Cutting a Teaser Trailer

capitalP

capitalP

Veteran
I have to put a teaser trailer together for a feature film, just wondering what are some of the do's and dont's of creating a cool trailer.

I watch a few trailers in the screen grab section, most were pretty simple nothing to crazy, I guest the #1 don't is to stay away from a voice over...?

Any advice/tips.

And do any one know where I can get/download the MPAA rating thingie that comes right before a trailer.. I'm looking for one in Red.

Thanks.
 
I do believe that the www.mpaa.org site has graphics for you to use. I had to make a Poster and DVD cover a few years ago and I think I got my graphics there.
 
or you can just create a red background (photoshop, etc) and type it out in whatever editing software you are using. it's really just a matter of looking at one that's already done and using the right fonts.
 
As a potential audience member, don't tell me the whole plot or show me the best bits out of the movie. Tell me the situation or plot trigger, yes, give me a character or two to begin to love/hate, intrigue me, leave me thinking "wow, I wanna see what happens next".

And please, make sure the trailer honestly presents whatever kind of movie it is - coz there's nothing worse than realising 30 minutes into a movie that it's not what I expected at all and I've wasted my time and money thanks to a dishonest trailer.
 
clang said:
And please, make sure the trailer honestly presents whatever kind of movie it is - coz there's nothing worse than realising 30 minutes into a movie that it's not what I expected at all and I've wasted my time and money thanks to a dishonest trailer.
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I feel your pain on this one. I myself have fallen victim to this, a good example is Biker Boyz.. lol.

But great tips, I'm doing the blue print right now as we speak for the teaser. This is a feaure film and since it is only a teaser, it's tough to introduce a character and the story all at once, but I'm trying my best!

So the #1 thing I gotta do is find a way to introduce a character and the story line. This is tougher to do with no "Movie Voice" guy or cheasy Text on screen, but I'm going to try different methods.

The average teaser should be less then 30seconds, maybe I'll post my drafts here so you guys can critic it before it's officially release...
 
capitalP said:
I have to put a teaser trailer together for a feature film, just wondering what are some of the do's and dont's of creating a cool trailer.

I watch a few trailers in the screen grab section, most were pretty simple nothing to crazy, I guest the #1 don't is to stay away from a voice over...?

Any advice/tips.
Click to expand...

think about the trailers you have seen that actually made you go out and pay for a movie ticket versus waiting for it to come out on DVD. study the type of cuts they include. i wouldn't say stay away from voice overs but if the voice doesn't sound authentic or the script he's reading isn't like what we're used to hearing then can it. don't give too much away but give us enough that we at least have an idea of what it's about. research.

start here:

http://www.apple.com/trailers/

http://joblo.com/movietrailers.php

:beer:
 
what i get from the trailer is that a guy comes home from the bing and tries to reclaim what was once his, but there's a new crew running the streets??

there's a few shots i would take out. the kids gambling in the streets seems to be shown like three times. that's just me though. also i didn't get anything from the shot with the dude in the black hoodie or the chick walking before that they just seemed like random shots to me. whose the main characters of the story? i'd only include either the best cinematic shots you got or a coupla more clips that help give us a feel visually of what we might expect.

this is just my opinion, of course i'm no trailer expert. a trailer that leaves me scratching my head won't get me in the movie theater or my blockbuster money though.
 
The trailer really confuses me. The cutting in and out of the music track doesn't really work and it's jarring. The track itself doesn't fit IMO and it makes the opening feels exactly like the music video; I half expect people to start rapping into the camera.

If this is a gritty gangster return story then you should show the blood and the violence. Nothing long, just a quick brutal glimpse should be enough. It was dragging too much with him chatting and high-fiving his friends and the tension wasn't there for me. The red text font at the end isn't bad though.
 
Hmm, it's not clear to me what the movie's about. A guy's presumably just out of jail (although that needs to be made more explicit), and is back in his old neighbourhood. Presumably he's our protagonist. He's one of the gamblers throughout ? - need some closeups to confirm that, remember the audience has never seen or heard him 30 seconds ago. And he has big plans, great, what are they? Going straight, or winning the next crooked bet, or opening an icecream stand, or holding up a bank, or becoming mayor, what? We need at least a hint, to make us think "hmm, I wanna see what happens when he tries that" And what stands in his way of that goal? Again, we need just a hint, coz the movie will be boring if nothing stands in his way. The final shot could maybe be a still of something dramatic related to goal or obstacle or both - icecream cone or gun or whatever...

Technically, I'd look for more close-ups of the protagonist - others' reactions at seeing him can be done more as voice overs - so that we concentrate more on him. Don't be afraid to mix and match video and sound from somewhere else in the movie, you can do a lot with video and sound that deliberately don't match.

And watch the sound - in the first half, the music loop gets quieter when people are talking and that works well, but in the second half the music just cuts in and out entirely, which is jarring. I'd personally go for music throughout (always lower in volume than any dialogue or other important sounds) then cut to silence for the 'final 'big plans' line.

Hope that's some help...
 
FilmBoy77 said:
what i get from the trailer is that a guy comes home from the bing and tries to reclaim what was once his, but there's a new crew running the streets??
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Yup, you nailed it.

FilmBoy77 said:
there's a few shots i would take out. the kids gambling in the streets seems to be shown like three times. that's just me though. also i didn't get anything from the shot with the dude in the black hoodie or the chick walking before that they just seemed like random shots to me. whose the main characters of the story? i'd only include either the best cinematic shots you got or a coupla more clips that help give us a feel visually of what we might expect.
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Yeah those gambling shots were just random shots, I put those in there to get a feel of what kind of city it is.

The main character of the story is the guy who speaks last. I guest I need to get more close-up shots of him.


jade8472 said:
The trailer really confuses me. The cutting in and out of the music track doesn't really work and it's jarring. The track itself doesn't fit IMO and it makes the opening feels exactly like the music video; I half expect people to start rapping into the camera.

If this is a gritty gangster return story then you should show the blood and the violence. Nothing long, just a quick brutal glimpse should be enough. It was dragging too much with him chatting and high-fiving his friends and the tension wasn't there for me. The red text font at the end isn't bad though.
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That's the last thing I want is for the trailer to confuse anybody, the reason I put the music track is to avoid using Voice Over and writing anything over a black screen. But I see what you mean about the music jarring. I'll work on that.

clang said:
Hmm, it's not clear to me what the movie's about. A guy's presumably just out of jail (although that needs to be made more explicit), and is back in his old neighbourhood. Presumably he's our protagonist. He's one of the gamblers throughout ? - need some closeups to confirm that, remember the audience has never seen or heard him 30 seconds ago. And he has big plans, great, what are they? Going straight, or winning the next crooked bet, or opening an icecream stand, or holding up a bank, or becoming mayor, what? We need at least a hint, to make us think "hmm, I wanna see what happens when he tries that" And what stands in his way of that goal? Again, we need just a hint, coz the movie will be boring if nothing stands in his way. The final shot could maybe be a still of something dramatic related to goal or obstacle or both - icecream cone or gun or whatever...

Technically, I'd look for more close-ups of the protagonist - others' reactions at seeing him can be done more as voice overs - so that we concentrate more on him. Don't be afraid to mix and match video and sound from somewhere else in the movie, you can do a lot with video and sound that deliberately don't match.

And watch the sound - in the first half, the music loop gets quieter when people are talking and that works well, but in the second half the music just cuts in and out entirely, which is jarring. I'd personally go for music throughout (always lower in volume than any dialogue or other important sounds) then cut to silence for the 'final 'big plans' line.

Hope that's some help...
Click to expand...

Ok. Again the sound is an issue, I have to try and fix that. But thanks for the thorough breakdown.


Mickey Munday said:
i have no idea what the movie is about based on the trailer.
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Not good.:)

Thanks all for the critic, many issues but I'd say from reading, the biggest issue is the sound.

I'm going to use these feedbacks into touching some things up before I officially release the teaser.
 
We're still in production, we should wrap up in another month. Then there's post production. We started filming in May of this year. The film should be out January 08.
 
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