Teaser/Trailer: Documentary about Jazz in Washington

G

Giganova

Well-known member
Hi all --

I put together a teaser/trailer of an ongoing documentary project about jazz in Washington, DC. So far I have shot only about 10% of the final footage (JVC HD100 in 720/24p), but I wanted to create a teaser at this early stage that I can use for fundraising. Most of the jazz artists are very famous. The audio hasn't been polished yet.

First time film maker here, so any comments/suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

http://www.vimeo.com/3526957

Thanks for watching,
Gig
 
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Giganova:

First of all, congrats on your current project! Looks like something that will be fun to shoot and explore, especially since you can never have a bad time when there's jazz playing :)

My two cents: Cut the trailer down to half the time, maybe less. You want to show dynamic portions of what you've shot so far. I love the cinematography and your use of light and colour (very good indeed). Take your best interview clips and use those for your trailer. As much as the scenes of D.C. are cool, they should be saved for your final cut. They kinda take too much of your trailer and the last thing you want to do is make someone want to scroll through your clip.

I would jump into the scene where the audio talks about D.C. and then start to use snippets of the interviews you have so far. Make it about 2 minutes long... it's called a teaser for a reason, yes? You want people to think "wow, I love what I see so far!"

Honestly, what you've shot so far looks really good and you are definitely on the right track :)

Best of luck,
Dale
 
Hi Dale --

Thanks a LOT for you feedback and comments, which is very useful! I'll keep that in mind when I reedit the trailer/teaser.

Cheers,
Gig
 
Giganova:

I hope I didn't come across as a know-it-all or it was too harsh. Quite frankly, what I see so far is really, really good! If there's one thing I've learned about film (I'm a sports journalist originally who then went into film) is that anything you show people should leave them wanting to see more. It's funny how some Hollywood trailers leave you wondering "is that all there is?" instead of wanting to see more of the flick. After all, the trailer is designed to hook the viewer into seeing the film and wanting to know more about it.

Basically, a trailer should have the viewer asking questions... which, of course, the final movie should answer. The key is making something which can nicely tease the audience for 2-2:30 minutes.

As I said before, your footage looks great, it really does. The one thing I noticed about the people you showed in the trailer is that their faces have lots of character, don't be afraid to use that. People want to see interesting faces and characters, especially real life, everyday people. Honestly, the content you will shoot with these jazz musicians will hook people into your movie very quickly. Call it the mystique or charisma of jazz but people really love listening and watching musicians who play for the love of the music because they know how genuine they are.

-Dale
 
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