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| Courtesy MGM: https://www.mgm.com/movies/creed-iii |
Can a trailer be too good?
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All of the ideas expressed in this article are my personal statements and opinions, and do not reflect the opinions/statements of the City of Urbana.
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Take a moment to consider the challenge of editing a trailer. Starting with the full-length film, you must select a handful of moments to convey the plot, tone, and style of a movie. You want to entice the audience and leave them wanting more. (Enough to nudge their significant other and whisper, “I want to see THAT!”)
There are lots of ways to make a bad trailer:
- Some give away the best punch lines in a comedy or stunts in an action film.
- Some just make you say “WTF?” (https://youtu.be/Ell2a6o_6lY)
- Some simply show you a scene from the movie. (https://youtu.be/eDE2ZDK6xv0)
- Thankfully, the overuse of voice-overs seems to have diminished… RIP Don LaFontaine. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7QPMvj_xejg)
What about a trailer that is too good? So good that it functions as a complete miniature of the movie? Isn't it bad in a different way by discouraging you from watching the movie?
The trailer Creed III is an example. I saw it before Black Adam (Note # 1 for my review), and all I could think was: “That was amazing! Thanks for saving me two hours..."
The person who edited the trailer has either failed or massively succeeded. I’m not sure which. I’ll leave that up to you. (This IT Director says it's OK to "pop out the video" from my site, but if you're skeptical then that is a good thing!)
Note #1: Black Adam is a great role for Dwayne Johnson, but the movie is dragged down by its insistence that we should care about the mother and son at its core, despite their continual stream of selfish actions. I like Black Adam’s back-story (told in pieces through the film) and the action scenes made the most of IMAX. I would not put Black Adam on a list of top 10 DC films, and it would barely crack a list of top 10 Dwayne Johnson films (Central Intelligence and Jumanji are two of my favorites). But if you’re a huge fan of The Rock and/or a DC fanatic - it was cool to see Hawkman - then go see it in a theater.