"Space" Trailer - ID# 528

Maine South
Movie Trailer
Entry Description

A young man falls into a deep hypnagogic loop while committing suspicious activities. Music Courtesy of: CO.AG Music youtube.com/watch?v=aVGfTriMQbg Artzie Music: youtube.com/watch?v=b6RyQGQw1ig

Recent Teacher Comments

  • 4/15 10:39 pm - I liked the first half of your trailer a lot. I was able to connect with the protagonist and understand the beginning of the conflict. Great turning point of him getting into the car. To that point, everything was going really well. Your shots were well exposed and composed, even though they were a bit dark. But the second half of the trailer where the rising action builds was not done well. The pacing and editing was good, but the shots were very grainy and the audio was overblown. I needed a bit more information about the rising action and the stakes of the conflict. It would have helped to crystallize the images in your rising action. The last song cue was a great pivot point and an interesting choice, but the levels were blown out. Overall, it seemed like there was a great sense of detail that went into the first half of the trailer, but it was lost in the second half.
  • 3/4 10:50 am - Good job building suspense. Some of the shots are way too dark and grainy. Sometimes the lighting available is not enough and you need to improvise and or bring lights. The audio at times sounded like it was underwater (final cut background remover)
  • 3/2 7:55 pm - There seems to be a large mix of great shots to not so great shots in this trailer. Some of the action shots once the intensity picks up are really good and well planned out. Then there are others like the first scene with the two men sitting together that weren't so great (white balance, framing). Lighting was an issue with a lot of the shots- don't be afraid to add some soft lighting just to add that bit of detail that we need and make sure you white balance at each location. I was about to roll my eyes when this started, as I thought it was going to be a no music, amateur attempt at a trailer, but was pleasantly surprised when the music came on and the intensity picked up. It was better, but I'm still not sure I know what I'm getting into if I go see this movie. Audio levels need some work- from an echoey conversation at the start of the film to some really over modulated music at the end. I think it's a good trailer and with a little technical help and planning, it could be great.
  • 2/26 2:01 pm - Lighting: looks like you used mostly just available lighting on location, which is not enough. Even when you're shooting night scenes, you need to bring in additional light. Otherwise, the sensor on your camera can't pick up enough information, which in turn makes your images look noisy, grainy, or pixelated. In the scene at night where "Wassup Buddy" guy pulls up, you needed more light. Camera: learn how to white balance. The scene with the 2 guys talking was clearly not white balance correctly. Editing: why did everything turn grainy halfway through? I'm assuming it was intentional and you WANTED it to look that way, but...how does that fit with the story? I'd understand if it was the point of view of 1 antagonist (the monster, killer, alien, etc.) but it was applied to all of the shots. Inconsistent and confusing for your audience. AUDIO: this was the categorically worst part of your film. The extremely loud song that kicks in at the end of the trailer almost blew out my speakers. Levels were too hot all across the board. Make sure you're watching the VU meter when you're recording AND editing. Dialogue levels should be between -6 and -12 db, sound effects between -12 and -18 db, and music beds should be around -24 db. STORY: you set up a story, but you didn't follow through with the character development to hook your audience into caring. Sorry, this wasn't an effective trailer.
Judge 1

Positives:

Improvements:

Judge 2

Positives: Interesting lighting and atmosphere – gives off a very menacing tone.

Improvements: Sound design could be improved to match the visual atmosphere. Narrative had a promising set up, but became muddled after the initial sequence.

Judge 3

Positives: There were some interesting effects scenes. The backlight shot at :43 and Find Edges shot at 1:00 help to create a mood of horror. The quick cuts and transitions starting at about :43 through the end was very effective in furthering the mood.

Improvements: Make sure you set the white balance before shooting. There is an orange cast over most of your interior footage. If you would like that to be the overall look it is better to shoot with the correct white balance and do the color correction during the editing process. Check some of the framing. For example, at 0:07 there is a two shot but most of the person at the right side of the screen is cut off. It would be much more effective to see both of the people on screen. Even though the last part of your trailer is effective visually, it runs a little too long. Consider cutting that down to about 15 seconds.

Judge 4

Positives:

Improvements: