I’m a big fan of Vashi Nedomansky, a brilliant video editor who has worked on 11 feature films and trailers, and over 50 national commercials for major brands like Nike, Volkswagen, Ford, NHL, EA Sports, Adobe, and the US Army. I recently read an interview where he says:
“The trailer game is an ever-changing pursuit that tries to stay ahead of the intelligent public but must also find new ways to tease, cajole and intrigue. Show scenes that aren’t in the film. Manipulate dialog and visuals to make a scene more interesting. Shift the order of shots to make it more interesting or compelling. Add music not in the film to hit an emotional beat. Use every trick in the book to make an effective trailer.”
I don’t agree 100% with that approach, but the article reminded me one of the (many) valuable lesson I’ve learned about marketing. The lesson is: cut a 30-second trailer as soon as you’re done shooting. Here’s why:
I’m not sure how, but Vashi was able to select 46 individual shots that were shared in the promotional material for “Rogue One” but never made the final cut of the film.
Actually, “Rogue One” serves to prove my point about the paramount importance of teasers and trailers as marketing tool; the 2-minute trailer has attracted over almost 38 MILLION views on YouTube alone!
What about you? Do you always use teasers and/or trailers on your projects? Why or why not? Leave your comments below.
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