The honest answer to a question about the potential of having a
solid Indie film trailer is “Yes, a projects success depends on what it takes
to bring attention to your Indie film!” and it makes a HUGE difference to the
success of your films potential for having a premiere – but don’t actually
believe that people outside of your little circle really care. Indie films come
and go all the time, and most of the time, the only people that truly care about
your film project are the actors, the production team, their families, and
friends that know about the Indie film and what it’s all about from the team.
So, what should you do to get the best attention for your film?
First, get someone outside of your circle to promote your film
to all of the news outlets and through all of the local Internet news circuits
that they can; having someone that isn’t biased to your pride helps out a lot.
Local Indie film directors try to produce fancy websites and Facebook pages to
help quick-start the promotion process, but directors have BIGGER things to
worry about than try to promote their own Indie film. Sure, every actor in the
film claims to have ‘this contact’ and/or ‘that agent’ that can help to get the
word out about your film, but a true promotions director knows the real
contacts to get the word out about your film. Let them do the hard work and give
them the best material to advertise your project without remorse or recourse for
under promoting it.
A solid promotional director will cost you money, but to trust
an accomplished advertiser to push your work to the right people outside of
your circle is the best investment you’ll have when the premier date comes
dancing around in the local community. A proven promo-director has to out-smart
the previous ‘big Indie hit’ that came before you, so it’s always a contest to
get the best person at the helm of pushing your new Indie film.
With that,
you’re going to need a solid trailer. So, where do you begin with your first
trailer? What source material do you need? Should you use real material from
your film?
Well, trailers are a tricky thing. Some production teams use
‘trailer ideas’ to bring investors and producers in to help their projects with
money or locations; the proper term is ‘pitch film’ or ‘sizzle reel’, so if you
decide to work with a team who say, “It’s called a trailer”, I highly recommend
you bail out from that team right away. These types of people find out the hard
way about movie making, so as a growing actor, it’s always a good thing to know
when it’s time to bail when you’re working with stubborn people.
If your team has an Independent film idea you’d like to ‘pitch’
to an investor or potential producer, you want to produce a ‘pitch film’ [or
sizzle reel] which is usually a seven or eight minute look into your project
idea. But, we’re talking about a ‘trailer’ for your Indie film, right? So,
let’s go over what you need to present to people outside of your project to get
them excited to see your potentially exciting film.
I will begin by telling you that having a ‘clique of friends’ to
help support your film is a good thing, but you need sheer honesty to see if
your film is worth bragging about. Remember if you’re an Indie
filmmaker/director, people outside of your friends circle [or clique] always
expect local Indie films to be crappy and lack material worth watching, so your
trailer has to prove those people wrong. Always show them that you have class
within the production, and that yeah, it’s actually going to be a fun film to
watch. I know what you’re dying to ask; “How do I do all of that?”
As I stated earlier, it’s all about honesty. First time local
Indie directors are always looking for someone to hand out accolades for every small
scene they complete; but how good are those scenes really? How did everything
tie in together? Was the mood you wanted to present in retrospect all there?
These questions cannot be answered and evaluated by the production team. I hate
to say it, but if you clearly have a scene between two people sitting on a
couch, passing out what you think is a key point or important information
within the films storyline, you should truly consider not showing that in your
trailer. “Couch scenes” are considered amateurish, strong signs of a low budget
production, and will give the audience an ill fated glimpse into the quality of
your film.
I recommend for first time directors to set up a private
screening for different genres of people after your films first run at post
editing who are not part of any clique or production circle. They should be
split up in several groups to best evaluate a rating system, evaluate flow, and
gage interest for maturity purposes if your film declares a film rating of PG
or higher. These groups can be split up in age groups, like this:
- First group 8-16 years of age.
- Second group 16-24 year of age.
- Third group 25 or older.
Keep the numbers of each group small to less than three per age
group. These groups should be allowed to take notes and openly review your
film. If you feel that the younger audiences[8 to 16 y/o] won’t understand your
film or be too afraid of the projects content, remove them from the first group
and add another age group who will help you get the right type of review that’s
good for your project. Ask this audience of reviewers to be brutally honest as
their review will help you establish a movie rating for your film; whether the
film will be PG, PG13, or R. Don’t ever just assume the rating of your film
because you ‘feel’ it should be a certain rating for future audiences.
So from here, let’s pretend you have your review and now you’re
considering on producing a ‘trailer’ because the initial reviews from your
unbiased group gave you good marks. Keep in mind that most professional trailers
to a finished film should run under two minutes in length. If you’ve produced a
comedy, make sure the trailer is funny; if you’ve produced a dramatic film,
make the trailer dramatic; if you made a horror film, make damn sure it’s scary;
if it’s a sexy film, make the trailer sexy. The best advice I can give is,
don’t tell the viewer the whole story and plot about your film. A trailer is
preview of things inside the project that best represents the whole meaning of
your film. Push the envelope where you need to and if you have a film format
that separates you from other Indie films, toss that in for good measure.
Some of the best trailers we’ve ever previewed have been those
trailers that have presented the unexpected without giving away too much. Most
of those trailers were produced by persons not related to the production team; meaning
that the director put the production of his films trailer into the hands of an
experienced editor who has actually seen the film and knows what will make the
trailer tick to audiences. A good sound track is also key to delivering a punch
[or dramatic peak] that fits the mood of the trailer. The prowess of your
actors will be evaluated by the audiences when they watch your film, so don’t
worry so much about trying to present the total acting quality in your trailer.
People love to see flowing scenes from one scene to another, so be
sure to make your trailer flow constantly with scenes you now will set the mood
for the trailer. If your trailer can bring in only one person outside of your
friends circle to see your project, then the trailer has done its job. The list
for bad film trailers is long and distinguished, but if your current trailer
design has the following bad practices in trailers, you should consider cutting
a new trailer.
- Trying to show the entire cast of your Indie film in the
trailer; because you feel like you owe it to the entire team.
- Making up scenes in the trailer that are not in your film.
- Showing a plot twist in the film that gives away your film’s
best avenue for stunning your future audience.
- Presenting the names of all of the actors and production team
in a trailer “credit scroll” just to satisfy your crew’s vanity.
- Presenting a release date or venue location on your trailer;
as you will wind up making updates to every change of venue; always present
only one trailer for your film to use in all promotional venues.
If you’re an Indie filmmaker who has several successful films in
your resume, the lists and the information shared may not mean much to you. But
if you have yet to successfully break away from your local Indie clique and get
impressive ‘outside’ numbers for your films premiere, it might be due to not
bringing in the newer crowds through your previous trailer. Try a change in
your post production habits, put your faith in an experienced Marketing or
Promotions Manager, and try some of things we’ve presented to help you on your
way to improve the attendance in your new films premieres.
D. R. Quintana
CEO and Editor of the QSE
Submitted as Liner Notes - His opinion is not the opinion of all of the QSE Staff or the actors who work with him on film projects.
