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Truancy-Bot posted:I'm assuming it's because the "trailer voice over" stereotype has been parodied so heavily in popular culture in the past decade or so, to the point where audiences no longer take it seriously. Also the most well known trailer V.O. guy died.
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May 10, 2012 19:33
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sbagliom posted:I've noticed that, would you happen to know any specific reason why they've stopped? Is it because Don Lafontaine is dead, or do they just assume people don't need help figuring out the plot anymore? Fashion too I guess. There are a lot of people who could do it but now when it pops up it is more like in our Gangster Squad where it is a character and not a voice-over guy that is setting the scene. We still do a lot of VO for TV Spots though but it is more scripts now. From Josh Duhamel's VO on New Year's Eve... SOME PEOPLE SWEAR THERE’S NO BEAUTY LEFT IN THE WORLD NO MAGIC THEN HOW DO YOU EXPLAIN THE ENTIRE WORLD COMING TOGETHER ON ONE NIGHT TO CELEBRATE THE HOPE… OF A NEW YEAR ...we did New Year's Eve. I'm sorry.
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May 10, 2012 19:44
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kiimo posted:...we did New Year's Eve. I'm sorry. That's nothing... I worked at the company that put together these atrocities: Meet Dave: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9GUGRfUoKjE Alvin and the Chipmunks: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TL-9QAZN_zM College Road Trip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ljSKc7T9M68 Underdog: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6jooThaqeYg and on and on.
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May 10, 2012 19:56
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So who was responsible for the Bridge to Teribithia trailer?
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May 10, 2012 20:07
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This movie didn't do very well at the box office, but it's not the fault of the trailer, which pretty much sums up how cool it is. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vuqBKiKycbA
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May 10, 2012 20:49
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Let's travel back to 1988. Batman may be a cultural icon, but not as a serious character. Adam West would be who most people identify with him. Frank Miller's "The Dark Knight Returns", published in 1986, was a massive critical and commercial hit in the comic book industry, but relatively unknown to the general public. When a movie of Batman was announced, there was no good news to be had as far as most people were concerned. Comic book fans thought it'd be a campy disaster thanks to the casting of Michael Keaton (up to that point known for stuff like "Mr. Mom" and "Beetlejuice"), and the rest of the public thought it was silly that something like Batman could possibly have a serious side. By the end of 1988, the hype surrounding "Batman" was downright toxic. To counter this, producer Jon Peters went into damage control. Even though the movie was still filming, Peters had a 90-second trailer hurriedly put together over a weekend. It was tested, unannounced before an audience in Westwood. The response was hugely enthusiastic. The audience even demanded they play the trailer a second time. This trailer for "Batman" played before movies during the Christmas season of 1988, and changed the public's perception of it. Here is the trailer in question. Notice how unusual it is. No narration, no music, no title.
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May 10, 2012 20:51
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Robert Denby posted:Here is the trailer in question. Notice how unusual it is. No narration, no music, no title. Crazy. It's more like a demo reel to tell audiences to shut the gently caress up.
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May 10, 2012 20:55
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According to the book Hit & Run, this became a trailer that people would go to see just for itself- they'd buy a ticket for the film it was attached to and leave once it had played.
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May 10, 2012 21:03
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Great thread. OP, do you ever lament the fact that your job can act as one big spoiler for movies? I realize you're probably not bummed out over missing the genuine Bucky Larson experience, but something like Gangster Squad--does it bother you at all that you'll never just be able to sit down and enjoy the finished product without having seen it in various stages of production? Also: I blame "Warrior" bombing mostly on the Godawful trailer, which actually edited in the announcer uttering, "Unbelievably, the two fighters in the final---ARE BROTHERS!" How does that happen without someone saying, "You know, that line is so groan-inducing people will actively avoid this otherwise fine film?"
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May 10, 2012 21:07
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If you have more classic trailers please post.
kiimo fucked around with this message at 04:40 on Oct 3, 2015 |
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May 10, 2012 21:08
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RoughDraft2.0 posted:
Not only that, it took away from the lead up fights. Pretty much everyone could have guessed that's where the movie would have led, but to have it confirmed right in the trailer took any doubt away. The teacher vs. Russian fight still had me yelling out loud though, that movie was fantastic.
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May 10, 2012 21:42
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When I think movie trailers, the one that sticks in my head is the original trailer for Tom Cruise's Mission: Impossible. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qbg99ykA2bk I was pissed when I saw the film & realized the climax of the movie (the helicopter exploding in the train tunnel) was spoiled for me. Why give away the best part of the movie in the preview? Another one that bothers me is The Negotiator. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6XyyPQERH7E A possible powerful scene (Kevin Spacey teams up with Samuel L. Jackson) is spoiled right in the trailer. Movies should follow the "less is more" concept when making trailers.
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May 10, 2012 22:22
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Android Bicyclist posted:Another one that bothers me is The Negotiator. I saw trailers for The Negotiator so many times on TV when it came out that Spacey's "I wonder why that is!" is all I can think of when I think of that movie.
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May 10, 2012 22:27
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Everyone here is familiar with the term 'teaser', I assume. Pixar's kind of become the undisputed king of these, starting with A Bug's Life and Toy Story 2. These are good examples of teasers that are made with no footage from the film itself, to give audiences just an idea of what's coming out. Generally, these teasers are put out almost a full year before the film in question. Much like the situation with "Batman" I went over a few posts ago, "Superman" had trouble grabbing audience attention before its advertising campaign began. The production was troubled to say the least, and it ended up being the most expensive film of it's time. Because of a protracted pre-production process and numerous delays while filming, the release date went from 1976, to summer of 1977, to Christmas of 1977, to summer of 1978, before finally settling on a Christmas 1978 release. To boost interest in the film, this teaser was filmed for the Christmas of 1977, with a camera stuck into the bottom of an airplane, and the cast's names superimposed against the clouds.
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May 10, 2012 22:43
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It's frustrating how even trailers from the relatively recent past can (seemingly) disappear. Good luck finding that aforementioned Starship Troopers teaser, or the original Fifth Element teaser, anywhere on the internet.
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May 10, 2012 23:08
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Maxwell Lord posted:According to the book Hit & Run, this became a trailer that people would go to see just for itself- they'd buy a ticket for the film it was attached to and leave once it had played. The last gasp of that would probably be the Episode One teaser they attached to Wing Commander. After that pretty much everything went online. Something I thought was interesting was comparing the newest Amazing Spider-Man trailer with the one just previous to it. In it they both use the same shot for the climax of the trailer (Spidey on the rooftop that's collapsing) but it becomes obvious that they hadn't quite finished FX work as the most recent one added some kind of energy/electrical field to the sky.
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May 11, 2012 00:30
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FoneBone posted:It's frustrating how even trailers from the relatively recent past can (seemingly) disappear. Good luck finding that aforementioned Starship Troopers teaser, or the original Fifth Element teaser, anywhere on the internet. I'm particularly annoyed that Universal doesn't put trailers on its DVDs or Blu-Rays anymore. I'm not sure why, at some point it just became standard practice for the company.
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May 11, 2012 00:33
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muscles like this? posted:The last gasp of that would probably be the Episode One teaser they attached to Wing Commander. After that pretty much everything went online. In the summer of 1990, James Cameron began production on "Terminator 2: Judgement Day". To best announce the film's release for the summer of '91, he enlisted the late, great special effects master Stan Winston to direct a teaser depicting the construction of a T-800. The teaser, dubbed 'Building the perfect Arnold' is downright legendary to people who grew up in the late-80s early-90s. This wasn't the first time Cameron had done this. The Abyss had a trailer out a year before it was released as well. muscles like this? posted:Something I thought was interesting was comparing the newest Amazing Spider-Man trailer with the one just previous to it. In it they both use the same shot for the climax of the trailer (Spidey on the rooftop that's collapsing) but it becomes obvious that they hadn't quite finished FX work as the most recent one added some kind of energy/electrical field to the sky. Speaking of "The Lord of the Rings", here's the very first trailer, released exclusively online in the summer of 2000. Robert Denby fucked around with this message at 00:58 on May 11, 2012 |
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May 11, 2012 00:51
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Jefferoo posted:I'm a bit of a trailer freak, I always get a good rush from a solid trailer, I almost enjoy them more than the actual movie. Trailers for Nolan movies have always gotten me pumped: Nolan trailers always seem to follow the same 3-step pattern. Trailer 1 - The Teaser: Dark Knight, Inception, Dark Knight Rises Trailer 2 - The Story: Dark Knight, Inception, Dark Knight Rises Trailer 3 - This will get your rear end in the theater, it'll also be kinda spoilery Dark Knight, Inception, Dark Knight Rises And they're all loving awesome. As for adding one of my favorites, the first teaser for Wall-E was just amazing. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZAWIIlXNGwY Happy Noodle Boy fucked around with this message at 03:44 on May 11, 2012 |
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May 11, 2012 03:39
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kiimo posted:Personally I would have gone in a bit of a different direction but maybe that's why I'm not the boss. Yeah, I was hoping for something more like L.A. Confidential, so I wasn't really feeling it. That's where it can be tricky when you're judging trailers - sometimes you're just judging the movie. I honestly didn't get new and unique from it though, it strongly brought to mind The Untouchables - Penn's Cohen, especially, seems an echo of De Niro as Capone. Perhaps not in the particulars of the character and performance, but just in the casting itself and the way it's emphasized in the selling. And of course the multi-ethnic team of agents specially picked to take down one excessively-powerful crime boss. When a period movie is packaged with a lot of rowdy modern music, it tells me that they're aggressively selling it to the young male demo - a lot of the time its done with slammin guitars instead of rap, but the net effect is similar. But it seems pretty well done for that sort of thing*, and the cast is so good that I'm still interested even though I now have the sense that the movie isn't really for me. *Contrast with the terrible trailer for the terrible Texas Rangers, which is only one example of many but was the first to spring to mind: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sKDH5S3NMuw Hey, you know what movie has a great trailer? American Gangster. I was going to post it anyway just because I like it, but it strikes me that there's some useful parallels to Gangster Squad's. They both use Jay-Z songs, but American Gangster uses "Heart Of The City (Ain't No Love)," one of the better tracks off his last good album, and it's built around samples from Bobby Bland's early-mid 70s soul/R&B classic "Ain't No Love In The Heart Of The City" - a song that speaks pretty directly and instantly to the period, themes and setting of the film. It's a modern touch, and yet it lets you know that the movie isn't scared of its period setting, and it works with the imagery to rapidly establish a mood and atmosphere. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6s8pW4iGcj8 Gangster Squad uses the Just Blaze banger "Oh My God" off Jay's lovely comeback album, and I guess it's kind of exciting and cacophonous, which matches the action-heavy clips. I don't think it really helps creates a mood aside from one of testosterone-pumping mayhem. And that's fine, it's a different movie and maybe they're just being true to it. (You can argue that American Gangster has it easier in terms of musical options, because there's simply a lot more cool, recognizable music out there that evokes early 70s New York City than there is stuff that does the same for late 40's-early 50s L.A., while also staying true to the mood of a tough crime drama. And that's probably true.) But American Gangster also sets up its main characters and whets your appetite to be told a juicy story on a grand scale. (It actually hits that sweet spot you love with a trailer, where it can do all that while not revealing too many specifics of the story - the doesn't give you too many snippets, but the ones you do get are really intriguing and seem to form a larger picture.) I think no matter how the trends in blockbuster filmmaking change, audiences always respond to the promise of being told a good story with interesting characters. Some movies have advertising campaigns where it just seems like they forgot to mention that there's a story & characters at all (John Carter), and I believe that's the key to why they are often received indifferently. I'm not making that charge of Gangster Squad, it's too early and I'm assuming there will be a second trailer which presents more of a narrative instead of simply a setting and premise. But even speaking as a guy who's already familiar with Mickey Cohen and William Parker and organized crime of the era, I don't feel like I have a picture of who anybody is except in the most broad stroke ways - here's a gangster, here's the guys going after him, here's a splash of romance on the side. None of it grips me. If you want to be something that's more than just L.A. Confidential meets The Untouchables, you gotta get detailed, you gotta make your mark. (At this point I'm sort of bleeding into a tangent, which is that the material matters - people like to think advertising can sell anything, but it must be really hard to make a compelling trailer out of crap. I'm sure nobody on the planet could make Texas Rangers up there look good. Of course there's been a ton of great trailers for middling-to-bad movies, but they usually seize on the things that are interesting about the film and proceed to turn chicken poo poo into chicken salad. If Gangster Squad is truly just cardboard X meets X bullshit, then it's tough to present it as something unique - but if there is something deeper going on there, then I think you have to key in on it and promote that and not just more guns, gangsters and dames.)
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May 11, 2012 04:44
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Happy Noodle Boy posted:Nolan trailers always seem to follow the same 3-step pattern. I wonder if Kiimo he has any insight as to how Nolan's trailers have become so distinct. You pretty much know one as soon as it begins. Have they used the same vendor every time? Is Nolan himself involved on any level? He has a close relationship with Warner Brothers, has that facilitated the creating of this consistent Nolan 'brand'? You would love for every trailer to be as good as The Dark Knight's, but perhaps that would also require more movies be like TDK.
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May 11, 2012 04:54
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The thing about trendsetting trailers is when you look back on them with enough distance they often seem less fresh and interesting, I suppose due to being ripped off so much, and perhaps also the glib nature of advertising. Plenty of them do stand the test of time though. Kubrick always cut some incredible trailers: The Shining https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I6qDqdYY6-Y Speaks for itself. Eyes Wide Shut https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NIAneEiWEJ4 Always loved this one. I was 13 when this trailer debuted, I'd never seen any of Kubrick's films theatrically and was boiling over with anticipation. I downloaded a lovely quicktime of it and watched it a million times. It still holds up - it's simple and bold, but surprisingly playful too. FoneBone posted:It's frustrating how even trailers from the relatively recent past can (seemingly) disappear. Good luck finding that aforementioned Starship Troopers teaser, or the original Fifth Element teaser, anywhere on the internet. Yeah, this drives me crazy. It's insane to me that these things that millions of people saw can seemingly disappear. RoughDraft2.0 posted:Also: I blame "Warrior" bombing mostly on the Godawful trailer, which actually edited in the announcer uttering, "Unbelievably, the two fighters in the final---ARE BROTHERS!" How does that happen without someone saying, "You know, that line is so groan-inducing people will actively avoid this otherwise fine film?" I dunno, I loved that Warrior trailer and it really sold me on the movie. They should've taken that line out and any of the stuff that alluded to them being brothers, because it's built up to really slowly in the flick, but otherwise I think it delivers. Everyone else I know who saw the trailer seemed underwhelmed by it too though, so maybe its just me. Here it is, for the curious: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=54vrgCP5nlc
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May 11, 2012 06:48
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muscles like this? posted:The last gasp of that would probably be the Episode One teaser they attached to Wing Commander. After that pretty much everything went online. Actually the last gasp of it was when Last Flight of the Osiris (from the Animatrix) was exclusively previewed attached to Dreamcatcher. Otherwise, yeah. Odd fact: the first movie to have its own official website was Stargate.
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May 11, 2012 07:52
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DNS posted:I wonder if Kiimo he has any insight as to how Nolan's trailers have become so distinct. You pretty much know one as soon as it begins. Have they used the same vendor every time? Is Nolan himself involved on any level? He has a close relationship with Warner Brothers, has that facilitated the creating of this consistent Nolan 'brand'? You would love for every trailer to be as good as The Dark Knight's, but perhaps that would also require more movies be like TDK. A lot to respond to but for now I'll say that the vendors changed but the same SVP did all of them, they have a great relationship. In fact, check that he's actually an EVP now. Nolan works with a lot of the same people on a lot of things so you kind of develop a brand. Thankfully that brand is really top notch. Once again it really helps when you have great source material. kiimo fucked around with this message at 17:35 on May 11, 2012 |
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May 11, 2012 08:41
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One movie that always comes to mind when thinking about trailers is Cellular, a pretty stupid and forgettable semi-comedic thriller that was re-cut to look super dramatic and suspenseful. If you've actually seen the movie (which like, eight people have) you'll understand how different the two are in tone. It's quite remarkable. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s2-wO0kG8as And this is always good for a laugh when discussing common trailer tropes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rbhrz1-4hN4
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May 11, 2012 12:30
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So besides Cameron, there's another director fond of the 'special shoot' teaser; none other than Steven Spielberg, who has had to my knowledge seven films with these kinds of trailers. 1984: Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom 1989: Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade 1991: Hook 1993: Jurassic Park 1997: The Lost World 2005: War of the Worlds The first special shoot trailer he did though, was in 1978, for one of his few financial disappointments; the infamous "1941". John Milius directed this recruitment-film-spoofing teaser starring John Belushi which debuted a full year before the film did. Notice Belushi's character is introduced as Wild Wayne Kelso. In the film, he's Wild Bill Kelso. "1941" certainly wasn't a disappointment for lack of publicity. There was another special shoot trailer for the film made using the impressive miniature sets. EDIT: Fixed grammar and BBcodes. EDIT 2: Added "Temple of Doom" teaser. Robert Denby fucked around with this message at 18:17 on May 11, 2012 |
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May 11, 2012 14:27
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Robert Denby posted:So besides Cameron, there's another director fond of the 'special shoot' teaser; none other than Steven Spielberg, who has had to my knowledge six films with these kinds of trailers. That Hook one is awesome. I can't believe I've never seen it before.
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May 11, 2012 17:21
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Here's The Campaign with a better link... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kDGlQopwXXA Really though the red band is going to be the funny one, per usual.
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May 11, 2012 17:26
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The only version I can find of that Fifth Element teaser, for the curious: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BBHA8eR3lj8&t=0m8s
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May 11, 2012 17:30
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The earliest special shoot teaser that I know of is the James Cagney gangster classic The Public Enemy made all the way back in 1931. But the absolute weirdest special shoot trailer has to be this one for Miracle on 34th Street. Any reasonable person would ask, "Why the hell would you advertise a film this way?" In 1946, Frank Capra released the self-financed "It's a Wonderful Life". It was a huge flop, losing several million (on a then-astronomical budget of $11 million) and single-handedly ended Capra's production outlet, Liberty Films, which only made one more film ("State of the Union", which was already in production when "Wonderful Life" came out). Fox had just completed filming "Miracle on 34th Street" as the numbers for "It's a Wonderful Life" came in. Because both films were Christmas-themed, Fox thought they had a disaster on their hands, and tried to distance their film as much as possible from Capra's. None of "34th Street"'s advertising mentions the story, let alone that it takes place on Christmas. To further throw audiences off, the film was released on Memorial Day. The misdirection worked; "Miracle on 34th Street" was a box office success.
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May 11, 2012 19:20
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I've a special love for trailers that are far better than the movie they advertize. I still love the second trailer released for Clash of the Titans (the remake), even though the movie is boring. But if there's one practice I hate, it's when a trailer shows shots from the final scene of a movie, or sometimes the actual final shot, like Quarantine and The Grey. You see the trailer, you watch the movie, and nearly at the end you realize "poo poo, I already saw this." I went looking for a version of the trailer for the fundamentally stupid movie 10,000 BC which has about 10,000 words fly at the viewer in rapid succession, and realized that every trailer for that movie contains the scene where the bad guy has just been killed (the hero screams "he is not a god!").
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May 11, 2012 19:20
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Robert Denby - I've never heard the term "special shoot" before - is this something actually used in the industry?
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May 11, 2012 19:40
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Late-80s-to-mid-90s the term 'special shoot' was used a lot in articles and books to talk about trailers like the ones I've posted. That's when they were more common and super-elaborate, where you got stuff like the "T2" one, which IIRC cost around $100,000. If I find it, I'll link a New York Times article from the early 90s about how much money and effort Warner Bros. put into trailers (it uses the term a few times as well). I've rarely heard it used recently, though. EDIT: Here is that article. Thumbnailed because it's huge (I was too lazy to transcribe it).  Also they don't use the term 'special shoot' once. 
Robert Denby fucked around with this message at 21:20 on May 11, 2012 |
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May 11, 2012 19:54
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davidspackage posted:I've a special love for trailers that are far better than the movie they advertize. I remember when that trailer came out, someone on the forums said "Wow, That trailer just netted them an extra 20 mil opening weekend." because drat, it made everyone want to see it. I know I loved the music matching up to the scorpion stings. Shame about the movie.
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May 11, 2012 20:15
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davidspackage posted:I've a special love for trailers that are far better than the movie they advertize. I love mythology and this trailer got my hopes up that the movie would at least be bad-rear end, entertaining, and full of gods and monsters loving poo poo up. Instead it was 2 hours of Sam Worthington making a mopey face, with some lackluster action scenes thrown in. Seriously, how can you have such a great trailer for such a boring, poo poo movie?
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May 11, 2012 21:20
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exquisite tea posted:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MbGNcoB2Y4I
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May 11, 2012 21:24
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Don't forget Comedian! So as you can tell, year-in-advance teasers and/or 'special shoot' teasers were a bit of a fad in Hollywood for a few years. Here are some more from the heyday: The Addams Family (1991) Toys (1992) Strange Days (1995) Godzilla (1998) The Green Mile (1999) Hannibal (2001) This teaser for GoldenEye announced the return of James Bond after a six year absence, by making a hybrid special shoot and normal trailer. One of the last big ones was the infamous World Trade Center teaser for Spider-Man.
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May 11, 2012 21:39
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There's the Star Trek teaser from about 3 years ago. I remember seeing it before Cloverfield. http://youtu.be/p3EzkN0cPjw This actually got me all excited about the new movie. Edit: replaced it with better version edogawa rando fucked around with this message at 21:53 on May 11, 2012 |
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May 11, 2012 21:49
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Robert Denby posted:Strange Days (1995)
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May 11, 2012 21:57
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I love, love, love the original trailer for District 9. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DyLUwOcR5pk I hadn't heard a word about the movie when I first saw this trailer and I was totally blown away. Brilliant. Edit: Of course, the trailer I saw had no subtitles in the end and the prawn's face was blurred out, but I couldn't find that one on youtube.
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May 11, 2012 22:06
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