A Letter to anyone who Edits Trailer's (Spoilers?)

Zacatac

Zacatac

Well-known member
Dear Sir/Madam,

I used to like your work, It was interesting, it teased the movie, it made me want to see it. I'm one who can sit and watch trailers all day. The trailer of yesteryear made me stand in awe watching it Not only did it show maybe two or three actions scenes, give a little exposition, but it always held something back. Something that made me want to go see the film, to get the full effect. Heck you could hint at it, maybe give a clue if you really paid attention. BUT DIDN'T GIVE AWAY THE TWIST.

Oh, excuse me, how rude of me to get so angry so soon, its just, I like to be surprised, hate to jump, but a surprise twist as in "I'm really dead" -Bruce Willis, the trailer did not give much of a clue to that, and is now considered one of the greatest twists of all time. Having that "AHHA!" moment during the climax of the film, makes it for me. Yes we all love the generic stories like Lord of the Rings, but even that had a twist, gollum being nice, then bad, then nice, then terrible. But the trailer gave no inkling (Yes you would know if you read the book). So why are you giving away the twists in the first teaser trailer you release!?

I Mean Come'on. Lets look at Exhibit A:
Shutter Island Trailer http://www.apple.com/trailers/paramount/shutterisland/
I wonder what the twist is? Maybe Leo is the 67th patient????? (Yes I read the book, and the way it turns out is so much more interesting) But maybe hinting at the idea he is, not full out giving it away so easily my little neice could figure it out. lets think about it, tease, don't ruin. Thats like me telling you Bruce Willis is dead, gives it all away.


I have more evidence, but I will widthold (Like the Stepfather trailer)

So I ask, I plead, you YES YOU, who edit the trailer, please. Tease me, play with me, give me something to think about, show me special effects that make me want to see the film. But don't tell me Transformers 2 is about the Decepticons trying to steal Shia's brain, and the Autobots have to save him..... Oh wait, you already did


With Love,
Zac
 
I used to edit studio trailers. there is a saying amongst editors who rather consistently see their best and most inventive work reshaped into something more conventional. and that is "version one is yours", as a way of finding solace in the fact that at least you get to do it your way first. but it's also well-known that versions 2 thru 50 belong to the client – the studio. and the studio largely makes their decisions based on feedback from regular people like you wandering the malls of Thousand Oaks CA.

So your beef is not with the editor, it is with the studio and Joe Sixpack. Trailers are tested to death until a high level of respondents say they'd definitely see the film. And routinely, sad as it may be, the more story you give people, the better understanding they have of what they'll get for their money, and so the more likely they are to pay to see it. Trailers that "tease" usually come back with general feedback that respondents just don't know enough about it to decide if they'd go – which is not good enough for a business venture of this scale.

one of the few ways to avoid this scenario is to have a name filmmaker who puts their foot down. but even so, the studio will often strike the following deal: the filmmaker will get creative control over the teaser, the studio gets say over the full fledged trailer a few months later.
 
I start at my new job editing trailers this week and I promise to fight the good fight! Although I don't expect to win. Unfortunately, like Zak said, I think trailers these days are not designed to give you the best possible movie viewing experience, but to get the most possible butts in the seats.
 
I thought the Cloverfield trailer was perfect. I went to see Transformers the night of it's release, and after the Cloverfield trailer there was a short silence, then a round of applause. It was a long time before I even knew what the movie was called. All the ending of the trailer said was something like "1.18.08"
 
It's far easier for you to close your eyes than it is to turn around and say no to a director calling for a shot.
Can you imagine? "mmm no no, I can't put the money shot in the trailer cuz some dude on the forum hates spoilers, man. How about the dancin' monkey shot instead, dude?"
 
Hawk Teflon said:
I thought the Cloverfield trailer was perfect. I went to see Transformers the night of it's release, and after the Cloverfield trailer there was a short silence, then a round of applause. It was a long time before I even knew what the movie was called. All the ending of the trailer said was something like "1.18.08"
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exactly thats my idea of an extreme version....
 
Blaming the editors for a sh*tty trailer is like blaming the waiter for cooking sh*tty food. The cooks are the hundred or so executives who have to justify the existence of their job by having an opinion. The editor is just the person who executes their commands. As Zak said, the editor gets one version, the next 50 are so come from "the comittee". Send your letter to the studio heads, not the editors (of which I am one).
 
Well lets rethink what I said, I'm not blaming them directly, it was mearly everyone involved with making the trailer, heck this includes the director, I don't understand why you would want to give away an entire plot to sway viewers to go see the movie..

well I can see that.. but still
 
Zacatac said:
Well lets rethink what I said, I'm not blaming them directly, it was mearly everyone involved with making the trailer, heck this includes the director, I don't understand why you would want to give away an entire plot to sway viewers to go see the movie..

well I can see that.. but still
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Yeah, but unless you're Spielberg or one of the elite, you really have little say. And ultimately, the studio is the one most at risk financially, so its understandable that they would have the final word, as wrong as it usually is.
 
Batutta said:
Yeah, but unless you're Spielberg or one of the elite, you really have little say. And ultimately, the studio is the one most at risk financially, so its understandable that they would have the final word, as wrong as it usually is.
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Yeah, but Scorsese, I'm not an expert of how much big directors have to say, but Shutter island trailer, it gives alot away... not EVERYthing... but alot, and I just don't see how he could have let that slide, unless he really has no say in it, or they snuck it out from under him
 
Zacatac said:
Yeah, but Scorsese, I'm not an expert of how much big directors have to say, but Shutter island trailer, it gives alot away... not EVERYthing... but alot, and I just don't see how he could have let that slide, unless he really has no say in it, or they snuck it out from under him
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I don't know anything about the story, but I think the trailer could have shown the first half, and I'd have gone to see it.
 
Zacatac said:
Well lets rethink what I said, I'm not blaming them directly, it was mearly everyone involved with making the trailer, heck this includes the director, I don't understand why you would want to give away an entire plot to sway viewers to go see the movie..

well I can see that.. but still
Click to expand...

Sounds odd that you DON'T want to know what the movie is going to be about? See if the trailer doesn't give you a plot then your more unlikely to see the film because your asking what is it about???

You spoke of Transformers 2. Yea but I bet you anything there's more than just megatron trying to get into his mind. Movies have more than one story to it sometimes.

So what if the trailer or teaser just showed The autobot cars fly past the road, shia screaming at something, meteorites coming from the sky, then the title Transformers 2. Would that excite you to really really see the film?

EDIT: Plus when you spoke of the plot of Transformers 2 that was the Trailer. Like you said you want to be teased, which you should know is a Teaser.

examples like Transformers 2 just showed us that there's going to be a bigger war (we've seen the 1st one, there's no need to get upset that decepticons are in the movie 'again')
or like when the 2012 teaser came out (google search and you know what it's about but if you never have that's good because you're about to get teased) like you ask what is 2012? A number? A date? Oh wow, looks like the world is ending from the water crashing in. But what actors are in it? Does the world come to a complete end? (I don't know because it's a teaser)

SPOILERS to those who haven't seen the trailer:
Now we get the trailer that doesn't tease.
". okay looks like the world definitely is coming to an end but not for good. The gov. are building the special ships (like the Ark) so humanity will still live, then rebuild their own world. ("not being teased anymore because it's not the trailer, and it looks good, and I would like to go see that")

EDIT AGAIN:
Now I have seen trailers where I'm just like WHY?? you just spoiled it for me but not many. I actually have a folder of Trailers that I liked and I currently have 129 trailers in there. Teasers and Trailers.
 
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Zacatac said:
Yeah, but Scorsese, I'm not an expert of how much big directors have to say, but Shutter island trailer, it gives alot away... not EVERYthing... but alot, and I just don't see how he could have let that slide, unless he really has no say in it, or they snuck it out from under him
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Scorsese probably has less power than one would think. Respect, yes, but that's not the same as power. When Spielberg says no, that's pretty much the end of the discussion. The worst example I can think of for a trailer that gave away far too much was WHAT LIES BENEATH. They pretty much showed you the whole enchilada, although the enchilada in this case, was filled with crap.
 
i've been around the people doing Scorsese's trailers as they're being cut –*Gangs, The Aviator. He's not involved in the process. But I imagine that if he were to take an interest, his voice would be heard.

I think it's important for everyone to understand that the director is rarely involved with the cutting of promotional materials. And I'd bet good money that the Shutter Island trailer began life giving less away and through the process of testing it, more and more was added until they were satisfied with how it scored.

And the industry differentiates between a teaser and a trailer. The Cloverfield teaser described above was indeed light on specifics. But don't forget a much more detailed trailer followed it, spoiling quite a bit of the film, including footage from the ending.
 
My big beef- polls.
Bad for politics, bad for movies (trailers included).

Give me the real deal; your vision, your statement.

Not after it's been polled/ shaped/ polled/ reshaped/ focus grouped/ tweaked/ homogenized/ diluted of any originality or surprise and sense of discovery.

Trailers by committee are part of that process.

What do i want from a trailer?
I want my curiosity aroused, not satiated!

Yes, you need to offer some elements of plot, action, actors and effects, but give me tastes of each, not the whole plate, OK?

Whether teaser or theatrical trailer, I want to leave wanting more, not feeling like I have no need to see the filler that connects what I've just seen.

Maybe the polls work for the execs to put bodies in seats, but I'm not an exec, I'm a viewer, and i want to feel like there's much more to see, know and be discovered in going to see the feature!

That's my 2¢ on trailers.
 
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