"Louder than words" movie trailer
 

Hi everyone,

Just wanted to get some feedback on a short movie I made for a University project. Unfortunately I havent got enough hosting space for the full movie. But here is the trailer. Be as critical as you can. I suppose what I want to know is if this trailer would entice you to see the actual movie.

louder than 512k_stream002.mov

Cheers,
Carl Burke

Hey Carl,

To be frank, I didn't get anything from the trailer. I know you don't want the trailer to give away the movie, but I still don't even have an inkling of what the movie is about.

As an audience memeber, why would I want to see this? All I saw in the trailer were two people staring off into space. I want to help, but I don't know what the movie is about.

That's just how I see it. Another way to cut a trailer, and this works more for people in our community, is to just cut together something with a lot of cool shots to show off your strength as a filmmaker. It's a way for your to show off.

But I wouldn't be enticed by what you have now. It dragged a little.

This is a link to a trailer I cut for a movie I just shot. You have to download it, so you have time and are interested, take a look: http://www.savefile.com/files/5483618

It looks like you have some good footage, some nice stuff, it just needs to be focused and packaged more.

Cheers,
Josh

Hi Josh,

Thanks for the honesty, its what im after.

I tend to agree with you that the trailer is abiguious to say the least. The problem I had making it was that there is in fact no dialogue in my movie. Its a silent gangster movie, hence the title (actions speak....) "Louder than words". The story is told through the actions of the characters without the addition of any dialogue.

Another problem I had is that the actual movie is so short (about 4:30) due to rushing to get it done on time for uni. So with an actual movie that isnt much longer than a regular trailer I was a bit stuffed when it came to editing the trailer. I didnt have much footage to choose from. Anyway it would seem as it was my own fault for not better bugeting my time. A valuable lesson for next time.

Thanks for the comments.
Carl Burke

Carl, having dialogue or not is immaterial. A trailer should give the viewer a sense of what the movie is about. As Josh said, this trailer doesn't give the viewer anything--that's not good. What's in the trailer that would generate within the viewer a desire to see this movie? Nothing.

We've all seen many trailers that had no dialogue that were compelling, gave us a sense of what the film was about, and generated an interest in the viewer to want to see the film. It's not the shortness of your film that is the issue, it's the shots you selected to put into the trailer that are the problem. Show us something--just two or three quick shots--that indicate this is a "gangster movie" and you've done what you set out to do.

Try this... go to http://www.apple.com/trailers, turn off your sound, and watch the trailers you haven't seen before or know nothing about. See how many give you an idea of what the movie is about without any sound. The first one I tried was "Cronicas." Without sound I knew within seconds what the jest of the movie was.

Jay

I'm going to disagree and say that the ambiguity works well to an extent...depending on the type of movie. If your movie is making a deep statement about life and death...then I think the trailer is just fine if tightened up a little bit. I've always been a fan of that type of trailer that didn't tell me anything about the movie, except for the mood (Think the first teaser trailer of "Garden State"). I mean I can tell you it definately worked for me...because I want to see the entire movie now. If the mood of that trailer matches the mood of your movie I think its fine. My only problem with the trailer was the over repetition of the text animation. Sadly...and even though it might offend a friend or two....cut down the number of actors mentioned to just two....after all they aren't stars...and even movies with big stars only mention one or two in the trailers.

I'm not saying ambiguity doesn't work well in trailers. But there's a difference between: "Whoa, I don't know what I just saw, but I want to see more" and "I don't know what I just saw, so why would I go?"

This trailer falls into the latter (and no offense Carl). The ambiguity could work if it enticed into seeing the movie, but the trailer doesn't make it look very interesting. You don't have to give away the plot, but show something. I agree with you Matt, I don't want the movie spelled out for me before I see it, but I want some reason to see it. Even if it's just cool action.

Hi guys,

Cheers for the comments once again,

I wanted it to be ambiguous but I think I may have overstepped the line a little. Like Matt i'm a sucker for a trailer that tells me very little but at the same time it does have to tell me something. I think my trailer does tell you something about the movie. I'd like to think it alludes to a dark, quick paced movie involving some guns. Buts its hard to say anymore since I've lost all objectivity during the hours of editing and re-watching I invested in the overall project. I am however beginning to agree with Josh in that my trailer doesn’t quite offer enough to entice most people. I can't really be bothered to rectify this issue on this trailer. But I will take your comments to heart and hopefully be able to make a better one for my next project.

Thanks for taking the time to watch and comment,
Carl Burke