Fire and Ice Production Trailer - ID# 329
Downers Grove North
Movie Trailer
Entry Description
A trailer for an upcoming student film.
Recent Teacher Comments
- 4/15 10:14 pm - The trailer had some great cinematic shots and a descent visual treatment throughout. Unfortunately, the story isn't strong enough to follow. Movie trailers need to do 4 things well. They need to introduce characters in such a way that the audience cares about them. They need to introduce the conflict of the film clearly. They need to build rising action and they need to state the title of the film. I don't know enough about your characters and conflict. As it is right now, it's too confusing. If this is indeed being shot as a student film, I hope some of these questions are answered.
- 3/25 10:53 am - The trailer had some really nice cinematic shots, and some nice graphics. The music was intense too, although the ending music was copywritten. The biggest question with the trailer is what is the movie about? It just seems like a bunch of "cool" shots put together with no apparent theme or storyline. The audience needs to be persuaded to come to this movie based on its characters or plot, and I cannot distinguish either. Develop some characters and a plot and you're in business.
- 3/4 10:40 am - Looks professional and some great shots. What is the story, who are the characters? Are the news reporter and your main character the same person (voices sounded similar). Ultimately it looks like a couple trailers put together. A good example of editing and cinematography but not a quality movie trailer.
- 2/26 1:45 pm - This started off piquing my interest. But then, it went downhill. What went wrong, and what was missing? To begin with, the storyline wasn't very developed. Neither were the characters. The title is fire and ice...we see fire, but where is ice? Or perhaps, WHO is ice? How do they know each other? Why are they in conflict, or are they not in conflict? What does the rest of the world know about them? If you could answer the classic Who-What-When-Where-Why-How of any basic storyline, that means the story was clear. However, we cannot answer those questions as an audience. From a technical standpoint, your audio levels were not mixed very well. The primary music at many times seemed over-modulated. Dialogue levels should be between -6 and -12 db, sound effects between -12 and -18 db, and music beds should be around -24 db. When music is the PRIMARY audio source (and there's no other voice over or dialogue), then it should be set at around -12 db on the VU meter.
Judge 1
Positives:
Improvements:
Judge 2
Positives: Beautifully lit! Particularly the foggy flashlight sequences – very well done. Editing was spot on in terms of pacing – and the relationship between image and sound/music worked well.
Improvements: Though the opening of the trailer with the "flame-finger" was interesting, the trailer failed to build on that premise in terms of story.
Judge 3
Positives: Dynamic editing. The pacing is very effective. The shot selection supports the excitement of the story. The choice of music and the way you edited to the music helps to substantiate a distinct overall feel.
Improvements: Consider doing some color correction over the entire trailer. Look at the shots around :24. There are several different color schemes in this sequence. The interior shots have a different look and feel from the exterior shots. Some of the exterior shots have muted colors and some have much richer colors. Compare :46, :21 and :11. The color correction tools will allow you to make your color scheme more consistent. Include one or two more plot points that will be in the final movie. Your edit suggests there is more to the story than a person gone missing. I would like to see a couple of glimpses into what those could be.
Judge 4
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