when do you cut a trailer?
- Thread starter Azmyth
- Start date
dalethompson
Well-known member
Depending on whether you are seeking funding or looking for it to get picked up, you could do the trailer during production with the footage you have to show potential producers or commissioning editors what your project is about. This will be your rough cut trailer though, meaning that some if not all of the footage in it may not make the final cut for the film. Producers and commissioning editors know this of course but they still want to see something you have.
Azmyth
Veteran
We've already got all the funding we need. Any trailers we do at this point would be for promotion of the film, or potential distributors.. I would like to think it might make sense to wait and have a full fledged trailer rather than trying to piece together what footage we do have just to have a trailer before principal is done. I've just seen alot of films that do have em before they are done.
Zak Forsman
Major Contributor
I've been hired to cut trailers from a finished transfer of the film, i have also been hired to cut them from dailies. it's up to you and your timetable for when you need the trailer to launch.
On films that I produce, I wait until production is over and hire an editor to do the trailer and marketing material while the feature film editor is in post. Do not ask your film's editor to cut the trailer. It will not go well.
On films that I produce, I wait until production is over and hire an editor to do the trailer and marketing material while the feature film editor is in post. Do not ask your film's editor to cut the trailer. It will not go well.
Zak Forsman
Major Contributor
which part?
Zak Forsman
Major Contributor
Feature film editors have a natural inclination to want moments to breath. Trailers editors are skilled with the ability to compress moments down to a core idea. Asking a feature editor to cut a trailer would be like asking a novelist to write a song. It seems like a no-brainer to have the person who knows the footage best create the preview, but the result is often lethargic and ineffective. First, film editors often want to save the good stuff for the experience of watching the entire movie. That’s a problem from a marketing standpoint where you want to hook an audience with the most compelling details of your film — more on that in a second. Just know that this ability to reconceptualize is very difficult for an editor who has been living and breathing your characters for weeks or months.
Most film editors are hesitant to show too much in a trailer and that’s understandable. We universally complain that trailers give too much away. But there is a reason for that. I have background in the test marketing of films and trailers. Major studios know the most effective means of advertising is word of mouth and that is why they will continue shaping a film and their advertising campaign until they get as close as possible to having 80% (or better) of the test audience saying they will DEFINITELY recommend the film to friends or family. Repeatedly, the trailers that score highest are the ones that give the fullest understanding of the story. People may say they don’t want the plot ruined but the numbers indicate that more people are moved to pay for a ticket or a DVD when they have a more comprehensive understanding of what they’ll get for their money.
Remember, a trailer does not sell a film or DVD. It sells the promise of an emotional experience. That is not a goal that a film editor is experienced in working toward. The ones that can do both are rare.
Most film editors are hesitant to show too much in a trailer and that’s understandable. We universally complain that trailers give too much away. But there is a reason for that. I have background in the test marketing of films and trailers. Major studios know the most effective means of advertising is word of mouth and that is why they will continue shaping a film and their advertising campaign until they get as close as possible to having 80% (or better) of the test audience saying they will DEFINITELY recommend the film to friends or family. Repeatedly, the trailers that score highest are the ones that give the fullest understanding of the story. People may say they don’t want the plot ruined but the numbers indicate that more people are moved to pay for a ticket or a DVD when they have a more comprehensive understanding of what they’ll get for their money.
Remember, a trailer does not sell a film or DVD. It sells the promise of an emotional experience. That is not a goal that a film editor is experienced in working toward. The ones that can do both are rare.
Pomo-Cutters are a special division of Editing, from :30 to 2:30 with SFX and sometimes V.O. artists, it's like making a TV Spot. - Feature long-form editors function is way different.
Also there is the prior exposure factor, the Feature editor can cut Promo's but for a product they've not been intimately involved in - sort of like a second set of eyes, cherry picking the concept, vs. a guy armed with a script and the complete shot-list.
@OP - You can tell when you need to cut a trailer based on your own needs, just don't make any release or completion statements in it "In theaters March 30th... etc..", if your film is not finished being posted yet (esp with sound design, color correction and score..) There is now "thou shalt" or "thou shalt not" - just make sure that the trailer has color corrected footage, and the promo cutter is willing to do their own sound design/SFX, which they love to do, since trailers are cut to time and to music queues.
But a well constructed trailer does help build buzz, but typically done by the marketing arms of the studios.. not the core production/post production team. - To secure distribution you'll also need a biit more like 15 minutes of the film (usu the opening...) to go along with the trailer.
Oh, and your feature/long-form editor "will hate you" (or at least dislike you) if you ask them to cut a trailer or two for the production, esp. if you're still before picture lock.
Also there is the prior exposure factor, the Feature editor can cut Promo's but for a product they've not been intimately involved in - sort of like a second set of eyes, cherry picking the concept, vs. a guy armed with a script and the complete shot-list.
@OP - You can tell when you need to cut a trailer based on your own needs, just don't make any release or completion statements in it "In theaters March 30th... etc..", if your film is not finished being posted yet (esp with sound design, color correction and score..) There is now "thou shalt" or "thou shalt not" - just make sure that the trailer has color corrected footage, and the promo cutter is willing to do their own sound design/SFX, which they love to do, since trailers are cut to time and to music queues.
But a well constructed trailer does help build buzz, but typically done by the marketing arms of the studios.. not the core production/post production team. - To secure distribution you'll also need a biit more like 15 minutes of the film (usu the opening...) to go along with the trailer.
Oh, and your feature/long-form editor "will hate you" (or at least dislike you) if you ask them to cut a trailer or two for the production, esp. if you're still before picture lock.
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I want the plot ruined by trailers. It doesn't ruin films for me to see what it's about, and they should be as true to the production as possible.
As for when, marketing is a big deal for me, and I believe it starts long before anyone is even attached to the project. I think that most projects benefit from a vague start, culminating in an awesome teaser trailer, slowly adding more clips and maybe a theatrical trailer when the time comes. I'll occasionally schedule the coolest looking shoots towards the front to support getting the best trailer possible faster. Sometimes I even think it's worth it to shoot a teaser trailer as its own production with little or no footage from the actual film, before principal even starts.
As for when, marketing is a big deal for me, and I believe it starts long before anyone is even attached to the project. I think that most projects benefit from a vague start, culminating in an awesome teaser trailer, slowly adding more clips and maybe a theatrical trailer when the time comes. I'll occasionally schedule the coolest looking shoots towards the front to support getting the best trailer possible faster. Sometimes I even think it's worth it to shoot a teaser trailer as its own production with little or no footage from the actual film, before principal even starts.
JonathanLB
Carbonite Member
Thanks for the information, insight, and advice, Zack. I honestly wouldn't have been aware of that at all. Ours being an indie production and all, I'm not sure what the producers have in mind for this, like if they have the same experience as you do or what they are planning given our limited budget.
My best friend from high school works at a trailer house now, he moved up from assistant editor to editor in about a year, and he's doing well. I'd love to have him cut my trailer, only problem is apparently he hates me now. I don't speak to him anymore for the past 9 months, basically, despite repeated attempts to contact him. It's amazing to go from best friends to a guy who won't speak to you, and I'm really not sure what is the deal, except to say that I think he's bothered he went to three-year film school and I didn't, and maybe he sees my path as not the "legitimate" way to become a director or something. I have no clue. Shame, though, I bet he'd do a fantastic job with making a trailer of the film and he's a very good editor, always has been.
My best friend from high school works at a trailer house now, he moved up from assistant editor to editor in about a year, and he's doing well. I'd love to have him cut my trailer, only problem is apparently he hates me now. I don't speak to him anymore for the past 9 months, basically, despite repeated attempts to contact him. It's amazing to go from best friends to a guy who won't speak to you, and I'm really not sure what is the deal, except to say that I think he's bothered he went to three-year film school and I didn't, and maybe he sees my path as not the "legitimate" way to become a director or something. I have no clue. Shame, though, I bet he'd do a fantastic job with making a trailer of the film and he's a very good editor, always has been.