archived-videos Teaser trailer for "Locked Away"

S

SayHello

I'm new to these boards, looking for some thoughts on the teaser trailer for a film I've been working on the past year and a half.

Here's a brief history on the movie. We began pre-production in January of 2004, started shooting that July , shooting primarily on weekends. We wrapped up just before Christmas, and I've been editing since March with a goal of finishing it, at the latest, by this Christmas. Our budget was about $15,000, most of it going toward equipment. We shot on a Panasonic AG-DVX100 in 24p. The cast and crew were 100% volunteer, everyone having day jobs in addition to this project.

That's real brief, but should give a basic idea for starters. I'm willing to go more in depth on anything if anyone is interested.

But here's the website we just put up: www.lockedawaythemovie.com

We're making some revisions to it and the trailer yet, but it serves as a good idea toward what we're going for. Feel free to post your thoughts and criticisms!

Jason
 
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Very nice trailer! :cool:

(Aside from the hideous green lighting that spills out of the title at the very end... doesn't match any of the previous colours. Great effect... odd colour)

Might have been good to have introduced some of the people earlier in (maybe around the time the V/Os started with "drop the gun")... there was already enough mood-setting exploring of the cabin by that point.

Overall, pretty darn good looking. :)
 
Zensteve said:
Very nice trailer! :cool:

(Aside from the hideous green lighting that spills out of the title at the very end... doesn't match any of the previous colours. Great effect... odd colour)

Might have been good to have introduced some of the people earlier in (maybe around the time the V/Os started with "drop the gun")... there was already enough mood-setting exploring of the cabin by that point.

Overall, pretty darn good looking. :)
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Thank you :)

We're actually working on replacing the whole title because we don't like it being cg at all. I agree all the bright colors just contrast with everything else. Maybe we'll tone that green light spill down too.

Since this is a teaser and not the full trailer, though, we wanted to keep much of the movie a mystery. So we opted not to reveal any characters and plot points and save that for the full trailer. Our goal was to generate some interest and get people thinking "what is this all about?" Hopefully that works to some degree. Thanks again!
 
Impressive.

Very strong beginning and keeps me itnerested, but near the end falters a bit...not enough actions shots.

And i would suggest bumping up the overall audio a bit. i had to turn my speakers up to hear anything.
 
llirik said:
Impressive.

Very strong beginning and keeps me itnerested, but near the end falters a bit...not enough actions shots.

And i would suggest bumping up the overall audio a bit. i had to turn my speakers up to hear anything.
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Cool, thanks. I'll check into that audio.
 
Nice effects

Wow! Make up effects are impressive! Did you have a professional crew do the prosthetics for the film?
The skinned guy towards the end is great!!!!!! (is that a chair being thrown at him?)
 
I guess I am missing something. The trailer didn't seem as good to me as it did to the rest of you guys. We saw no acting at all. We saw every inch of the cabin and heard VO's with a few flashes of people.

IMO, if you are going to go the "teaser" trailer route, then you had better be showing some pretty visually stunning shots to get away with it, and I didn't see any in there. Don't get me wrong, it was very well produced, but it just didn't do it for me.

Just my little 2c.

BTW. Why does it seem that 75% of all indies fall under the horror or vampire genre? Just curious. I have been noticing the trend the more and more I look around.

-Adam
 
Thanks everyone for you comments.

To answer everyone's questions:

Illusivewisp: Our make-up crew was professional. One in the theater department at a local university and the other is a self-taught hobbiest who really should do it professionally.

AdamG: Thanks for your comments as well, I do appreciate hearing both sides. I think it's good to have a range of views. The way I see teaser trailers is they should only hint at the movie, and not give away too much visually. Our goal was not to come up with a trailer that would wow everyone, just generate enough interest to have people keep it in mind for down the road when the full trailer is released. As for the reason most indies are horror, I suppose there are a variety of reasons. For myself, initially, I wanted to do a drama, but I was hesitant about local talent and whether they'd be able to pull it off. I thought horror would be more forgiving, and probably more profitable, so that my next film (definitly a dramatic story) will be better funded. In the end, I discovered a lot of great acting talent in my area, and I probably could have suceeded with a drama. But I don't regret the decision, as I think it'll still be more profitable.
 
I hear ya. I figured that the main reasoning would be the lack of local talent that can pull off dramatic performances.

Keep up the good work.
 
Went back to your website and was dissapointed not to see your crew's names under Cast and Crew. Gotta give the props to volunteer crews, they are our lifeblood.
 
Illusivewisp said:
Went back to your website and was dissapointed not to see your crew's names under Cast and Crew. Gotta give the props to volunteer crews, they are our lifeblood.
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Crew info is still forthcoming, as well as additional info and features. Like everyone else on the crew, our webmaster is a volunteer, and he's been really busy with the paying gigs the last couple weeks. But I promise all that will be included soon. We just wanted to get the site up and not wait until it was fully complete (as it probably wont be exactly where I want it for several more months).
 
Sorry for all the posts, I have just one last question. The last zombie seen in the teaser, the peeled face guy, is his last name Dennis by any chance? My wife thinks it's an old friend of ours from California. He was a makeup effects artist, Kind of eccentric, he turned down two job offers with well known production houses and refused a stunning offer for a script he wrote. One day he just disappered and no one has heard from him since. Was he an extra in film?
 
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