Why Are Most Indie Film Trailers Horrible?

rockerrockstar

rockerrockstar

I have watched a lot of Indie Film trailers and they are all Horible. Why because they lack the professionalism of a Feature Film trailer. They mostly fail to keep me interested in watching the movie.

First I think any film maker that is serious about their moive should spend a lot of time on a trailer. It may actually take weeks or more to get a good one. Don't just do one in a hour. The trailer should be professional unless you plan on just hoping some one watches the movie for Free on Youtube or something. If you are looking to actually promote your movie with a Trailer make a good one. Ask your self if you were watching it would you want to watch the movie? Bench mark your trailer to other trailers out there. How good is yours compared to real movie trailers? Get some good music to make your trailer more interesting. Look at real movie trailers for ideas on how to make yours better. The faster the trailer the better in my mind. It should cover a lot in a short period of time to keep the attention of the viewer. Something interesting must happen in the trailer.

Ask your self what is good about your movie. What is unique. What would make you want to watch it. Then make sure it shows in the trailer.

Consider making several trailers and having them rated. You could ask friends to decide which is good. Or try uploading them to you tube and ask subscribers and viewers to decide which is best.
 
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That's one hell of a presumption, you're comparing 'chalk and cheese', be it the same profession or not it's a huge ask for an 'Indie film maker' to gain the production values of anything near a Hollywood production.

NOTE: I'm assuming you're speaking of the lower in the hierarchy Indie Film makers, the above notion is not always the case.

I'd agree the structure you've put forward, you've ticked the boxes. You're correct that time should be spent on your trailer, yet to say Indie trailers are all horrible - the ones you have happened to see anyway, yet this can be easily misinterpreted by categorizing the majority- and to make an assumption that they are whisked together within the hour, evidently suggesting a lack of 'Professionalism', suggests to me that you're not looking hard enough, that you're bypassing the means and limitations that strike most indie film makers that differ the' professionalism' of the indie film maker to that of the Hollywood film makers.

I've seen plenty of 'horrible' Hollywood trailers that are well suited for my pet cats litter-box rather than the screen, so it swings both ways brother.
 
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I think the main reason for indie trailers not being at the same level as the pro's is that in Hollywood (and someone please correct me if I am wrong), they don't use the same editor for the trailer as they did for the film itself. (The downside to this for the audience is sometimes the trailer gives a completely false impression of the film).

Whereas in indie films, it's far more often the same person is editing the film and the trailer.

So fresh eyes help. Having someone who has not labored over getting the story across in under 90 or 120min is a good thing because they won't be as inclined to tell the story in the trailer.

I can't remember the name of the film, but back in the 60's, when Mel Brooks was just starting his film career, he was asked to cut a trailer for this film. Long story short the film was panned by critics and was a box-office failure, but the trailer was highly praised and (if I'm not mistaken) won an award.
 
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While I mostly agree with the OP, I love the implication that indie film isn't "Real". For any filmmaker looking to make money, putting together an interesting and enticing trailer is important... but I would argue that the "Real" movies spend alot of time showing all of the "great" moments of the film so that once you get into the theater, there's nothing left for the screen that you haven't seen.
 
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re

There are some good indie film trailers but few. Most of the time they are bigger budget indie films or from more experienced guys. But I thought I would call to attention the lack of good trailers because I can see that as a failure for many that they may be over looking. If they are truely serious about gaining exposure for their movie a good trailer is very important. It all depends on what their intentions are for distrubution. If they are just looking to give the movie away then I guess it does not matter as much. But if you want to sell it then you need a better trailer. I think everyone no matter how low a budget could make better trailers if they focus on it.

If you have some money to spend I know video co pilot makes some good tutorials and music to help make better trailers. You will need adobe affter effects for their special effect stuff. You could use the scores for music in your trailers if you cant afford the adobe affter effects and tutorials. So far I have not been able to buy these since I am unemployed but may down the road. Looks real good.

I agree about the holliwood movies sometimes giving away too much. I know sometimes they giveaway the best parts of the movie. I guess they do this to get more viewers at the theater. What is your thoughts? Maybe they do this because they are afraid if they don't give away some thing real good in the trailer then less will show up to watch the movie.
 
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Editing a trailer is hard...very hard. Even good editors have problems with them. Most indie productions don't have the experience or understanding about what is needed in a trailer...even if they try and mimic the style of a professional trailer, they always fall shy.

I think a lot of indie companies also try and put out a trailer too soon...because they are excited about getting the word out. But this is a mistake. The trailer is going to sell your film to the audience, and it's important to make it not just good...but fantastic.

And another thing is, most indie companies have weak elements, which certainly don't help a trailer cut--weak acting, weak sound, weak lighting...it's hard enough to cut a trailer when you have solid production value and acting...let alone when most of your elements are lacking.

The classic fail of indie trailers is to cover up the entire thing with a song...they do this because the acting is bad, as well as the sound recording of the dialog. So they figure just cutting the coolest looking scenes together and covering them up with a song will save them from being a sore thumb...nope. It only sends major red flags out to me when I see a trailer that doesn't have a lick of actual dialog in it, or a lick of acting showcased.

The same goes for movie posters...far too many companies try and kick out a movie poster without really understanding how important it is to make it badass and professional. Just because someone you know has Photoshop knowledge, doesn't mean they can design a solid poster. The poster is the first thing people see...and if it's weak, and looks amateur, it instantly sends a message to the audience that it's a low-rent film. You have to have a talented designer do your art work and posters...
 
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knightly said:
I would argue that the "Real" movies spend alot of time showing all of the "great" moments of the film so that once you get into the theater, there's nothing left for the screen that you haven't seen.
Click to expand...

I second that, especially within comedy, you get a few kicks from the trailer only to find that those scenes shown in the trailer where in-fact the only remotely amusing parts. I guess the editor realized this and threw everything he could into the trailer.
 
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Since I haven't seen a trailer that's made me want to see the movie in a long time, I'd say Hollywood is failing the same way Indie's are.

The main problem with Indie (no-budget) movie trailers, they just don't have the same shots as multi million dollar Hollywood productions. Watching a no-buget movie is not the same as watching a big budget flick. When you see a no-budget trailer, you know you're not going to be seeing Indiana Jones.

The movie Teeth has a pretty awful trailer, and it's lo lo lo budget. The lead actress is amazing and the story is pretty incredible. I knew going in I wasn't seeing a big budget flick, and wasn't expecting anything fancy. But, the movie's so good I bought a copy.

There aren't many great micro-budget flicks, but there are more then the trailers portray.
 
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There is also the problem of having great material with which to build the trailer in the first place.

For me as a "viewer" a trailer needs to pose "questions" that I would need to see the film to have answered. It's almost a seduction - you tease 'em and leave them wanting more.

At the "Hollywood" level the audio and music are created exclusively for the initial trailer as quite often there is almost nothing of the sound design or the score/music from the film itself yet available. Even after the film is complete and the "real" trailer comes out the sound and music is still exclusively edited for the trailer itself although the sound and score/music is now culled from the completed film. There is also an art to mixing the audio for trailers that bears no relationship to the film mix.
 
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M1chae1 said:
Editing a trailer is hard...very hard. Even good editors have problems with them. Most indie productions don't have the experience or understanding about what is needed in a trailer...even if they try and mimic the style of a professional trailer, they always fall shy....
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I wholly agree with this, and I add:

What would lead you to believe that people don't spend time on their trailers?

You need to remember that alot of indie filmmakers are STILL LEARNING. And editing a great trailer isn't as easy as you seem to think.

If you don't have some of the 'tools' used to edit a great trailer or the know how, there is only so far you can go at the moment. You will not get the same quality trailer from your computers iMovie as you will from Final Cut. Everyone can't afford the big edit programs.

-- spinner :cool:
 
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be it the same profession or not it's a huge ask for an 'Indie film maker' to gain the production values of anything near a Hollywood production.
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It has nothing to do with money. IMO.

I'm sure it's damn hard to edit a trailer. The reason a lot of indie trailers fail, for me, is that they don't tell us:

1. Who wants what from whom?
2. What are the stakes?
3. Why should I care?

Who do I get behind, where are they going, what's the obstacle? A trailer is a filmed logline.
 
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PositiveFuture said:
It has nothing to do with money. IMO.

I'm sure it's damn hard to edit a trailer. The reason a lot of indie trailers fail, for me, is that they don't tell us:

1. Who wants what from whom?
2. What are the stakes?
3. Why should I care?

Who do I get behind, where are they going, what's the obstacle? A trailer is a filmed logline.
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Money always plays are part, yet I'm not going to take the side of somebody who hasn't learned how to structure a film trailer correctly. I think the OP may have expected too much, i believe somebody mentioned that in a reply so i won't pry.

Agreed on your wants from a trailer, but the damn things end so quickly i barely catch the titles, but that will lead into an entirely different conversation, air-time that is set in cement for most production companies, which again leaves the indie folk with just enough time to squeeze out their title sequence never mind tell us what the hells going on. Thank the lord for the internet...
 
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Sure it plays a part, but you can get over that with proper structuring, so we more or less agree.

I've noticed that most big budget films have very boomy and sonically engaging trailers, and I'm sure that costs a bit of cash.

Thank the lord for the internet...
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1. I think you can get across the points I stated in about 45 seconds if not thirty.

2. Yes, Youtube means airtime costs are not relevant. What's far more important is making something good enough to not get clicked off in 10-20 seconds, which is about all I give a bad clip. The 'Scorch' trailer in our promotion section is pretty good, better than average.
 
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Why is making a good trailer so hard? If a film maker was able to edit their own film then why not a trailer?

On the Hollywood note: Their films aren't so enticing these days either. Not too long ago an Ashton Kutcher trailer came out...it looked like one big waste of time from everyone. The bits they showed were unfunny and tried to hard to look like it was one big funny movie...all it did was look desperate. I cant even remember the name of it because it doesn't even matter...but I gather it didn't fare well with the public and it tanked as most other movies do.

So that written, I guess they did a trailer the best they could with what they had to work with.

As for indies, my big thing is that it looks like it was filmed with a home movie camera. If it looks like Joe Schmoe took mom and dads camera and just filmed a movie, I wont bother.
 
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As for indies, my big thing is that it looks like it was filmed with a home movie camera.
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Becoming less of an issue nowadays with 5Ds, DVXs, HV40s and the like...

Why is making a good trailer so hard?
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- Cos you've got very little time to get yr point across.
- You're dead tired by that point and too involved in your story to use fresh eyes.
- You're competing for attention in an information saturated world.
- Your film's no good to begin with.
- *Crucially* You don't know how to structure a story/scene and are ignorant of what makes a really good logline or trailer. In all the sub-par trailers we've seen here, they all fall down on structure.

The plus side is with a bit of advice and another week or two of brainstorming, you can go back to the editing room and make summat decent.
 
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Many trailers (Their creators, to me) seem to lose sight of or have yet to learn that if they can’t use the clips, info and title to create an atmosphere that engages and entertains me for a minute and a half, then the hell if I will pay to let them try to do it for an hour an a half.

Some trailers that do combine their elements to invoke an atmosphere and engage and entertain (to me) can overcome the short comings of budget by way of honesty and pure charm.

For example (I forget who made it here) The Bone Cave trailer.

One look and I know it didn’t cost 70 million dollars to make, but the trailer is fun, and in essences says
“Come celebrate low budget horror WITH us.”

Instead of trying to be what it’s not, it effectively uses what it is to engage and entertain.
This makes it a trailer that belongs to a film I want to and will see, regardless of budget.

-Thanks-
 
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Yeah, what he said. I also liked the "Bone Cave" trailer.

There's another possibility as to why there are so many bad indie trailers....do I really have to be the a-hole on this one? Is it possible that the quality of the trailer is a reflection of the quality of the creative minds behind it (and the film)? Yes, there are lots of piss-poor indie trailers. There are also lots of piss-poor indie films. I don't think this is merely a correlation.

On a side-note -- one of my biggest pet peeves are those stupid trailers for movies that haven't been made (not even written)! Making a good trailer is NOT the same thing as making a good movie, so why in the world would a fake trailer somehow get you funding for the larger project?

Here's the best indie trailer ever made:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nFicqklGuB0
 
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