OTHER: Trailer for my film - feedback appreciated !

I suppose it's very similar to most low-budget horror. I do think all the "next generation in horror" stuff is excessive, but perhaps that's just how you have to sell the film.

If you do nothing else, for the love of God, please get a different font. It blows my mind how filmmakers never think they need a graphic designer to do their titles for them. A bad font will instantly cheapen anything it's put on. When you're working on a low budget, something like a well designed font or poster can make a huge difference in marketing.
 
Last edited:
epicly generic. I'm sorry, but the trailer music is terrible, it doesn't work, especially for this type of film. The big blockbuster sound on no budget indie films comes accross as corny to me. I mean, you didn't get the trailer music scored for your film. It plays out like a score you find on ":pro score" or something. There's no originality. The trailer font, I feel is really terrible for the content. I would make a different font, get rid of the music, bring in something that fits the content, erie,cold,dark, and most of all ORIGINAL!. And shorten it way down. the internet has made people have short attention spans. they give you about ten seconds tops, then if it's not drawing them in, their gone. NOT TRYING TO COME ACCROSS AS RUDE. It's just I have seen this done to death over the last three years or so. And low budget films need to stand on their own merits for what they are. Not what they want to be.
 
I agree with most of what maran said, however I must disagree about shortening it down. It's already only 1 minute, I don't see how it could be much shorter.
 
I thought it was a cool trailer, though it didn't really spark my interest. I don't really know the idea of the movie except it's a vet that kills people (consider me your average, short attention span viewer)?

And with the font . . . I'm guessing a major fault people have with it is the "shadow" (among other things). From my experience doing graphic design, I always figured simple is better.
 
I do agree somewhat with some of the other criticisms but not as vehemently as they do. I do think you could improve the Graphic Design and perhaps tone down the "epic" nature of the music to fit what appears to be the scope of the story which seems to be a "contained" Horror/Thriller.

I don't know that I'd advertise the actors names unless they were names people would recognize. That's another indie/low budget thing that I think stands out in a bad way.

For instance, The Expendables might go...STALLONE, SWARTZNAGGER, WILLIS...because everyone knows them...but JENKINS, ATKINS, DONOVAN...doesn't make sense (I know that's not the names but you understand the point) if nobody knows who those actors are.

I also don't like the Vet's Voice...I get you're doing a Saw-like thing with it but it stands out a little in this trailer like if it were a little subtler it might work better for me, maybe just a slight change in volume.

Just my opinions. Horror isn't my favorite genre (full disclosure) so it looks like many trailers I've seen which isn't a bad thing. I do agree that some tweaks would help it though.

-M
 
I think that the footage also was a bit dark in places and not dark enough in others(Duct tape torture scene seemed overlit), maybe up the contrast so the blacks are crushed but the highlights come through? I also couldn't tell if the tone was going for funny or if it was going for serious. This may be due to the title. And I agree, the actual titles need to be redone and shouldn't include the actors names(Even on big budget horror films they usually don't give the actor's names). I watch a TON of horror(I am your target audience) and I have to be honest, from this trailer I wouldn't watch this as it is right now. I'm just speaking from a horror dork perspective, but you need to show me the who, how and why of the story in a more clear way. I know it's a crazy vet from the title, which instantly make me think funny. But the tone is serious and in a way where it seems very hard to tell what the story is. If you have someone make a fine pass on color, audio and graphics I think you'll have a solid enough trailer that it could catch some interest. Look at this trailer for the remake of friday the 13th:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7MiJzZ7FQX0

It's VERY close to your format but it gives me the story in a more direct way. Try and find one voice in your film that can explain the story to the viewer in a way that is less cluttered. The vet's voice may be able to do this, but right now it seems like he's interupted with sound bites which tell me nothing about the situation. The guy in the car saying he hates dead things and blood or the girl saying "you kill people"(She seemed very flat in general to me to be honest) are good examples of this. Neither build tension or advance the story. I liked the mask and I'd like to see more of it. I liked the shots of the sun setting through the woods and the wide of the couple on the hill. Good job and congrats on your first feature! Hope any of this helps and it's only my humble 2 cents-Adam
 
Thanks for all the feedback, guys ! Really cool to hear constructive criticism, opens up the eyes a bit more.

As for the font, it was suppose to be an attempt to try something different, but looking back at it now, I agree that simple would've been a better choice or just having a graphic designer really pimp it up..

As for the 'surnames popping in expendables style' - that was simply and inside-joke thing (since we've had a lot of the same followers since 2008 - they kind of get the funny part in it..) :) But thanks guys, pleasure to hear your thoughts as always !
Cheers,
-B
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top