Trailer Time
My first trailer! Woo-hoo!
I decided that I’d read up on trailers, and really get my research done, do my due diligence, cross all my “i”s, dot all my “t”s…aaaaand then I just went for it instead.
I did have some guidelines, however. Personal things. For instance: I frickin’ hate it when there’s something in the trailer that isn’t in the movie. Especially when it’s a really cool thing. Yeah, I hate seeing a great joke in a trailer 8 times before I see a movie, because it reduces the impact of the joke when I see the movie. Simple, right? Well, the funny thing is that I hate it even more when the joke in the trailer isn’t in the movie. I’ve been so conditioned to expect it (and, truthfully, I want to see if it’s still funny in context), that when it’s not there, it takes me out of the experience. That’s a failed trailer, in my mind, even if it gets me to the theater. You got a pissed off customer now, boyo. So I wanted to make sure that every clip in our trailer came from the actual film, and that’s the way it is.
Another guideline was that it had to really kick off. I mean, if the trailer doesn’t get you excited about seeing the movie, then what’s the point of the trailer? So I had that in mind as well. Something that builds, something that draws you in, and – ultimately – something that leaves you hanging, with a need for fulfillment that only one thing can quench – the film itself. First one’s always free, children, hee-hee.
And the truth is, this was a pretty easy and painless project for me, and I’ll tell you why. The trailer is a visualization of my 10-second elevator pitch for the film. And I worked on that pitch for about a year and a half. It goes like this: “God, Jesus, Mother Mary, Mary Magdalene and the Holy Spirit get together with a quart of whiskey and a loaded gun. It’s about forgiveness.” The first sentence gets the audience riled, and the second comes at ’em lateral-wise – they think they know, or have some idea (about which they’re all stirred up), and then – whack! Left cross! And as you can see from the trailer, I just followed this pattern. The splendid acting of Glen Caspillo (God), Alfonso Godinez (Jesus), Amy Crumpacker (Mary), Noni Galloway (Magdalene) and Steven Westdahl (Holy Spirit) along with the killer visuals of DP Thomas Broening and beauty and SFX make up artist Gwyneth Price, and the audio talents of recordist Tim Lindeen and composer / post sound editor Brian Hawlk did the rest.
I am so proud of this entire experience. Thanks for reading!
– Ian
Leave a Reply