The trailer first, then my thoughts:
The Dead Tossed Waves is what I always say I want from a book trailer, but it just doesn't seem to work for me. What I love is that it's like a real (movie) trailer, with fully realized scenes instead of glimpses of photos mixed with words and animations. They actually tried to make a trailer and I would love to see more attempts at this.
What stuck out to me the most as not working were the scenes where Gabry is running through the snow. Sure, it sets the tone, but it gives the whole thing this weird student film vibe. And they spent too much time focusing on the wrong parts (that kiss was way too long), which made the whole trailer feel slow when the book definitely isn't.
The voice over about the roller coaster and the walls sets up the world perfectly. That's a great place to start, but then I would cut to the kiss and the Mudo running toward them. This is the set up of the story and shouldn't take more than 10 seconds. It should definitely not be the whole trailer. After that we need a scene or at least a voiceover of maybe five seconds where we learn that Catcher is immune to the Mudo... he has been bitten, but he is not turned. That's the most important part of this story and absolutely needs to be in the trailer. The rest of the trailer should be very quick cuts: Gabry's friends in cages being punished by the mayor, the cult that worships the Mudo, the marching army (If cost is too prohibitive, I would settle for a shot of Gabry running next to a fence with the sound of the marching over), the sexy soldier that befriends Gabry, and yes, maybe one quick shot of Gabry running for her life through the snow. I would love it if a Shakespeare quote or two was incorporated, but that might be asking too much.
This trailer misses the mark, but it's headed in the right direction. I hope to see more trailers like it.
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- fakesteph
- I like books, makeup, sunshine, pools, vodka, laughter, and roadtrips.
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When you mentioned costs, you got it right on the money. The programs, talent, and equipment needed to film your own stuff is majorly expensive. If you buy shots, sounds, and music that someone else made you also have to pay to deal with copyrights, but it's still slightly less. That's why most book trailers are a series of pictures rather then live action. Pictures cost money still, but only $30-$70-- as apposed to hundreds. Since book trailers are becoming the new way to advertise for books, I imagine that companies will start shelling out more cash for better trailers.
ReplyDeleteDo you have any idea what the normal budget is for a book trailer? I would be incredibly interested in that information. When live action isn't possible, I prefer animation, but even there the programs and man-hours increase the cost. I'm loving a lot of the newer book trailers though. Things are getting a lot better and I'm fascinated by them. But that last part might be obvious.
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