Making trailers is hard!
- Thread starter Azmyth
- Start date
Try a new approach. You know what you have in the can so try scripting it before cutting it.
Postmaster
Dark Side of the Camera
Usually you use material from midpoint to the second half of act III.
Frank
Frank
Steve Laramie
Veteran
I find it easier if I have a score already made up. I get ideas from the music for trailers I edit.
Creating trailers is an art form in itself - I usually find that you don't want a feature editor cutting your trailer... There are also different types of trailers as you pointed out - teaser or not. Is it a trailer to interest a distributor versus a trailer for the end consumer?
When it came time to get serious for the last movie I produced and edited, I handed it over to one of the best commercial editors I know. His boutique is amazing at telling stories in 30 seconds, 60 seconds etc. After discussion what I wanted conveyed in the trailer (and not revealed), his team did an amazing job on the cut and the mix and had the right amount of energy and information to sell the film. I did not put an exact time request on it other than "no longer than 2.5 minutes. The trailer actually came in at under 2 minutes and works perfectly.
If you are doing your own trailer, and don't have the luxery of a friend that cuts commercials... don't feel a trailer needs to be linear like the movie. Shots out of context bring a different meaning when next to another shot. For example, in the current film I am editing, the trailer has some shots cut together from two totally different scenes, but in context of the trailer, it looked like the same scene, and the humor of the two shots together did a great job of getting the concept of what the characters and movie were about.
Michael
When it came time to get serious for the last movie I produced and edited, I handed it over to one of the best commercial editors I know. His boutique is amazing at telling stories in 30 seconds, 60 seconds etc. After discussion what I wanted conveyed in the trailer (and not revealed), his team did an amazing job on the cut and the mix and had the right amount of energy and information to sell the film. I did not put an exact time request on it other than "no longer than 2.5 minutes. The trailer actually came in at under 2 minutes and works perfectly.
If you are doing your own trailer, and don't have the luxery of a friend that cuts commercials... don't feel a trailer needs to be linear like the movie. Shots out of context bring a different meaning when next to another shot. For example, in the current film I am editing, the trailer has some shots cut together from two totally different scenes, but in context of the trailer, it looked like the same scene, and the humor of the two shots together did a great job of getting the concept of what the characters and movie were about.
Michael
craigbowman
Veteran
If things were easy they wouldn't be half as much fun.
trailers are fun to cut when you have the right footage. pick some cool music that fits your theme, close your eyes and visualize how your film would play out to the music.
also spend some time on the apple website or yahoo movies site where you can look at tons of trailers at once. study how the films in your genre market their movies, pay attention especially to the ones that were commercially successful. that trailer played a key role in their opening weekend box office numbers nine times out of ten.
also spend some time on the apple website or yahoo movies site where you can look at tons of trailers at once. study how the films in your genre market their movies, pay attention especially to the ones that were commercially successful. that trailer played a key role in their opening weekend box office numbers nine times out of ten.
hmmm not sure, everybody works different. for me it is so much easier to cut to the music. if you pay attention to trailers the good ones fit the ambiance/music perfectly. seems hard to make a trailer then try and compose music around it unless you're a composer or do scores on a regular.
Azmyth
Veteran
yeah thats what I was thinking. At this point I'm just gonna work on a teaser, after giving it alot of thought, we aren't far enough into production for a full fledged trailer yet.. alot of key scenes haven't been filmed yet. A teaser I don't need those in, but a trailer I would... This whole film has been based on the interaction we've had with our "fanbase". We have close to 1000 fans on facebook, and people who constantly keep up with the progress. I like to give them bits and pieces of what we are doing so it feels like they are part of the process. So far it has worked well and has kept alot of people interested the entire time.
Zak Forsman
Major Contributor
every editor is different. my strategy is to first mine the feature for selects in various categories -- story, movement, character IDs, etc. then comes the structuring, concepts for title cards. I will listen to music before, to inspire. but it doesn't drive the edit. music cues are usually heavily cut, truncated, reshaped to serve the trailer's needs.
so no, in my experience music doesn't come first. structure is where I start. I need to figure out what 2.5 minute narrative i'm going to tell before telling it.
the best advice i was given when starting out cutting trailers (from an old pro who was getting $1200/day at the time) was to understand that you aren't selling the movie, you're selling the promise of an emotional experience.
so no, in my experience music doesn't come first. structure is where I start. I need to figure out what 2.5 minute narrative i'm going to tell before telling it.
the best advice i was given when starting out cutting trailers (from an old pro who was getting $1200/day at the time) was to understand that you aren't selling the movie, you're selling the promise of an emotional experience.
tokenwhiteboy
New member
I concur with Frank. Most trailer images should come from the midpoint to the end of Act II.
Music is crucial and I for one don't like a lot of titles in the trailer... if I wanted to read I'd buy a book. Use a VO.
Music is crucial and I for one don't like a lot of titles in the trailer... if I wanted to read I'd buy a book. Use a VO.
I did a low budget feature a few years back and asked a commercial editor friend of mine to cut the trailer. The challenge I have them was to not show anyone getting killed (because order of killing is part of the story I did want to give away) but to set the environment and tone of the movie. They ended up cutting what you see in my signature. They also added lots of sound to the one track I asked them to use.
Michael
Michael