Remember the trailer is also a story
'A trailer shouldn't just play like a showreel of the film's greatest hits. Just like any edit, a strong narrative is key. Don't get bogged down trying to tell the whole story, but find a strong narrative through line. You're creating an adaptation, an abridged version of the same story so find the core theme and build around it.'
I've watched a mixed bag of trailers, some good, some bad, and what i've noticed with the bad ones is that they present the whole film, just an extremely shortened version, showing the supposedly best bits of the film in the hope that it attracts the audience, which is a huge gamble, and often works to grab the audience in to pay to watch it, however then fails at being a convincing film.
EXAMPLES OF BAD TRAILERS/
(Velvet Buzzsaw, Dir. Dan Gilroy)
One prime example of this is a film trailer I watched recently, then going on to watch the actual film with such high expectations, is Velvet Buzzsaw, Dir. Dan Gilroy. Having watched Dan Gilroy's Nightcrawler, I already had quite a biased judgement of the quality of the film, as I found Nightcrawler to be a hugely successful film, with a fantastic original narrative & technically sound as well. So that's why after I watched the trailer for this film I was pretty ecstatic and hyped for the release, which would be straight to Netflix, which was my only reservation for the film, as I do question big directors/big cast list films that go straight to Netflix, as I feel they have less of a soul than films that go to the cinema first. However I believe that this is the way film is going, unfortunately. Back to my point, the trailer clearly had the right effect, gripping me, leaving me wanting more and preparing myself for the release date. Unfortunately, I was majorly let down and my expectations plummeted after the first 10 minutes of the film, I began to question the script, the technical style, (or lack of) the bland narrative arch, the motivation of the characters, their back stories, it lacked quality in every department. The cherry on the cake though was that the trailer left me knowing every detail to each of the characters death, the trailer had left nothing new to be witnessed by the audience. So for that reason, the trailer presenting pretty much the entirety of the film, makes it a floored and pretty poorly assembled trailer.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XdAR-lK43YU
Deconstruct the film
'It's important to disconnect from the film and pull it apart so it'll become the building blocks if your trailer. Think about the film being a completed jigsaw. You need to pull it apart and find the pieces to make a new, smaller (but no less complete) picture. It's important to see each visual unconnected to the film so you can repurpose it into your new adaptation of the story.'
EXAMPLES OF GOOD TRAILERS/
(Sorry To Bother You, Dir. Boots Riley)
A perfect example of a really successful film trailer would be for the film Sorry To Bother You, Dir. Boots Riley. This film adopts all the techniques that a fantastic film trailer uses i.e deconstructing the film, highlighting who the main protagonists are, withholding some of the best bits and keeping stuff hidden until you actually watch the film. The trailer introduces us to the world that the protagonist lives and the struggles that he faces. It is presented in a way that suits the style of the film and adheres to the genre of comedy. This is done by it's punchlines and quick rythmic editing style and the colour grade given to it, clearly making it a comedy. This trailer is a success because it grabs you straight from the off, you can see the clear arch and the characters conflict along the way through the trailer, he needs a job as he's struggling to pay rent, he finds a job and realises it's morally questionable, it's either the job or his girlfriend, he thinks it's a easy decision until the fee of the job is disclosed then the conflict and chaos erupts. Now seeing as i've viewed this film I know that there is an extra 20 minutes of the narrative that has no spotlight shined on it whatsoever in the trailer, and those 20 minutes are extremely pivotal to the narrative! This therefore comes as a complete surprise whilst viewing the film in the cinema, making for an even more special and intimate experience, (Obviously not if you didn't watch the trailer before the film) so therefore the trailer has been successful in the sense that it has won you over without even needing to show you the the full narrative arch. The music used throughout the trailer is energetic, pulsating and extremely catchy, this reinforces the general themes and tone of the film, and what we're to expect when we go to see it. Overall this film trailer was effective in its usage of specific scenes and how it managed to present itself as the full film, it was cleverly put together. Whoever is reading this, if you haven't already, please go and watch this film!
Trailer link -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQKiRpiVRQM
Remember your characters
'Try and give the main characters a moment that defines them in the trailer. Giving the actors a little time to shine within their performances will give your audience people they can identify with.'
(Blindspotting, Dir.Carlos López Estrada)
After watching Sorry To Bother You and Blackkklansman, I started reading reviews of the films, which lead me onto the film stated above, Blindspotting. I believe the trailer for this film has successfully utilised every technique the creators of it had to their disposal. Its held the protagonist at the forefront of the trailer, Collin Hoskins, played by Daveed Diggs, shown him travelling on his arch laying bare some of the conflicts he faces a long the way. I believe this is a wonderfully pieced together trailer because of the rhythmic editing style it deploys, also how it strikes the balance between the serious and comedic value topics throughout the trailer. As the film is more of a poetical societal commentary of the american police brutality, the trailer knows how to play each scene for the audience to gauge what to be taken seriously. and what not to. Again, this is quite similar to it's structure to that of Sorry To Bother You, in the sense that it holds back once again, hooking the audience and then leave them wanting more. It presents a lot of powerful and moving imagery towards the half way point of this trailer that totally flips this film on its head. It starts as this light-hearted comedy, then suddenly turns into this chaotic, monstrous and unprecedented piece of drama which totally takes you by surprise. You feel anxious past this half way point, and it leaves you wanting to know if the protagonist has managed to survive his last three days on tag or not, and has he been locked back up again. The film sells itself at first as quite a cheesy, generic blanket release film that is covering pretty topical issues, however this is where I feel the trailer may of lost it's way a bit. As i've seen this film, I know what it's political message it's trying to convey, but also shed light on wider issues such as gentrification of urban areas and white washing things until the originality is lost. The trailer doesn't truly allow the audience to see the deeper meaning behind this film and for that reason it does not have the same success/effectiveness of a trailer than Sorry To Bother You.
Overall though I will be taking techniques from this trailer such as the rythmic editing and cutting to the music. It intensifies the narrative and is able to grab your audiences attention much quicker.
Trailer link -
To conclude I'm glad that I did this research before the making of it as i'll be applying everything that i've learnt from these trailers. I'll also look into TV series trailers, specifically sitcom ones to really gauge what I should be presenting and how much I should show of the project. I don't want to give away too much of the film, like Velvet Buzzsaw demonstrates, but on the other hand i'm not sure if our piece will have enough juicy content like Blindspotting or Sorry To Bother You, to avoid not using the juicy stuff. I obviously want to sell the narrative so in my mind putting the best scenes in there is my first reaction but I don't want to over sell it and then leave the audience bored because they know all the best bits. I'll have to think more carefully about how I approach this one when it comes nearer the time of creation.
With reference to -
https://www.creativebloq.com/audiovisual/perfect-trailer-51411685
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