My First Feature Film --- Trailer inside --- Love is E-Vol

Hmm, well it's hard for me to tell what it's about from that trailer, I'll be honest, and it isn't really my subject matter either. I don't believe in love, really, and I hate movies with love in the title generally, romance stuff, ick. Not for me. I like Down With Love, so this had a promising title from that perspective. But I just would have to know more about the film before I'd be stoked about seeing it. And I was confused.
 
some advice on your trailer... think about who you're making it for.... and how none of those people care what the names of the actors are. studios do that because they have names that draw an audience. it's a selling point. all you have to sell your film is its form and content. focus on that, drop the pretense.
 
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Very good. Another example that stock lens can tell the story. Forget about the fake DOF of those adapters that make the image soft and weak, going in and out of focus too often.

Also always promote your talent. It is perfectly ok to show the names of those that are working as hard as you to make your film a reality. It is your film and you made it with a lot of passion and hard work. I wish you the best.
 
JonathanLB said:
Hmm, well it's hard for me to tell what it's about from that trailer, I'll be honest, and it isn't really my subject matter either. I don't believe in love, really, and I hate movies with love in the title generally, romance stuff, ick. Not for me. I like Down With Love, so this had a promising title from that perspective. But I just would have to know more about the film before I'd be stoked about seeing it. And I was confused.
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lol -- geez, that's just depressing. Not believing in love is like not believing in joy or taste or conscience.

I completely agree with Zak's notes, though. The breaks for the actors' names (unless it was contractual) was unprofessional. Look at almost any indie movie, even when they have huge stars in them, they rarely ever list the actor's name. It's just kind of tacky -- a promotion style most TV movies-of-the-week utilize.

In ultra-low-budgy it's always going to be about the material (story) or the audience you're trying to reach (genre). I'd say change the trailer to reflect more about the plot, as right now it feels convoluted (there's a therapist-type, a missing child, random people worrying about each other, and then a tagline that reads like something from a Punisher flick).

Even if it's an ensemble piece, you could still gravitate to a specific character in the story or a specific plotline. I mean, did each character who has a main plot point lose EVERYTHING and EVERYONE? Did one of the characters lose everything and everyone? Just try to bring more clarity to the trailer. I think this genre finds an audience in video stores and on Netflix.

Good luck!!!
 
I believe in love between parents and children, that's about it. Romantic love is nonsense, it's a chemical reaction in the brain and an emotional response, not rational whatsoever, and no real value as far as the individual is concerned. At best just something to make people make stupid decisions (like marriage, kids, things that promote the species but not the individual's goals).

I agree with the comments Zak and Chamber made, though, about the cast. It's the same with short films, I mean with my short I have no titles at the start, just the title of the film. Nobody cares about me writing / directing it, nobody knows who I am, and few people will recognize our cast by name -- they are up-and-coming, they may have seen these people on TV or in films, but they won't know their names. So the focus has to be on the story.

If I were to make an indie feature, I would have one solid B-lister that I'd definitely promote in the trailer, but that'd be about it.
 
i thought it looked good, but i didn't get what it was about from just watching the trailer and i had no idea who the main character was supposed to be. the font choice on the trailer could've been better too.

i completely agree with what zak said about the names, it doesn't matter how hard your actors worked on the film - having their names in the trailer is useless unless their names are popular and being used as selling points (i.e. kevin bacon, will smith, etc) - people know those names.

cutting a trailer is a skill in itself, it's more than just piecing random moments from a film and overlaying music. use any trailer as an example that was good enough and convinced you to go to see it in the movies rather than wait for it to hit dvd or television.
 
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