I edited theatrical trailers for 25 years in the feature film industry. I then created my own business where I offer trailer services to filmmakers in the documentary and independent film field. I am pleased that Carole Dean asked me to share a few thoughts with you in this newsletter.

At several screenings for her grant applicants, trailers were presented by the filmmakers and Carole asked me to critique them. When viewing trailers by documentary producers I often see certain editorial choices that diminish their effectiveness. And I see these bad choices repeated over and over again. That led me to address what I consider the “Top 10 Mistakes in Trailer Making.” I explore and discuss them in my “trailer clinics” and will do so when I visit Carole’s upcoming Trailblazer seminar series. Here, I’d like to discuss two of them.

Let me begin with some general thoughts about trailer editing. I‘ve talked with documentary filmmakers with much editing experience. Many times when it comes time to tackle the trailer, they sit down at the edit bench …but find it’s difficult to proceed. “Opening” the trailer has them stumped. The wonderful opening they cut for their long-format piece doesn’t work for the trailer. How, they wonder, can all the emotions, empathy and feelings that form the heart of their story be preserved within the compressed limitations of the trailer format?

They experience “editor’s block.” Partly, I think, because they don’t recognize that long-format pieces and trailers are two completely different video realities. Each has its own rhythms and energies; each uses a different language to express the same truths and emotions. Editing a long-format narrative piece mostly engages the logical, intellectual Left-Brain of the filmmaker …while trailer editing is more a fluid Right-Brain type of endeavor. While structurally existing in two different worlds, both remain true and faithful to the concept and the heart of the overall project.

A well-cut trailer is a very busy world. At every moment --every second, in fact-- there are multiple, overlapping editorial processes going on. Each character is going thru his/her arc; the main story and subsidiary stories are going thru their arcs. The “scope” of the story and production values are woven into the mix but don’t distract as the emotional texture thickens and the viewer is teased with ever more captivating scenes. And, over-arching all this, there must be an emotional “build” of music/dialogue/images that propel the trailer dramatically forward.

At the same time all these emotional elements are unfolding, the viewer must understand clearly who the characters are, what they are doing and why this story is important. A successful trailer juggles all these factors without loosing balance while simultaneously leading the viewer from one story-point to another. And ALL of these intertwining elements must grow in intensity toward a definitive (but unexpected) ending that leaves the viewer eager to know more about the main film.

It’s no secret that many trailers do not successfully incorporate all these qualities. There are multiple reasons for this having to do with each particular filmmaker and subject matter. But, on the whole, I find that a few particular bad editorial choices repeat on a regular basis. I address ten of them in my Trailer Clinic. I would like to discuss two of them here.

Trailer Mistake # 1 Start at the beginning of the story and work your way through it.

This is smart strategy for narrative cutting but the complexity and compressed timeframe of a trailer make it a less successful approach for trailer editing.

I usually start editing by making an assembly of scenes that I think will work well in the trailer, i.e., dialogue bites that encapsulate key themes, visuals that convey the emotions I want to elicit. Sometimes I don’t even edit an assembly but just compile them as clips in a bin. I view them several times and get an overall feel. Then, maybe I go to lunch and let them “percolate” in my mind. When I resume I let my editing instincts guide me as I string them loosely into sequences, sometimes just into “pods” – groupings of bites that play nicely off each other but have no “home” in the sequence yet.

I do start with some concept about a structure. I usually have several ideas about what might work and what might not. But they are provisional. As the editing progress, I allow the material to naturally find where it needs to go, usually by trying one idea and then another. Like clouds clearing over a mountain, I slowly begin to “see” the structure of the trailer. I then labor to give it substance and reality.

I compare this stage to that of a sculptor using clay. I take a glob and stick it onto one area and mush it around. Yank off another slab and move it to a different position. Shaping and reshaping. Standing back and viewing it from different angles. Shaping and reshaping again, making editorial decisions more by feel then by logical reasoning.

Eventually, I reach a stage where I feel all the essential elements are now in the sequence. At this point, I plug in my logical brain-half and see how all the scenes and bites intellectually relate to one another. Are the story points stated clearly? Do all the bites make sense in context? Are characters fully expressed? Are the themes prominently presented (but not obviously so)? This is the best time show your work-in-progress to test audiences. So many times, they can identify what needs to be explained, what issues need to be clarified, what connective links are missing – elements that didn’t occur to you because you’ve been too close to the source material to notice their absence.

Try this test for trailer quality. The next time you’re impressed by a trailer, say one you’re viewing on a website. Watch it twice. The first time concentrate on the emotional flow as it moves through the piece and builds in intensity. Watch how it manipulates your feelings as it pulls you along toward a satisfying ending. Notice how important music is in this process, “telling” you at every moment how to feel about what you’re viewing.

Then, watch the trailer a second time. This time look for the logic in the piece. Notice how each dialogue bite builds upon the preceding one, how the “story” (presented in montage fashion) is actually very strongly structured. How bites are playfully juxtaposed in ways never intended in the full piece, yet here create a “new narrative” that expresses the same truths but within the compressed reality of a trailer.

Trailer Mistake #2 The first 30 seconds of the trailer are the most important.

This is probably the most repeated maxim in trailer making. And why not? It’s true. If you haven’t “hooked” viewers in the first minute their anticipation will vanish and their attention will wander. Nothing good will come of that!

I agree with the statement, but would go further. It’s been my experience that the critical moment actually comes in the first frame: the first image on the screen. Before the viewer sees your trailer your project is a “closed door” to them. You have already created high anticipation in them to expect something important and interesting on the other side. They are eager for the first glimpse as the door opens. If that first glimpse is something familiar they will be disappointed.

I place the highest important on the very first visuals and first audio moments. I often try to think up several completely different opening concepts and do temp cuts of them to see how well they “play.” In this opening moment, don’t worry about “setting the story” or “establishing the theme.” The viewer already knows the title of your project and has a general idea of the subject matter.

In today’s media saturated society, people are very image-savvy and conditioned to instantly “read” images. Science tells us that the brain makes sense of data coming from your eyes by comparing what you see with past visual patterns stored in your memory. Opening with a scene that easily “matches” a viewer’s past experience will create a stereotypical reaction. From that instant on, the viewer will “see” your piece through the experience of that pre-conceived memory. One way to solve this is by starting with a scene that’s totally unexpected, something that produces a “huh?” reaction. Perhaps it’s an audio bite that concisely states your theme but is paired with a totally unexpected image. Or maybe it’s an extreme close-up and undefined audio that resolve a few seconds later into something recognizable.

A moment or two after the first frame you are squarely into the “first 30 seconds” exposition mode, establishing the who? what? why? of your trailer’s purpose. These 30 seconds are just as critical as everyone says they are. But, if you have jolted your viewers by an original first moment, you’ll have a much more engaged audience watching the rest of your trailer.

Bill Woolery www.Divertimento-Prods.com