your trailer

[HerzogisGod]

how far can one go in creating an effective trailer? I suppose a film does need the visual material to carry an awesome trailer, but how many of us have been duped by misleading trailers; trailers that seemed to hold the secret to life, yet the film itself was an abomination. A complete let down.

How do we know when we've struck an honest balance between an exciting trailer and the actual content and flow of our film?

For example: I watched a remake of a trailer done for "The Shining"....some guy decided to re-cut it as a joke, turning it into what looked like a summer "feel good" flick. Feel good music plus some clever editing and The Shining became a Rated G, heartwarming family film.

By the way, the actual trailer for The Shining perfectly captures the brilliance of the film. This was a case where trailer to film ratio was dead on


We all know advertising sells the "sizzle" not the steak...So how far are you prepared to go to get asses in the seats?

 

[Nathyn]

Good question. I stop at telling people they're going to see an action film if it's really a drama with maybe a scene or two of action in it. Most of the time I try to get all the best scenes in there without giving too much away. I don't want to misdirect anyone and I certainly want to get the proper audience.

-Nate

 

[JonathanLB]

Some people were saying I should give away all of the funniest jokes in my short in the trailer, but I really wasn't a fan of that. I mean it's a short film, who the hell cares about the trailer? Not me. It was made for film festivals, and they won't even see the trailer. I am also not selling anything! It's not like somehow I will lose money if the trailer isn't that great.

I think it's suitable but it's a short comedy, there isn't a lot of visual interest, and therefore it's not easy to make a trailer that is very catching. I had one friend say he loved it and thought it was funny, another said he didn't like it and thought it should be recut. Ultimately I think it's fine, does it's job, etc. But yeah it would be easier if it were an action short or a drama short with more locations.

Trailers are extremely important I think for feature films. For shorts I think they are just fun, that's about it.

 

[grinner]

Unless following a script from the director, I just pull the best scenes and tease the story line without giving answers away. Answer them and there is no reason for folks to pay to watch the movie. Tease too little and they are just not interested.
It depends on the movie but highlights are the bottom line.
I use to cut trailers for Blockbuster to loop in their stores and it was a lot of fun for me. They never provided direction so I had total creative freedom.