lrg. trailer and all i got was a q.t. movie mit out picture. the sound was a#1. pro. just no picture. a sound mans wet dream.

[blindzero]

man... i dont know what's up with the trailer lately. either it's my webservice or the codec...i'll have to redo it soon.

glad you liked how it sounded

that was a trip. just downloaded the lrg. trailer and all i got was a q.t. movie mit out picture. the sound was a#1. pro. just no picture. a sound mans wet dream.

[blindzero]

The premiere was on Saturday the 19th and went really well. We sold out the bottom floor and half the balcony. Still awaiting final count but it should be in the 900 range.

We rented a 7700 lumen Eiki LC-XT2 to project from about 100 feet away. We got around a 32 x 22 foot image. Once calibrated that machine can really pump out a bright strong image. Definately recommended.

The theater's sound was only L and R so we had a bit of trouble with the music which was mixed wide coming in and invading the dialogue which was mixed on the center channel. To help with 2 "dead" spots in the theater- They had one large speaker only spitting out the L channel which to me seemed that it may have doubled anything mixed Wide Left thus reducing the center coming out of that speaker. I think if I had mixed the music lower it would have prevented this and plan on mixing lower before sending it out to any more festivals. I'm still learning sound mixing obviously but overall it did sound good other than about 15 seconds where sound completely dropped out (grrr)

Other than that it went without a hitch and I really appreciate all the help I received on these boards and if anyone is out there that saw the movie, please let me know your thoughts!

Thanks!
Clark

[Scott]

Wow! Congrats on such a large crowd! The film looks very interesting, and its good to hear things went well. Best of luck with the film from here on out. Any other plans for it?

[blindzero]

we'll be submitting to festivals and such. it's kinda dark/depressing so we got a very love it or hate it reaction Saturday night.

honestly, i wouldnt want it any other way.

clark


Wow! Congrats on such a large crowd! The film looks very interesting, and its good to hear things went well. Best of luck with the film from here on out. Any other plans for it?

[blindzero]

We just posted color corrected footage from our film "heads or tails" on our website www.foolmartyr.com.

All the previous trailers were before sound mixing and color correction so they were very much works in progress. Those trailers are still online for those that havent seen them but I'm really interested to see what some of you think of the color corrected footage.

If you have time- go to www.foolmartyr.com
Download the "Local Trailer" to see the color corrected footage. It's available in MP4, MOV and WMV.

This is not necessarily a trailer, it was basically footage that we edited together to show in a window of a local business on the Main Street in our home town for 2 weeks leading up to the premiere.

Let me know what you think!
Thanks!
Clark