I’m working on an outline of trailer for Resurrection of Serious Rogers — the rough cut is posted on Vimeo (password protected) but even it is outdated. I’ve since edited and re-edited the trailer about eighty times — thank God for Final Cut Pro.
In this day and age, and I’m sure many would disagree with me, trailers sell films! How’s that? you ask. Easy A kick-ass trailer opens doors, builds interest, and builds audiences. Oh, and here’s the kicker — kiss ass trailers sell movie tickets, sell DVDs, and sell downloads!
You know that’s right! (to coin a phrase from my favorite show Psych)
So what is a kick-ass trailer, particular as it pertains to independent film? I dunno. It’s one of those things that you only recognize after you see it and say, “That was totally bad ass!” Case in point. I edited version two of the RSR trailer, posted it online for few select people. It was raw, but I liked it. Turned out several others liked it too. They say it was, bad ass.
The Meeting
Then I moved on to edit number 27. I thought I was doing something better, bigger, more studio-ish. It sucked. It no longer kicked ass. But Why? I used 90% of the same scenes and dialog, but the pacing sucked. The energy was missing.
I got some advice from a trusted friend. Put edit on hold for a 24 hours and jumped on it again. Guess what? The new edit kicks ass again. Well…at least to me.
Obviously a trailer should entice the viewer to want to see the movie. No-brainer there. But remember, your trailer isn’t for everyone. It’s for YOUR FILM’S audience. If someone isn’t within the targeted demographic for your film — guess what, they probably wont give a crap about your trailer.
So, Resurrection of Serious Rogers is for the neo noir, action thriller seeking audience. It’s for guys and gals who like hot women with guns, a film with a cool look, a film with a cool story, a film with hot guys, with blood, cussing and a few other choice elements. It’s not really for the arthouse clan.
The trailer will be released very soon.
