Falling Apart

[Mike Tesh]

Hey everyone I just wanted to show some people here the teaser trailer for my new feature.

http://fallingapart.scapefilms.com

Honest opinions please. It's my first feature.

[Dylan Couper]

The trailer doesn't do much for me, just doesn't draw me in.
I'd suggest a different trailer that gives more of the story away. If you don't draw people in with the trailer, they ain't going to buy it.

[Mike Tesh]

Good to know.

This is more of a teaser trailer then an actual trailer. I'll put up a trailer when it's closer to release.

Thanks for watching. :)

[Dennis Hingsberg]

I quite liked it and would love to see other versions of the trailer if you make any. I might consider applying DVFilm to your footage though to rid some of that inherent video look to the motion. Otherwise I really liked the color, framing and some of the lighting.


I liked the use of music/sound in the trailer. Was is custom, if so what did you use?

Also what mic did you use to record your dialogue and did you go directly into the XL1 with it?

[Mike Tesh]

Thanks Dennis for your comments.

Is the video aspect that noticable? I wanted to shoot in 60i from the start because I had plans to run it through Magic Bullet. At the time of planning DV Film Maker didn't support 24p. But as I wrapped up the final cut I had been seeing the movie so much I no longer noticed the video attributes of it. i guess I got used to the look.

Perhaps I should run it through DV Film Maker. I kind of regret not just shooting it in Frame Movie Mode and being done with it.

The mic we used was an Audio Technica 835b short shotgun. It was run through a small mixer and then into the RCA jacks on the back of the XL1. We started with a boom pole but soon realized with our small crew that it was easier to use a boom mic stand. Which also worked out nicely since we didn't get any handling noise. We hadn't the budget to hire a good boom guy.

The music is custom. It was made by my buddy Josh who is currently scoring the whole film and tweaking it's audio. I don't know what software he uses besides Vegas like myself.

[Dennis Hingsberg]

The coloring and contrast is fine in my opinion, and on it's own does not look so "videoy" (is that a real word)? But when you see some motion if looks very 60i to me.

A couple of free options to get rid of the 60i look is to deinterlace it using VirtualDub software available at www.virtualdub.org and then go to http://neuron2.net and download every deinterlacing filter you can find and try them. Donald Gaft makes a few as well as Gunnar Thalin. Type their name in google if you still have problems finding their plugins for VirtualDub.

Deinterlacing your 60i footage will at least make it look more like the FRAME mode (30p) but without the 25% resolution loss if you had actually shot it in Canon's FRAME mode. You were better off shooting 60i natively.

After you can try the DVFilm Maker demo version and compare it to the free methods I mentioned and decide for yourself which looks better. Another advantage of using V-Dub is the crazy fast rendering rates compared to After Effects or other programs.

That's funny about replacing your boom people with stands... I may just consider that for my next short ;)

[Michael Bernstein]

The trailer didn't really tell a story for me. That's OK, if the cuts are pretty enough. Look at Garden State--I think that the trailer was almost better than the movie, because it was so evocative without telling an ounce of story.

I broke your trailer down cut by cut, because I don't understand my disatisfaction well enough to give you a useful overall critique. I hope this kind of nitpicking doesn't discourage you; editing is hard, and I believe that editing a teaser trailer is harder.

--Sometimes in his dreams he sees the face of the masked killer.

Doesn't work for me. Who is "he"? Why should I care about him? You have one second to make me care about the person speaking. Don't have him talk about someone in the third person.

--The "masked killer" shot.

Don't show the villain in the trailer. Please. Maybe a hand, but nothing more. Besides, in this cut, whoever or whatever it is just looks goofy. Goofy villains can be quite frightening, but you have to give them enough support to make them scary, and that's not there in this sequence.

--Intake of breath, sitting up in bed.

Lit very flat. Emotional impact was a bit flat for me. Not necessarily a bad shot.

--Nobody had anything against your dad...
--Staring at the picture in the kitchen.

Intriguing. Evocative.

--I was there for him before...

Evocative, but doesn't seem to mean anything, especially since it doesn't seem to relate to the same character's first clip. Is "he" the dad? Hmmm.

--Ever since I found out about my dad...

Doesn't mean anything to me. Neutral. No hook.

--Don't be sneakin' up on people...

Why don't I like this? Because they're looking too far off camera? I almost want them to be facing the camera. At any rate, the dramatic stakes in the scene don't seem that high. Not that bad of a clip on its own merits, but how does it connect to the tone or the story of the trailer?

--This is going to be so much fun for Georgie

Genuinely creepy. I'm kind of freaked out by it.

--Running through the underbrush, and
--Plaid shirt with knife

Well, how do these relate to the previous clip? The sequence doesn't make sense for me.

I took a look at your website. It seems like you're making a big leap forward in terms of both ambition and quality. Keep working at it. Take what you can use from the critiques you get; the rest will either make sense later, or is wrong. But don't let any of it stop you from moving forward.

Michael

[Mike Tesh]

First off Dennis I will check those out and see what works. Thanks for the suggestions.

Michael the fact that you took the time to view the teaser and website and then write a step by step critique is very nice of you. I enjoyed it quite a bit. Thank you.

I'm not going to address you on a point by point basis because those are your opinions and who am I to say what you should think or convince you otherwise. Many of which are very valid points.

I have no ambition to change this teaser. But I will certainly take all your opinions into account when I cut the trailer a little bit later on.

For my first feature that cost me $3000, a cast and crew of 22 people and only three practicals as lighting tools, I think I did fairly well. At least I've impressed myself. If it only strikes a cord with a few people here and there then... well honestly that's all I've ever really expected.

I'm learning new things every day and I'm glad to have people those of you above helping me.

[Dennis Hingsberg]

I don't necessarily think a trailer has to tell any specific story or be structured a certain way - there is no fast rule, no law and trust me there are a lot of trailers out there that probably don't do the film any justice... or worse the other way around (where the trailer is amazing compared to the actual film)

In the end it's the film that counts, not the trailer in my opinion. Both my last two films from this year were accepted to film festivals based on the film itself not the trailer, so if your trailer impressed your friends, family, cast and crew - then GREAT JOB!

Out of curiousity though, what were your three practicals as lighting tools?

[Michael Bernstein]

Dennis said "in the end, it's the film that counts, not the trailer..."

He's so right.

I hate trailers as a form. It seems they either misrepresent the movie or give away the whole plot. Whether this is a product of a condescending atttitude toward audiences or the fact that trailers have to do a near-impossible job, I don't know.

Not that there aren't good trailers. (Garden State, The Incredibles, or something like Bryan Robert's Brie, just to show my awful and simple-minded prejudices).

And folks seem to think the thing necessary.

Mike, you seemed to take my critique in the spirit intended. Take what you can use, throw the rest away. Good luck with the final film!

Michael

[Dylan Couper]

If a movie looks bad in the trailer, I'm probably not going to spend my money to go see it. Then it doesn't matter how good the film is, does it?

All a trailer has to do, is make you think "Gee, I'd like to see that movie!"

If it does it, it is a good trailer. If it doesn't, it is a bad trailer. Black and white.

I guess you could argue that a good trailer for a bad movie is misrepresenting a product and inherently a bad thing, but then you'd have more free time than me.