The Reservist - Teaser Trailer (XHA1/M2)

DammitJanet

DammitJanet

Well-known member
The teaser for Sleep Soldier Films' first feature The Reservist is up now. It was shot on the XHA1 with a RedRock M2 and follow focus using a Nikon 50mm lens. The exterior shots used the VIVIDRGB preset and everything else was stock, though color correction was done on everything in Sony Vegas 7.

You can download the HD version here (92mb and highly recommended), or if you're in a hurry you can check out the YouTube version here. We hope this trailer makes you as excited as it makes us.

For more info on the movie, click on the banner in my signature.
 
You definitely have some nice shots in there but there is nothing here to hold my interest. Instead of these scenes offering me any insight into the overall film, you have basically shown us what appears to be a single scene from the film with no context.

A guy wakes up and takes a shower. He's thinking of a conversation he had with an army buddy of his. I'm sorry, I don't see what else you have offered. Was I supposed to pick up something else?

A teaser or trailer will usually show snippets from the first and second act of a film (the introduction to the characters and then whatever conflict/dilemma/challenge they stumble into). This way, you get a sense of being thrilled or intrigued as to what this character will have to overcome. This immediately gets people interested...you have given them a plot without a resolution and they will have to see the film to see that resolution.

In your trailer, you have shown no plot. You have not indicated any relationship between these two soldiers. There's not even anything mysterious or interesting about the flashback footage when he's in the shower.

Sorry to be so harsh but I think you can do much better than this. Take a look at all the trailers on Apple's site and get an idea of why most of them work.
 
Hmm, I'm not sure I agree with disjecta. There was definitely a tease missing. I didn't feel teased, so much as it was a single scene like disjecta mentioned.

Sometimes teasers are tough. I feel like the only people that should make teasers are filmmakers like David Lynch, where it doesn't have to be or do anything more than say 'A David Lynch Film' anywhere in the clip, and everyone will get wet in their pants. Or, like the Transformers teaser trailers back in 06, when all it had to do was say TRANSFORMERS and everyone would have nostalgic orgasms. The tease works, because obviously, everyone knows what they're getting. A ****ed up Lynch movie or robots, respectively.

It was a solid piece on it's own, but I agree that it could have used more, and probably try without teasing. Definitely good shots and good footage (though I didn't like the yellow shower scene).

So, good work with the camera.
 
Where does the grain come from here ? It is evident especially in the mids of your opening shot, I watched the HD version and don't believe this is a product of the compression. Could this be gain or maybe due to the adapter? Also on a visual note, I do think this needs some color adjustment . The colors indoors seem especially off. I would agree with the shower scene not looking so good.

I think this shows promise but would also agree with Disjecta as far as pacing and story. You need to draw us in and move things around a bit. Who are these characters? What have they been through? What are they going through now?

Keep it up!
 
I tend to agree with disjecta here... as I really wasn't teased or told anything about your film... also, it was far too long for a teaser, IMO :)
 
First of all, I understand what you gentlemen mean. I know this is not the usual format for a trailer. I know what a trailer consists of and I was deliberately doing something different here. If people can look at something different and only see "something wrong" or think "Oh you're doing that all wrong. You can't do things that way!" then maybe I'm entering the wrong line of work. I don't like to make things that have been done a million times already. I prefer to tread new ground, and I would hate to think that the art of filmmaking has limitations dictated by the way Hollywood does things. I don't know about you guys, but Hollywood has let me down a lot in the past and I see no reason to "follow the leader".

The reason I didn't give more of the story up is because this is a teaser. I find most trailers give the best stuff away anyway. I like to be surprised when I go to the theatre. If you can't look at this and tell that it's about the relationship between two soldiers (one who's obviously distressed over it) then I don't know what to tell you. Maybe the music I chose didn't help re-inforce the mood I was going for (is your sound turned on?). Maybe I relied too much on my actors to convey emotion instead of painting a big sign in the shower that said "HE'S DEPRESSED AND REGRETFUL HERE". Maybe the "standard" idea of a trailer makes you want to see all the funny parts, the explosions, the stunts, the big catch-phrases. I think trailers today give away too much. They're too dumbed down and take the fun out of the movie because they show you the coolest stuff it has to offer.

I'm willing to bet that even David Lynch had to do something different to establish his style and let people know that when they saw his name on the screen they were going to get something weird. If he had conformed to all of Hollywood's conventions, I doubt hearing his name would bring up the same feelings that it does for most of us now. I have always felt like indie film was the place to try new things and be different. If all anyone expects is the same old s.hit, then why are we even bothering?

The grain (or noise) came from the A1. We were still waiting on our light kit the day we shot that bedroom scene, and that was the best we could do with the adapter on.

I color corrected the whole thing to a place where I was happy with it. I had made the shower scene white, but changed it back to yellow as the white looked too sterile and to me, too boring. I like movies with lots of color. I like to be kept interested by the cinematography as well as the story. If I were going for something sci-fi, white would have been fine. For this, I felt the yellow worked better. I'm not sure how we can even criticize color too much, since one person's idea of "proper color" can change drastically to the next. One could look at the Matrix movies and say "ALL THAT GREEN! WHAT WERE THEY THINKING?!". They certainly weren't thinking about storytelling and dialogue, but regardless, the green worked for what they were doing.

I apologize if this sounds harsh, but if you can't get even a basic idea of what the movie is about (or at least the vibe it will have) from what I've shown you, then I really don't know what else I can say. It's a small taste of the movie, a movie that will be different. If "different" frightens you or makes you uncomfortable, then it might not be for you. And that's ok! Blue Velvet isn't for everybody either.
 
First of all, you don't need to defend yourself quite so vehemently. The people who have responded to your trailer have taken their own time, with no agenda, to tell you what they think. No one is trying to lecture you here. This is a learning forum and most people appreciate advice, good or bad. Your response suggests that you have your own opinion and that is that and you have little respect for those who disagree, implying you know more than they do. You seem not to be open to other things. If that works for you, then I'm not sure why you posted here.

Trying new things is great but they have to work also. I'm a theater-goer and an audience member and I have a broad taste in films. I think what you put together failed because it had absolutely no substance. I'm all for trying new innovative ways to convey an idea but the idea has to actually be conveyed. So I'm not dissing you for trying something new, I'm simply letting you know that if you want your film to reach a broad audience - or any audience, then you need to consider that audience and not solely yourself. If you make it as a famous or infamous director, then you will be in a better position to dictate how an audience should respond.

I really wish you the best of luck with your project but I'd watch the attitude a little and don't assume you know everything. Even the great directors sometimes make compromises and if you are only going to compromise your trailer/teaser and keep the "director's cut" intact, then it's a small sacrifice at this early stage of your career.

I am saying all this with the utmost respect for you and I have no intentions of getting into any kind of unpleasantness. I hope you can see it that way.
 
DammitJanet said:
I'm willing to bet that even David Lynch had to do something different to establish his style and let people know that when they saw his name on the screen they were going to get something weird. If he had conformed to all of Hollywood's conventions, I doubt hearing his name would bring up the same feelings that it does for most of us now. I have always felt like indie film was the place to try new things and be different. If all anyone expects is the same old s.hit, then why are we even bothering?
Click to expand...


I don't think it's fair to compare David Lynch with your teaser. He did bring something different.
There's nothing 'different' in your teaser apart from it not being engaging... which is not the kind of 'difference' anyone should be trying to achieve.
 
Disjecta...

I definitely see what you're saying, and I guess it's just kind of hard not to feel ganged up on. I'm very passionate about filmmaking, so I tend to get a bit heated when my stuff comes under fire. I appreciate your insight very much (this site is usually great for that kind of thing) and I meant no disrespect. I didn't mean to imply that our fellow dvxusers don't have the cognitive capacity to see something good in something different, and I apologize if anyone got that impression. I assure you I'm not as egotistical as I come off sometimes. I also probably shouldn't have expected any other sort of response since this is a site frequented by many pros who have a tendency to look more towards the technical side of things. The response from the average joe so far has been very positive.

So perhaps it would be best not to think of this as a "teaser" or "trailer". Maybe more of a sneak peek or technical test. I imagine that as we get more footage a more traditional trailer will be made. Perhaps the response then will be a bit more positive. I agree that no unpleasantness is necessary. I'm a big fan of your work and I really do appreciate your input.
 
Now, without making this into a high school-ish ordeal, I just felt I'd step in here. It's odd because at this point, I've shown this trailer to many people in and out of the industry, and everyone seems really engaged and excited by it. You all are entitled to your own opinions, but at this point, what you saw was approximately 1/3 of the usable footage we've had. We've been learning a lot about filming, and we chose not to give any dialogue here because, apparently, we have an uber-sensitive mic that picks up 1/2 MPH winds and makes it seem galeforce. To keep it all intact, we went for more of an approach to show you what the movie is going to look like, and just show you what to expect as far as that goes. We're planning on many a re-shoot this winter, hopefully under better conditions.

This has been a learning experience, but you must forgive us if our responses seem a bit on the harsh side. This movie is something that the both of us have been pouring our hearts, souls, and yes, even our pocketbooks into. We're very proud of what we've been able to make, and the subject matter of the film hits very close to home, as it was MY brother who was killed last year in Iraq, and became the catalyst for the making of this film. My compatriot, DammitJanet, has been like family for years, so in a way, I think our first reaction to someone ripping apart our project was that it was a spat in the face to our story.

Perhaps we're a bit biased as we know the plot of the film and could see the plot playing out in our heads as we produced the trailer. I know this doesn't adhere to normal rules regarding trailers, but this is a personal story about one soldier who's been affected by what's happened to his friend. That's what we were trying to portray.

Now, as far as the LOOK of the film goes, you'll just have to see. We meticulously chose what the look of the film will be, and didn't just pick a certain preset or kind of color correction just because we thought it looked cool.

With ALL of this being said, I hope this doesn't dissuade you from watching our progress here, as what you've seen is only the very tip of a very big iceberg of a project. Your input is important, and we will consider what you all have said when putting things together in the future. Compromises can and will be made, artistically, but as I'm the one that's putting up the money for this, it all comes down on me as far as what the movie looks like and everything. If other people had their money in here, I'd be more willing to listen to what they have to say. But, we're not trying to shatter box-office records here, nor are we pandering to anyone for attention. What we set out to do with this project is simple. We wanted it to be something that we were proud of, and wanted it to show other people out there who have experienced this kind of loss that they aren't alone in their grief. I think that's what movies are all about. The audience connecting to the story. In my other projects, I've kidded myself into thinking that the story didn't have to be important, as long as the movie looked cool. That will only take you so far, though.

I picked DammitJanet as my director for several reasons. He's very talented, knows the subject matter of the script very well, and is extremely passionate in what he does. I have all kinds of faith in him.

In conclusion, don't write us off. I hope you'll stick around to check out what further developments we have coming with this project. We still have a year to go, obviously, so keep your eyes peeled. Thank you for your time, though, in watching the trailer, and in giving your opinions.
 
I was always, taught. "If I can't say something nice, then dont say anything at all" So well at least you have a nice camera
 
DammitJanet said:
I see no reason to "follow the leader".
Click to expand...

Just for the record, I'm not much of a 'Hollywood' Film buff either, so my critiques didn't personally come from this place. I LOVE new innovative film, some of my favorite directors are Jarmusch and the Coen Brothers (who I see you also enjoy).

I find that the best possible way to improve is listen to the critiques of others and implement what you are comfortable with and also throw some out the window. At least this is hugely helpful to me and the main reason I am attracted to this online community. I have just posted a short film I made in 48 hours, feel free to rip it apart or compliment it, I will only appreciate your comments and try to learn from them.
 
I think we would have definitely avoided a little tension if it wasn't called a teaser. Because, as some sample footage, or a sneak peak, etc, it works really good. Just, after watching it, I didn't know what to expect from the movie that would follow. I definitely felt the emotion he feels about having to report to duty, and I think that was strong enough that it could have just been that. The strength of what the flashbacks were communicating didn't seem strong.

And yeah, I totally didn't get what exactly was with the flashbacks. I thought maybe PTSD. But it was hard to think much about it. Once they hug, and then they talk. You don't even see the other person's face in the first flash back, I can't even be sure it's the same guy upon first view. And then (the wonderfully shot) push up scene, while it paints some intensity, didn't reinforce anything about the relationship between them.

Oh, and I just didn't like the yellow during the shower. It's not wrong, persay, just not what I liked. Though, I liked the yellow in the mirrors. I might have gone for a white balanced desaturated look, personally.

I like your actor's performance, for what little he had to work with to make a good performance. Also, question, in the final cut, that you may envision now (which would undoubtedly change) are the flash backs cut in? Like I mentioned, the emotion of reporting to duty is strong, and could stand up alone. But, if it's about their relationship, I think it needed another direction or reinforcement to convey that.

You guys will have a good film in the end, though. It looks promising, but I think sleepsoldier sold the movie better than this footage.
 
Thanks for weighing in, mayodaze. I can say that this "sneak peek" will bear little resemblance to the final product in terms of continuity. It will all make much more sense in the end. I was just doing the best I could with what footage I had. Let's just say we're very excited.
 
DammitJanet and sleepsoldier,

I think your teaser looked interesting, and well shot. I thought a couple of the interior shots looked a bit soft compared to the outdoor stuff, but overall it was interesting and gave me an idea of the film's potential. Not everyone will agree, but I liked the grain. I think it fits this subject matter. I also really liked the color grading you did on the exterior footage.

In terms of length, I think it could have been a bit shorter, but I respect your desire to not copy the Hollywood style of trailers.

If you are interested in an example of a teaser trailer that is different than most, check out the one for Aliens, on disc 9 of the Alien Quadrilogy DVD set. It starts out slow and builds to a fury. There isn't one voice-over at all, and consists of just music, image, and sound. It's my favorite trailer and one I think gives a good example of something different, yet compelling without giving away too much.

I hope this helps, and I wish you both the best of luck with this ambitious and important project.
 
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