Last times we briefly looked at some issues at starting when making a video. Now, let’s jump in and talk about genres. Actually a genre, because we’re going to focus on just one now. Fan videos have genres, like books and movies do. To name a traditional one, there’s of course romance, but then there are more editing-focused ones; like AU/Crossover, character central, general etc. But today, we’re going to take a look at trailers.
A nice, refreshing change from the exhausting regular videos, that are full with effects and details. Trailers are a short, simple and powerful. They don’t have major effects apart from the colours and lighting, and rarely have anything flashy and fan-video-type in them. At least the official ones don’t. I think you can put home-made-non-real-movie-trailers into two groups: official style and fan video style.
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Official style. Non-official trailers trying to look as official as possible. Simple as that. For example, “‘Marley&Me’ Trailer” by bibiliotina. Maybe a tiny bit longish, but suits otherwise perfectly into this category. No big effects. Audio clips and fairly neutral music. Another one is “Oldboy Trailer (SYTYCV)” by DrewboyX. This trailer is genius. It’s strong, captivating, and could totally pull off as a real trailer. It has some cool effects, but they are not the fan video type. They are strong, and serve a purpose. This guy has some other really cool stuff as well, so I recommend you check it out.
Fan video style. Fanvidders just standing proudly up, and enjoying effects like always. Dominating effects and strong co-operation with the music. For example lovesimplicity‘s Breaking Dawn teaser and Juliiaxx‘s New Moon trailer. Though not extreme examples, they both clearly have effects that official trailers don’t have. That’s not a bad thing, and usually done intentionally, it’s just a different style. Not every such video is easy to label. Smokeyfiizz‘s mind blowing “The Twilight Saga – Celestial Trailer” also goes in my opinion into this category. The effects are really subtle, though definitely there.
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What exactly makes a trailer work? What makes trailers different?
Alright. Now that we have put amateur trailers into categories, let’s do the same for trailers in general. Remember, that this is all my opinion, and that the world is full of exceptions.
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So, let’s put trailers really briefly into two groups.
Some trailers centres are around the plot. They’re quite clear, giving you a good impression of what the movie is going to be like. These are usually on the longer side. There are thousands of trailers like this. Marley&Me, Stardust, Harry Potter, just to name some.
Then there are more mystical trailers. They tend to give you characters and mood, but leave you wondering about many things. Most horror movies use this, but also disaster films of Roland Emmerich (& his team), Inception and many others.
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Join me in my next post, that takes theory into action, as we dive into how trailers can be made!
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- Screw a.k.a. MarikaKM.
