We just posted our brand new Trailer A for the feature film "heads or tails" shot entirely on the dvx100p and edited on Final Cut Pro.

http://www.foolmartyr.com/

We're hoping to have our premiere by the end of the year.

If you have the time, please check it out and let me know what you think!

Clark

Hey:)

I downloaded your trailer and I have seen it about 5 times now.

I would like to give you my 2 cents and hope they can help.

The sound-mix has to be re-done. The dialogue is not clear and you can have a hard time finding out what the characters are saying.

The editing is okay, though it could be a bit more fluid.
And ít makes the trailer seem a bit long.

That was the minuses, but there are also several plusses.

First of all I think it is an interesting story that seem to have lots of aspects to it. Great.

Then there is the images...I really like a lot of them and especially the contrast and almost poetic feel, when we see "the man" walk in a field...I hope you know what I mean;)
That is a grat shot.

All in all I would like to see the final result.

Good luck my friend:)

Thanks for all the comments.

I agree the sound mix is not the best. We are still working on the sound in the film (as filming on a cliff had it's obvious disadvantages).

I am trying with the teasers and the trailers to be less like trailers of today, and while most people loved teaser B, general consensus for Trailer A seems that it needs to be more like today's trailers (faster edits, more punchy etc...).

But thanks for the comments. I'll be taking everything I get into consideration when I cut the FINAL trailer in a few weeks after we get the rough cut sent to some festivals.

we are about to do our last trailer and partly due to these message boards have decided to keep it short and sweet (about 1:30), with a voiceover to help drive the story home.

anyone else have any suggestions?

You have some travels in your last trailers, like with the people standing in front of a room (am I right...?) and that thing with the badthub... that was cool, I would use that... Others then that, I really loved your music!
If I can give you my personal opinion: I liked teaser C the most,
so I would use things of that trailer,but that's personal...
I could be wrong offcourse.
Hope it works out fine. bye**

Oops, little mistake, I meant Teaser B.

<<<-- Originally posted by Mathieu Ghekiere : Oops, little mistake, I meant Teaser B. -->>>

thanks for the comments! we hope to cut one last trailer in november for our gala screening in February!

Very, very nice job Clark.............Well done!
All the best.
Doug

<<<-- Originally posted by Doug Fearman : Very, very nice job Clark.............Well done!
All the best.
Doug -->>>

thanks!

hummmm !!
i viewed all 3 trailers ...1st i viewed each image & sound .. then i viewed them with the audio turned off , then just listen to all ..
NONE of them are working for me ... the sound track by itself doesn't work , the clip do not work alone , nor do they work together ( here and there they do but only few seconds)

IMO you do have something here that i can see can work
BUT i have to say whomever ( person or group ) is editing your trailers it's time for somebody else to step in ...

you have many excellent images /sequences/compositions/movement /light/a flow/mystery

i sense somebody is in love with some of the images but they aren't working as a whole ..again you have 3 trailers - let somebody else edit
or if this is a case of the director is standing over the editor it's time for the director to step out of the editing room ... if this is the director editing the trailer STEP aside .... you have some great images - let somebody else arrange the trailer ...
IMO keep in under 90sec ...

I think they are very strong, specifically trailer b. But offcourse that's only my opinion. I don't agree you have to keep the length of a trailer under 90 seconds. For many films it could work, for others it doesn't.
I think you can apply both on a film though most times.

all very good input. if we do another trailer we've decided to do one that is more along the lines of a 30-40 second trailer. Something quick and punchy. I agree the trailer right now is too long...and doesn't have the quick cuts that people are used to in trailers especially of today.

However, I am not a fan of most current trailers, with the quick cuts and almost the entire film given out to you in 2 second flashes. Some of my favorite trailers creep up on you. ..only give you so much, and save the surprises and the best elements for the movie. I think trailers should only give people a sense of what the film is about...from that the audience can decide if it's something they want...

But that being said, we can still do that using the input you've provided. Thanks.

<<

IMO you do have something here that i can see can work
BUT i have to say whomever ( person or group ) is editing your trailers it's time for somebody else to step in ...

you have many excellent images /sequences/compositions/movement /light/a flow/mystery

i sense somebody is in love with some of the images but they aren't working as a whole ..again you have 3 trailers - let somebody else edit
or if this is a case of the director is standing over the editor it's time for the director to step out of the editing room ... if this is the director editing the trailer STEP aside .... you have some great images - let somebody else arrange the trailer ...
IMO keep in under 90sec ... -->>>

<<<-- Originally posted by Clark Kline : all very good input. if we do another trailer we've decided to do one that is more along the lines of a 30-40 second trailer. Something quick and punchy. I agree the trailer right now is too long...and doesn't have the quick cuts that people are used to in trailers especially of today.

However, I am not a fan of most current trailers, with the quick cuts and almost the entire film given out to you in 2 second flashes. Some of my favorite trailers creep up on you. ..only give you so much, and save the surprises and the best elements for the movie. I think trailers should only give people a sense of what the film is about...from that the audience can decide if it's something they want...

-->>> -->>>

I agree with you. Some trailers work with their flashy cutting, but others just don't work too.
My opinion.
Good luck with everything, please give a link to it all, I really am curious to see it all!

<<<--

I agree with you. Some trailers work with their flashy cutting, but others just don't work too.
My opinion.
Good luck with everything, please give a link to it all, I really am curious to see it all! -->>>

thanks much. when we get our screenings lined up I'll post to the board. we also have an email list on the website www.foolmartyr.com . we showed our latest rough cut this past weekend and we got a lot of positive feedback. I think we are getting close to a final cut.

Actually, I can't watch it at all. Uploading files as MP4's will insure great quality but it will also insure that not many people will be able to watch it. You have to have the latest, latest version of quick time and and updated browser to see it.

If you're marketing a feature film, you want to make sure that it's available to everyone, no matter hopw old their system is. My suggestion would be to take your trailer into a program called Sorenson Squezze and make a regular quicktime and make sure it has the .MOV file extension. I've had the best results doing it that way.

Good luck!

Okay, I watch the "large" trailer. Let me hit on some of what I consider the good points:

- The music. Nice big lush symphonic sounds track, big league stuff, nothing minor league here.

- The images. Someone with an eye for good shots certain was DP on this one. The outdoor stuff is truly stunning to look at.

The biggest downside of this trailer is TOO MUCH INFORMATION! So many facts entered into evidence, without time to digest or order them in my mind. So much information that I honestly have only a slight idea what the movie might be about. It seems like the entire story is trying to be put into a coles notes trailer, which really served only to confuse me.

Trailers aren't to tell the entire story, they are to tell a small part of the story, enough to get people to want to sit and see the rest. This one had so much in it, I didn't know who was what or why.

I will also say that the editing was, especially in the first 30 seconds, very jumpy and the cuts very abrupt. The last 20 seconds was really quite nice ("don't go in there daddy..."). That had a nice feel to it.

There really was no "building of the terror" here, just images and words that I cannot understand the relationship of clearly.

Coloring and color balance is also a potential issue, as it isn't consistant through the segments. scoping and balancing out these clips, maybe putting an overall coloring on it would help to give it a more cohesive look.

Just my 2 cents worth!

Alex

Thanks for all the input. Very good feedback.

While we in no way have tried to get the entire plot down into a short trailer (if anything we are still guarding it too much) i can see how one would think that being as the dialogue that is in the trailer is a bit vague unless you do know the story.

I think the general consensus from the boards is trailer a is a bit too long and confusing, and teaser c was stronger due to the atmosphere it created...although equally confusing.

I think we will be cutting a new trailer and keep it under 45 seconds. i personally like just giving atmosphere. i never like getting/giving plot elements because it takes away the audience enjoyment, but it's such a fine line about how much you need to give to pique interest to begin with.

I also agree about the color correction...we are about a month away from color correcting the movie itself which will hopefully give the images a more cohesive feel.
thanks!

Clark
(edited to remove duplicate words)

After over 18 months of production, we are finally premiering our film "heads or tails" on February 19th 2005 at the Weinberg Center in Frederick Maryland. 8pm

heads or tails
feature film premiere
Weinberg Center
February 19th 2005
www.foolmartyr.com
www.weinbergcenter.org

Weinberg Center is an historic theater that seats over 1000 people. Cast and Crew will be present and it will be the first time any of them have even seen the film.

I appreciate all the feedback on the teasers/trailers and pics from everyone on this board. If any of you are able to make it out, be sure to introduce yourself!

Thanks again for all the input!

We just uploaded color corrected footage for our feature film "heads or tails" shot on DVX100. If you have time, please check it out at www.foolmartyr.com.

While this isn't a trailer necessarily, it was footage edited together to show in a window on the main street in my home town advertising the premiere.

If you havent checked out the previous trailers- they are still online but keep in mind they were before color correction and sound mixing.

Let me know what you think
Thanks!
Clark Kline

I prefer the Teaser C.

Since i don't agree with the person who says that your teasers/trailer gives too much information, i must say that Teaser C is the most balanced and it's the only one that gives the taste to know more about your movie.

Even if i don't like the concept, many pro's says that trailers should give maximum information to really attract potential viewers. People are lazy (unfortunately) and wants to know more about what they'll spend for. Very often, people will make their decision whether they'll see a movie or not by viewing 1 or 2 minutes of it. Of course you can bet on enigmatic ambiant trailer but most of the time it is risky.

Another thing about your trailer/teasers is the music (which is really good):

In my opinion, only Teaser C really match music/image ambiance in the good way. In others, music is too powerful for the image i see, contrast between both gives images an "amateur" look, even if it's not the case.

Of course i didn't see the movie, so i can only make an opinion of what i can see on the website.

Good luck for everything!

Jon

thanks for the input!

teaser C is my fave too, even though it doesnt have any dialogue. i am about to add dialogue and story content to the "Local Trailer" aka Trailer C.

I've thought about bringing on a trailer editor to help us out but haven't found one to do it volunteer yet. there is definately an art to trailers, and we are still trying to find it.

thanks again!

clark

I prefer the Teaser C.

Since i don't agree with the person who says that your teasers/trailer gives too much information, i must say that Teaser C is the most balanced and it's the only one that gives the taste to know more about your movie.

Even if i don't like the concept, many pro's says that trailers should give maximum information to really attract potential viewers. People are lazy (unfortunately) and wants to know more about what they'll spend for. Very often, people will make their decision whether they'll see a movie or not by viewing 1 or 2 minutes of it. Of course you can bet on enigmatic ambiant trailer but most of the time it is risky.

Another thing about your trailer/teasers is the music (which is really good):

In my opinion, only Teaser C really match music/image ambiance in the good way. In others, music is too powerful for the image i see, contrast between both gives images an "amateur" look, even if it's not the case.

Of course i didn't see the movie, so i can only make an opinion of what i can see on the website.

Good luck for everything!

Jon