SHORT: SURVEYOR: An anti-Western (Short Film) - Trailer

M

Mr. Gittes

Member
Hello,

Linked below is the trailer for a short Western called,"Surveyor." Shot on the Panasonic Af100 and gh2. I had the pleasure of working on the film. Enjoy!

 
I'm not sure if I get what the beginning of the trailer was for? Are they trying to say they aren't like that in any way?

Also what is the film about? The trailer told me nothing.

How is it anti-western?
 
It's trying to say that this short film won't be like a John Wayne western. I think the hope was that the little bit of actual footage shows the contrast between the Wayne westerns and this one, as buoyed by the music and imagery in the Surveyor footage versus the blatant absurdity of John Wayne.
 
The cinematography alone would warrant a watch for me, but the first half of that trailer was just unnecessary. A trailer should just promote a film, not try to show how a film is different from another film. People are smart enough to figure that out.
 
^ I agree. As well, the point is lost because there are many current westerns that do look and feel a lot like this one. To claim it's not like westerns of past, well that's obvious. Now why is it any different from westerns of present?

A focus on being different from John Wayne films is completely pointless marketing strategy. It's like trying to convince people to eat an orange by saying it's not a grapefruit.

It should just be a focus on the story. The visuals hold up on their own, but give me no sense of what it's about.
 
There's no commercial market for short films. I could qualify that by saying "There's really no..." but why one should call it like it is. Films barely matter today, anyway, so why tell the whole story in the trailer? But thank you for responding, and I'll pass your thoughts along to the filmmaker(s). Much appreciated.

How are Westerns different today than those in the Wayne area? I'm talking about story. "Surveyor," at least what I've been told by the filmmakers, is primarily concerned with the foundation of cities; the diverse groups in the West; the detailing of the most dangerous job in America during the 1800s; and the failures of communication. What Westerns today touch on those topics, among other things? I'm not saying this film, "Surveyor," successfully shows a story that's about all of those things -- I haven't seen it! -- but given that there's never been a great Western made, it's not very hard to try. The bar is troubling low.
 
I don't want to start a fight. I'm just voicing my concerns with what could be a potentially good film which is not showing it's true potential in the trailer. I'm using these business-esque terms like market strategy because even though there's no selling market for short films, there's a viewership. Whether you like it or not, to get people to watch a film, you have to convince people to watch it. While you wouldn't use the same dirty tricks that distributors use to get people to buy a tickets, you do need a strategy to get people to want to watch your film. The current strategy is not working IMO.

"Films not mattering" isn't enough of a justification to not explain the story either. Besides, if films don't matter, then why are we even here? We may as well stop making films.

There is a comfortable place in between "not revealing anything" and "revealing everything", this is how you let people know about the film. Maybe a central theme, maybe what the main character's goal is, maybe something else along those lines. Even just a small tease as to the characters. This doesn't reveal everything about the film. If by revealing very little it reveals the whole story, then it's just predictable and lousy writing. (not saying that's the case for this film)

Mr. Gittes said:
How are Westerns different today than those in the Wayne area? I'm talking about story. "Surveyor," at least what I've been told by the filmmakers, is primarily concerned with the foundation of cities; the diverse groups in the West; the detailing of the most dangerous job in America during the 1800s; and the failures of communication. What Westerns today touch on those topics, among other things? I'm not saying this film, "Surveyor," successfully shows a story that's about all of those things -- I haven't seen it! -- but given that there's never been a great Western made, it's not very hard to try. The bar is troubling low.
Click to expand...

I'm sorry, but the foundation of cities (or the west) is a central theme in so many westerns. Especially the idea of turning the uncivilized west into a civilized society. Also there are many films about the diverse groups in the west. Not sure what you mean by the most dangerous job, but if you're talking about something like a bounty hunter?

Also if you say the bar is very low for westerns, then you need to watch more westerns. There's a lot of aweful westerns out there, but there are also some great ones.

It's good that your defending your friends, but why have I learned more about the film from you with just a few mentioned themes than I did in the trailer?

Anyways, I wish them luck, and hope they put together a better trailer. Visually it looks nice.
 
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