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Its only two minutes long. Butits the way a film greets the world. For a self-
distributor, it can mean getting 100,000 hits
on YouTube within a week. For indie film-
makers trying to make an impression, its a
chance to have their no-budget D.I.Y. movies
stand shoulder-to-shoulder with The Hobbit
and Avatar 2 on iTunes. And it has a long
shelf life; years after a theatrical release is over,
it will be one of the first things to pop up on
a Google word search.
The humble movie trailer, once a delight-
ful distraction seen only by punctual filmgo-
ers exclusively in movie houses, is now theprincipal way most movies get exposure and
remain in the public conscience. And as long
as there is a computer and an Internet con-
nection, it can be watched anytime, anywhere,
indefinitely. Along with the movie poster, it is
arguably the most important marketing tool
available to a filmmaker.
A bad trailer wont automatically hurt a
film. Strong reviews and terrific word-of-
mouth can make uninspired advertising irrel-
evant. Then again, not all films are bulletproof
success stories. What about that promisingfirst feature? That peculiar but compelling
foreign language film? That oddball docu-
mentary with seemingly banal subject matter
yet an undeniably hypnotic style? These kinds
of movies can really benefit from a memora-
ble piece of advertising. (And, oddly enough,
a bad flick can occasionally make for a fantas-
tic trailer. More on that later.)
Studio films typically break down into a
handful of genres: action, drama, comedy,
horror, sci-fi, fantasy. They all have their con-
ventions, and their trailers have a similarly
categorized look and sound. Thick sans-seriffont with jaunty music? Comedy. Elegant
serif font with dour orchestral cue? Drama.
These are mass-produced goods, and they are
by definition formulaic. This is not necessar-
ily criticism; there are excellent studio films
that have accordingly superlative trailer work.
(Trailer campaigns for huge franchises such
as The Matrix, Harry Potterand Spider-Man
are particularly well-crafted.) But indepen-
dent and foreign language releases are usually
hard to categorize. They often mix genres,
subvert them or ignore them completely.
Documentaries, too, can defy definition. Is it
an essay film, an experiential meditation, agit-
prop, social commentary or all of the above?
At Kinetic, the company my partner Christy
Wilson and I co-founded 10 years ago, we have
had the opportunity to work on tremendous
non-studio movies that arent the easiest to
categorize; over 300 films, most recently Cary
Fukunagas Jane Eyre, Agnieszka Hollands
In Darkness, Constance Marks Being Elmo: A
Puppeteers Journey, and Tom Sixs The Human
Centipede 2: Full Sequence. From a marketing
point of view, the options are wide open
which can be either intimidating or liberating,depending on your point of view.
GETTING STARTED
So you have a movie and you need a trailer.
Put very simply, a trailer is a condensed ver-
sion of a feature, so it should be a collection of
its greatest elements. The best way to evaluate
your film is to see it first not as a genre but in
terms of its fundamental characteristics. Does
it have arresting dialogue? Great cinematog-
raphy? Searing performances? Memorable
production design? Lead with its merits.
Of course genre will guide the trailer pro-
cess. But which aspects are the best ones to
market? If it s a comedy/drama, do you make
it funny with some gravitas, or serious with a
few zingers for levity? Do you let genre define
the film? Doing so might attract more ticket
buyers, but could also alienate those people if
the movie they see doesnt match their pre-
sumptions. Also, if the film has played on the
festival circuit, consider using laurels to tout
its pedigree. Are there good reviews, and do
you want to add them to the mix? Or will
laurels and reviews attract only a highbrowaudience and alienate the general market?
Do you think the trailer would benefit from
a narrator? What kind of music is available
are there cues specifically composed for the
film that would be appropriate, or is outside
music a possibility? Do you want a copywriter
to get involved, or does the film have enough
explanatory dialogue to sustain itself? Now
that youve unpacked your elements, decide
on a creative approach.
RHYTHM AND STRUCTURE
Above all, and without exception, trailer
editing is about rhythm. If you dont have an
innate sense of it, then your trailer will not sing.
A trailer, cut well, will have a flowing motion
to it, a sense that everything plays off every-
thing else, and will propel the viewer through
the experience of the film. Trailers build up ex-
citement and anticipation, and a keen sense of
rhythm heightens those sensations.
While you may not choose for music to be
the defining characteristic of your trailer, it still
plays an important role in its basic construc-
tion. It literally sets the tone and the rhythm. Iusually start every trailer by building my mu-
sic bed, and that bed is generally composed of
three music cues. Why three? Because trailers
lend themselves to a three-act structure.
Act One: Introduce the films characters
and environment. Act Two: Complicate their
world with obstacles to overcome. Act Three:
Intensify the conflicts and ratchet up the ten-
sion/excitement/humor. (Montages invari-
ably end up in Act Three.) There can be four
acts, there can be one it really just depends
FIRST IMPRESSIONS
LINE ITEMS
A TRAILER, CUT
WELL, WILL HAVE
A FLOWING MOTION
TO IT, A SENSE THAT
EVERYTHING PLAYS
OFF EVERYTHING
ELSE, AND WILL
PROPEL THE VIEWER
THROUGH THE
EXPERIENCE OF
THE FILM.
STEPHEN GARRETT ON CRAFTING A WINNING TRAILER.
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91FILMMAKER WINTER 2012
on the material. But three acts is a good place
to start. Most importantly: never resolve any-
thing! Whenever possible, leave questions
unanswered. Dont tie up loose ends. Keep the
audience wanting more.
I mentioned before that bad movies can have
great trailers. Thats because trailers are about
raising expectations. Films are made because a
group of people really believe in the ideas be-
hind that movie. All films start out being poten-
tially great. By the time the filmmaking process
is over, reality has intervened. Is it still great?
Thats open to debate. But a trailer doesnt reveal
the whole movie. It just reveals the movies po-
tential to be great. It pitches the promise of the
premise. And if the trailer has seductive rhythm
and an arresting structure, then any movie can
look like a winner.
DISASSEMBLING YOUR FILM AND
CONSTRUCTING YOUR TRAILER
In order to make a trailer for your film,
youhave to take it apart. Every trailer editorgoes through the film meticulously, breaking
it down and turning it into basic building
blocks. The main way to do this is to create
two sequences: a dialogue string and a visual
string. These are highlight reels. But theyre
also like basic ingredients. Imagine taking a
cake and reverse-engineering it, extracting
the eggs, flour, sugar and butter.
Editors are like tailors. They cut materi-
als and shape them, letting them out here and
tucking them in there, until they make a perfect
fit. But editors, particularly trailer editors, are
also cooks. They take their materials and they
boil them down, condense them and extract
their essence in order to flavor the overall meal.
Common sense might suggest that the edi-
tor who cut your feature should cut your trailer,
too. But in certain ways they are the least quali-
fied. Yes, they are familiar with the footage, and
trailer editors need to be, too. But feature edi-
tors are too familiar. They have lived with the
footage for months, sweated over the choices
and labored to make every shot fit perfectly
into the specific context of the film.
Trailer editors, on the other hand, are dis-
respectful. They de-contextualize everything.
That half-smile the heroine gives to her boy-
friend that secretly devastates him? The trailer
editor only sees a smile. A dog bark is a dog
bark. Its not Spots excited howl that saves the
life of his master its just a dog bark. Trailer
editors have to see everything for what they are
inherently, not how they function in the fea-
ture film. They have to unpack the feature inorder to repack it and turn it into a trailer.
There are also many familiar editing tropes
in trailers: dissolves, fades from black, fades
to black, white flashes with the metal-door
slams, fast-paced flutter-cuts, double expo-
sures, speed adjustments, audio rises, audio
drones, audio stings. These effects are like the
images from the film itself: they are tools in a
toolbox. Got something lush and romantic?
Use dissolves and fades. Got something fast-
paced and tense? Use increasingly faster hard
cuts that crescendo in a metal-door slam and
a white flash. This is simplistic, but the basic
message is this: Use these tools (the sound
effects, the editing tricks, etc.) to tell a story.
And to sella story.
STRIKING THE RIGHT TONE
Certain films have subject matter that might
turn off audiences who think theyve seen
that type of movie before. Myles Bender, se-
nior vice president of creative advertising at
Focus Features, was concerned that their new
production ofJane Eyrewould be perceived as
too literary, too outdated and be viewed as a
chick flick. He requested a trailer that played
down the traditional romantic melodrama
and emphasized something else: horror. So
Wilson mined and exploited the darker, eerier
aspects of the film and treated the story not as
a treasured classic but as a very modern tale of
madness and obsession.
Lets say your film deals with controversial
issues. Some people who might really love themovie may recoil when they learn what its
about. Respect that. Dont rub peoples noses
in it. Be subtle. Or at least be tactful. In Ryan
Flecks feature debut Half Nelson, released by
THINKFilm, Ryan Gosling plays a beloved
high school teacher who is also a crack head.
When we did the trailer, we were very con-
scious of not naming what drug he was using.
We alluded to drug use, but we werent specific.
Also, this movie is about so much more than
drug use. Its also about adults inspiring teen-
ENTER THE VOID.
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agers, having human weaknesses and getting
second chances in life. So we underlined the
tragic parts, emphasized the positive and didntdwell on the more salacious, negative aspects.
Before we started Kinetic, Wilson cut the
trailer for L.I.E., a critically acclaimed drama
about pedophilia on Long Island, released
by Lot 47. In this case, the material is so po-
tentially toxic that its difficult to explain the
story without it seeming lurid. But the movie
had a melodic yet sinister song (Donovans
Hurdy-Gurdy Man), sumptuous cinema-
tography (courtesy of Romeo Tirone) and
evocative shots (thanks to director Michael
Cuesta). Lot 47 co-founder Jeff Lipsky asked
Wilson to make a trailer using only the one
song, drop all the dialogue, and cut a montagepeppered with critics quotes and laurels. He
asked her to create a mood instead of a narra-
tive; something that was by turns alienating,
thrilling, dangerous and ultimately haunting.
Without saying a word, it is an incredibly
faithful reflection of the film.
MUSIC-DRIVEN (AND MONTAGE-
DRIVEN) TRAILERS
L.I.E. is essentially a music-driven montage
trailer. The song and images dictate the feeling
and structure, but dont reveal a story. Certain
filmmakers have such a distinct visual style
and use of music that the best sort of trailer
for their films is usually a music-driven mon-
tage. Gaspar Nos Enter the Void is a perfect
example. The trippy film about the ghost
of a junkie watching over his stripper sister
in the neon-drenched city of Tokyo practi-
cally begs to be a visual head-trip trailer. IFC
Films, who released the film, totally supported
that approach, but vice president of market-
ing Ryan Werner and director of marketing
Shani Ankori wanted to make sure the two
main characters were also established. So the
montage is book-ended with the two of them
talking to each other and promising to always
be together no matter what. Along with be-
ing a string of trippy images set to a pounding
techno cue, the trailer also has an emotional
undercurrent that humanizes the material and
makes the psychedelica oddly poignant.
Another incredibly visceral filmmaker isLynne Ramsay, whose 2002 film Morvern
Callar, released by Cowboy Pictures, fol-
lows Samantha Morton as she assumes her
dead boyfriends identity, claims his book as
her own and becomes a celebrated author.
Cowboys co-heads, Noah Cowan and John
Vanco, wanted the trailer to tell that story, but
they also wanted it to be impressionistic and to
showcase the visuals and the music. The film
has an incredibly eclectic soundtrack (Aphex
Twin, Stereolab, Lee Hazlewood, Ween), and
I used four different cues throughout. The
story is about, essentially, an identity crisis, so
the music keeps getting interrupted by stray
bits of dialogue that are jolting realizations.
The structure of the trailer is one of disrup-
tion and deliberately jerks from exultation to
anxiety and introspection.
DOCUMENTARIES
Although documentaries are technically
non-fiction, they usually abide by the same
rules as fiction films. They tell a story.
The trailer for the Zeitgeist release Bill
Cunningham New York, cut by our junioreditor Laura Tomaselli, is absolutely about
fashion, since the subject is a fashion pho-
tographer. But its also about the sacrifices
one person makes in order to do what he
loves. She makes his story compelling in two
minutes because she captures his monastic,
Spartan lifestyle and contrasts it with flam-
boyant wealth. And she shows how this man
has just as much individuality, taste and style
as the most outrageous clotheshorse. Its an
eloquent ode to having the courage of ones
THE REALITIES OF TRAILER MARKETING
For independent filmmakers hoping to use an appealing trailerto create interest in their undistributed film, the process of getting a trailer into a movie
theater or onto a mainstream digital platform like iTunes or Yahoo is something of a
Catch-22. Independent filmmakers want their trailers seen in these venues in order to
increase exposure for their projects, but its nearly impossible to get placement in either
venue unless a project is already quite exposed.
Lets start with theaters. Filmmakers going the DIY route, or who have partnerships
with small, niche distributors, should all but count out the possibility of getting their
trailers into the major theatrical chains. These theaters generally show four to six trailers
before a feature. Two of these slots are allotted to the studio releasing the feature, and the
remaining trailers are decided on by theater executives based on demographic research.
Its a well-oiled system, with no clear entry point for small independent filmmakers
especially if their films arent playing at the chains in question.
Independently owned theaters provide an entirely different quandary. These theaters
generally only show trailers for films that they will be playing. Elliott Kanbar of Manhat-
tans Quad Cinema elaborated on this practice in an e-mail to Filmmaker, explaining, Its
an important aspect of marketing films. Trailers are owned by the filmmakers/distributors
and they require the exhibitor to play them in advance of the film opening. Filmmakers
four-walling a theater should expect that theater to play their trailer in advance of the run;
again, though, others will have a hard time.It can be just as difficult and costly to get a trailer into the mainstream digital realm.
Yes, iTunes and Yahoo both allow open trailer submissions. (iTunes contact address is
[email protected], and Yahoos is [email protected], but note that each site has specific
instructions about what details to send.) Both sites are also quite selective about the trail-
ers that they accept. As a prerequisite for consideration, iTunes requires that films already
have a theatrical run planned, or have been accepted to a major film festival. Meanwhile,
Yahoos submission form asks the filmmaker to specify release date and distributor, two
fields that should give an idea as to how far along they expect their trailer submissions to
be. A simple perusal of either sites current trailer roster confirms that both iTunes and
Yahoo favor studio films and indies being released by large distributors almost unilaterally.
The rare self-distributed title does make it onto iTunes (recent examples being Jennifer
FoxsMy Reincarnation
and Tze ChunsChildren of Invention
), but these projects generally
have a good deal of hype behind them before they reach Apple. In an e-mail, Invention
producer Mynette Louie discussed how that films festival run was an asset in getting it on
iTunes. They actually first posted our [trailer] in May 09, four months after we played
Sundance, while we were in the thick of the fest circuit, Louie explained. Then when we
did a theatrical release in Feb 10, we just e-mailed again to ask to repost on their homep-
age, but offered them two exclusive clips of the film as well. When you do this, they have
more incentive to post/feature [your film]. Dan Schoenbrun
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convictionswhether its what you wear or
how you choose to live. And the opening
line is a killer set-up. IcyVogue editrix Anna
Wintour says, Ive said many times that we
all get dressed for Bill. A power-broker like
her, bowing to one man? Tell me more.
While Sundance winner and Oscar
nominee Trouble the Water, also released by
Zeitgeist, has compelling protagonists, its
fundamentally about Hurricane Katrina. But
what makes the film riveting is the you-are-
there video footage that was shot during and
immediately after the storm. Zeitgeist co-
presidents Nancy Gerstman and Emily Russo
wanted to play that up, so the trailer focuses
mainly on that; the stylistic flourish of white
flashes with thunderclaps, used metaphori-
cally in other trailers, is used here literally, to
recreate the ravages of the hurricane. You see
the main characters, but the focus is on the
storm and the governments reaction to the
storm. Its a classic case of show, dont tell.Sometimes, the most obvious marketing an-
gle isnt always the right one. Werner Herzogs
Encounters at the End of the World, an affec-
tionate and near-mystical portrait of a group
of scientists living in the extreme climates of
Antarctica, is narrated by the Bavarian direc-
tor and is rife with his trademark Teutonic ca-
dence. When I cut the trailer for THINKFilm
and Image Entertainment, I saw Herzog as a
major selling point; so, using the eerie choral
music from the film, I cut together a series of
arresting images and accompanied them with
Herzogs joyfully nihilistic ruminations. But
THINKFilm president Mark Urman surpris-
ingly suggested that I drop Herzogs voice.
What remained, just the images and the music,
became far more intriguing and absorbing, and
ultimately far more powerful.
USING SUBTITLES
Years ago, distributors were wary of using
subtitles in their trailers for foreign language
films and relied on a narrator instead of dia-
logue to explain the story. More cynical minds
might say that it was a lack of faith that audi-ence members didnt want to see something
that wasnt in English. But theres a more
practical reason: trailers go quickly, and its
hard to read while so many images are flash-
ing by. These days, trailers now happily carry
subtitles. In this digital age, one could argue
that people are far more adept at processing
a barrage of information quickly. Regardless,
subtitles are another tool for trailer editors.
The question is, how to use them effectively?
For the most part, I treat foreign language
dialogue the same way I treat English dia-
logue: to advance a story, set a mood and share
emotion. The trailer for Cristian Mungius 4
Months, 3 Weeks, and 2 Days, released by IFC
Films, has 20 subtitles in it. But they convey
urgency and tension (What are you going to
do?, Once we start, theres no turning back,
Want to tell me what s going on?). The dia-
logue doesnt actually reveal information. It
raises questions. The more subtitles, the more
tense the trailer gets. (The trailer is also a
good example of how to handle sensitive ma-
terial; nowhere does it mention that the film
is an abortion drama. The images hint at the
plot, but nothing is explicit).
In the trailer for Tomas Alfredsons Swedish
vampire thriller Let The Right One In, distrib-
uted by Magnolias genre arm Magnet, I only
use three subtitles. Halfway through, theres a
quick exchange: Are you a vampire? / Would
you like me anyway?; and at the end, Will
you be my girlfriend? Otherwise, the story inthe trailer is told wordlessly, which Magnolia
president Eamonn Bowles, as well as former
senior vice presidents Tom Quinn and Jeff
Reichert, completely supported. The econo-
my of dialogue is helpful from a marketing
point of view theres a good chance that
U.S. horror fans with no knowledge of inter-
national cinema might give this one a look,
even if they usually avoid subtitles. But less
is also more; the spare dialogue increases the
dramatic tension in a lovely, somber way.
USING COPY AND NARRATION
Copy and narration are an acquired taste.
Because Hollywood movies overuse copy and
narration, they can look and feel tired and un-
inspired. They are also literally disruptive; youre
watching a great image or listening to a line
of dialogue, and then suddenly its interrupted
by some deep bass voice or a card full of text.
Conversely, if you can cut a trailer without copy
or narration, then the movie is explaining its
own story organically. Showing rather than tell-
ing is always more interesting, so I try my best
to avoid copy and narration whenever possible.That said, there are always exceptions
to the rule. Copy is a great way to set up a
premise quickly and economically. In the
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trailer for Carlos, Olivier Assayass sweep-
ing five-hour epic about an international
terrorist, released by IFC Films, it helped
immensely to have three copy cards at the
beginning: IN THE 1970s AND 1980s /ONLY ONE MAN / COULD HIJACK
THE WORLD. That sets the time, place
and global impact within seconds. Because
Bill Cunningham New York is an episodic por-
trait of a man, the trailer uses one-word copy
cards that allow an impressionistic structure
while reinforcing Cunninghams identity:
PHOTOGRAPHER. / PERFECTIONIST.
/ LONER. / MAVERICK. / VISIONARY.
When the premise is more complicated,
narration is actually more expedient. Copy
cards are good if they are brief. Its difficult to
sustain an idea over multiple cards; after three
cards, you risk losing the train of thought.
Thats where a narrator is ideal. He or she can
express a paragraph in a few seconds, while al-lowing the audience to focus on a related visual
montage that strengthens the trailers overall
message. IFC Films documentary The Black
Power Mixtape: 1967-1975 is an electrifyingly
immediate work of cinema vrit that relies
on a few very long copy cards at the begin-
ning to explain that this is long-lost footage
shot by a Swedish TV crew during the black
power movement in the U.S. But for the trail-
er, no one on screen says that, and telling all
of that exposition on copy cards would slow
things down. Instead, Ryan Werner and Shani
Ankori requested a narration that delivered the
summary context quickly and compellingly.
MAKING A TRAILER ECONOMICALLY
Lets say theres just no budget to pay for
music (either from a composer or from a mu-
sic library). Or, even more importantly, the
director chose not to use music for thematic
reasons. Also, lets say that theres no budget
for a copywriter or a narrator, either. None of
these things is necessarily bad. Practically 99
percent of trailers have music, copy or narra-
tion, so those few trailers without them actu-
ally have an advantage in terms of standing
out from all the others.
Kelly Reichardts Wendy and Lucy, about
a down-and-out woman and her dog try-
ing to get to Alaska, deliberately had no
music, to accentuate the films stark, unsen-
timental mood. David Fenkel, president of
Oscilliscope Laboratories, the films distribu-tor, wanted Reichardt to be involved with the
marketing, and she and I quickly decided not
to use music in the trailer. We also both prefer
not to use copy or narration. So that just left
the films strongest asset: Michelle Williams.
But her performance in the film is so rivet-
ing that we used her dramatic predicament to
create the music and rhythms of the trailer.
Her escalating desperation and increasingly
extreme circumstances formed the structure
of the trailer, and key bits of dialogue accen-
tuated her stress and anxiety. There is innate
music in the spoken word, if you listen for it.
IFC Films Day Night Day Night was an-
other extreme situation. Julia Loktevs harrow-
ing depiction of a suicide bomber preparing
to sacrifice herself is so narrowly experiential
that the viewer never really knows what is hap-
pening at any given time. The movie is disori-
enting, so I tried my best to make the trailer
equally so. I found structure in repetition; as
the main character goes through her training,
she repeats phrases and words that others give
her. The natural rhythms that arose were the
material that I used to give the trailer a shapeand a sense of danger and emotional vertigo.
No copy, narration or music was necessary.
REFERENCING THE TITLE
It sounds silly and even somewhat obvious,
but if someone in the movie says the title of
the film, you should consider using it in the
trailer. If the films title is cryptic or somewhat
elusive, then that dialogue can give it context
and possibly even a sense of poetry. Why risk
a ticket sale due to confusion about the title?
TRAILER JARGONThanks to the increased prevalence of digital trailer platforms like iTunes and Yahoo,
the days when editors could deliver trailers entirely on celluloid are long past. Nowadays,
in order to cut a trailer for both theatrical and digital use, editors require a long list of
costly deliverables. To give filmmakers an idea of the complexity of this process, heres a
brief glossary of items and terms used by the trailer editor. D.S.
HDCAM MASTERThe HDCAM Master is what an editor will create the trailers various
video elements from, including the DCP (digital cinema projection file), the current stan-
dard for digital projections in movie theaters. Its also the version that will eventually be
used to create the trailers 35mm theatrical print. The standard HDCAM Master features
four tracks of audio, but one can also use an HDCAM SR, which features 12 tracks.
Be sure to include a time-coded version of the trailer on your HDCAM Master, as well as a
textless version (one that includes graphics, but no actual text). This will come in handy when the
trailer is needed for overseas use or if the distributor requires a clip for inclusion on a tribute reel.
PRORES QUICKTIME FILEMost trailer editors dont own HDCAM decks, so they need to
edit from a ProRes Quicktime file. Make sure youre editing on a time-coded export, as all
non-HD footage will eventually need to be matched back to the original HDCAM Master,
a process that requires the rental of a post-production facility with an HD editing bay.
ASPECT RATIOIf your trailer will be shown theatrically, the editor must create two versions in
order to conform to both flat (1.85) and scope (2.35) aspect ratios. Its cost-effective for editors
to first create a version in the flat aspect ratio and then simply pillar-box, a process in whichblack bars are added to the left and right sides of the screen in order to expand it to scope.
AUDIO MIXEditors must create two audio mixes for a trailer: one in 5:1 and one in stereo. A
5:1 mix is required in most movie theaters and is three times more complicated to create than
a stereo mix. Stereo is preferred across digital platforms. For most theatrical screenings, the
trailer also needs to be certified by Dolby. Filmmakers should also make sure that their Pro-
Tools audio-mixing session is saved, in case an element (such as a song with an expired license)
needs to be replaced later on.
AUDIO STEMSDistribution companies commonly require editors to create different versions
of the trailers audio, each one lacking certain elements. Most common is an M&E stem,
a version of the trailer that contains music and effects only and which needs to be created
in both 5:1 and stereo. Also commonly required is a dialogue-only stem, but this stem is
needed in stereo only. These stems are necessary if the trailer is to play on a program like
Access Hollywood, or as part of an EPK, where only certain audio elements are featured.
35MM PRINTMany theaters dont screen DCPs, so the editor will need to create a 35mm
print from the HDCAM Master. For 35mm, an optical soundtrack must be created and then
wedded to the print. Luckily, though, both stereo and 5:1 mixes can be embedded onto the
same print, so if the trailer is screened in a smaller, non-Dolby theater, it will still sound fine.
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No one in Half Nelson explains the title. But
when we were working on the trailer, we were
allowed to use an outtake that explains it: a
snippet of audio that intros a piece of music
(This song is called Half Nelson, for those
times when youre feeling kind of stuck). Its
at the beginning of the trailer and was used as
a cheat to seem as though Gosling is hearing
it on his clock radio.
Morvern Callarhas such a strange title that
one could be forgiven for not thinking of it
as a womans name. So at the beginning of
the trailer, we use a piece of a phone conver-
sation from the film (Mervill Coller? No,
Morvern Callar) that makes light of the
name and we also show a computer screen
where the name is being typed.
NO RULES, ONLY GUIDELINES
Everything I have written so far can be
disproved by another trailer that I (or some-
one else) has done. My ideal trailer doesnt
have copy, narration or subtitles. But one of
my favorite trailers is for Matteo Garrones
Gomorrah, which I cut for IFC Films and
which has guess what? Very lengthy copy
cards, a healthy dollop of narration and loads
of subtitles. Its incredibly helpful to have a
three-act structure, with three distinct music
cues. But the trailer for L.I.E. has exactly one
song and only one act.
You never really know what shape a trailer
will take until you start cutting it. Look at the
films assets, weigh its limitations, and then
find a rhythm and structure that works best.
There is no one perfect way to cut a trailer.
A movie can have five different trailers, all
of which take a different approach and all of
which do a great job selling the product.
A TRAILER IS ITS OWN FILM
Trailers have their own internal logic and
should function separately from the movie
they are promoting. If cut well, a trailer can
be something you want to watch again and
again. But (of course!) it should also make you
want to see more.
In most cases, unfortunately, people may only
ever see the trailer. Thats why trailers should
never resolve anything. If a trailer gives too
much away, then viewers might feel like theyve
already seen the whole movie and dont need
to look at the film. Always leave them wanting
more. A trailer, cut well, needs to arouse, pro-
voke, seduce and beguile. These are romantic
adjectives, which is the point; you need to make
viewers fall in love with your film even before
they have seen it. Again, trailers are about
promise and possibility. They have to tap into
irrational and emotional impulses. They have to
invoke a sense of want and need. To paraphrase
Shakespeare by way of John Huston, they are
the stuff that dreams are made of.
THE BLACK POWER MIXTAPE 1967-1975. BILL CUNNINGHAM NEW YORK.
PHOTO
BY:FIRSTTHOUGHTFILMS/ZEITGEISTFILM
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