HOLLOW TOWN - investor trailer collecting dust

M1chae1

M1chae1

Hey,

Not too long ago, some friends of mine shot an investor pitch trailer. I think it turned out very good, considering the budget and experience attached.

So, apparently this now is sitting collecting dust. The production is a no-go. They sent it out to a few people and didn't get picked up or backed, so they just moved on. This was *just* shot the end of last year.

Seems a waste to shoot something this good, and give up so easily. See this is the problem with 'investor trailers' and such...they never go anywhere! Very rarely. And it turns into a sad waste of time.

If they would have just saved money, got some small investors...they could have shot a feature in a year. They have the resources to score a lot of production value for free, and I think they could have made a nice feature for 10 - 20K.

They shot too big...and no one bit. And they gave up. What a waste.

Here is the trailer:

http://vimeo.com/9027454
 
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I bring it up not to piss on the people involved. I bring it up as an example of something I think we need to be careful of...a trap we should avoid.

I also post it for debate...

Thanks. Ya, it would have been fun.
 
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I have a story about an "investor trailer" that brought in $450K - and the resulting film only generating $30K.

Can't share the details here, but let's just say... some films really don't need that large budget to start with.
 
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Exacto...mundo.

I just don't get it. Films cost *way* too much to make. People get paid *way* too much (cast and crew). It's crazy. Insane. Astronomical. It's like the military buying a hammer for $30. Inflated beyond measure.

If people would just think smart, be smart, and not be greedy with a paycheck...movies and movie tickets would be a lot less money.

I keep bringing my buddy up, and I'm sorry, but I do it from genuine admiration...the guy makes feature films that look good, have 40+ speaking roles, 30+ locations...for under 8K. And these movies are all seeing national distro. I mean I help make these movies, and that's hard to believe. Yes, no one really gets paid unless they invested or were an outside party...but that's still damn cheap. And these movies typically always see a profit early on. He doesn't get rich from them...but he makes another feature. :)

Why can't other people do it? Why do they need 100K and the Red camera? :)

I think the investors pitch you see above was pretty cheap (under 1K budget), and was shot on the HVX200 with some solid color work on it...it looks great, and it's very cheap.
 
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It looks good but I think the fact it did not show much as far as a story that my be the reason it was not picked up. From the intro it looks cool but it does not give you much idea what the movie is about except martial arts killing with a blade. Just my thoughts form watching it. If they would have demostrated that they had a story then maybe it would have done better. The voice over does not work quite right for the sound. It just does not seem right to me. Not sure what is wrong. Maybe just the voice or mastering.
 
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I don't like fake trailers for movies that don't exist. Yeah, I understand the logic in making one. But I think it's perfectly fitting that they rarely end with a movie actually being made.

Shooting a trailer with nice visuals and a bunch of sound-bites does not translate into being able to shoot a single freaking scene that cuts together well. Even a simple scene. How about an entire movie? No disrespect to your friends, I hope things work out for the better in their futures, but I honestly think that fake trailers like this are pretty much worthless. It's a nice demo-reel for somebody's skills with AE, but nothing more.

In my opinion, the best way to attract investors is to just tell good stories. Do what you can on a nothing budget, and use that to attract investors for future projects.
 
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I agree with Rockstar, The V.O. sounds brutally like an audio book read.
I found it distracting and doing zero for the trailer.

Also, while the title is okay, it doesn’t knock my socks off and feels lacking in presentation of a high concept that would better encapsulate the story and character in an exciting package for the viewer/potential investor.

It's a shame it didn't generate backer interest, because it sure does look nice.

-Thanks-
 
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Cracker Funk said:
I don't like fake trailers for movies that don't exist. Yeah, I understand the logic in making one. But I think it's perfectly fitting that they rarely end with a movie actually being made.

Shooting a trailer with nice visuals and a bunch of sound-bites does not translate into being able to shoot a single freaking scene that cuts together well. Even a simple scene. How about an entire movie? No disrespect to your friends, I hope things work out for the better in their futures, but I honestly think that fake trailers like this are pretty much worthless. It's a nice demo-reel for somebody's skills with AE, but nothing more.

In my opinion, the best way to attract investors is to just tell good stories. Do what you can on a nothing budget, and use that to attract investors for future projects.
Click to expand...

I don't think this is the best trailer in the world, but I certainly wouldn't say it's a nice demo reel for somebodys skills with AE and nothing more. That's a little harsh. The trailer was cut well, the production value was awesome, the sword fighting was great, the color grading was solid, the sound design was good...

It's not simply a good showcase of AE skills...there was a trailer shot here ya know. :) It's not just a title sequence and blood splatter.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not totally in love with this, and I'm not a fan of the VO either. But it's 'cooler' than most indie fare out there in my eyes.

There is enough of a story concept in there I think. The guy is a kickass martial artist magician exacting revenge and cleaning up the streets. Awesome. He also has some personal problems with the mob and gambling...more story issues and character development. It's a teaser. But again, I agree it could use some more.

Thank you for voicing your critiques. I completely agree with a lot of what was said.

My main point was, the cost of the trailer is far less expensive with much higher production value than most indie fare...and it didn't go anywhere...just went dead in the water. What a waste.
 
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Ahonestly in my opinion if it was more drama based than action based if may have had a better chance. Secondly i didn't care for the story side. First off i didn't feel jackshit for the main character. Ahonestly the guy is just acting some know-it-all handsome like who doesn't actually care about the crime on the streets, he will just sit back and be rich. I don't want to say it's the actor's fault but possibly the directing on this part. I don't know, it may seem a bit harsh but the main character just looks like an acrobatic a-hole. Once again none of this is going towards the actor.

IT did seem like it was of high quality, I was a fan of the color. The sound didn't bother me that much since it was a trailer and the cinematography was sharp.

Blanc.
 
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M1chae1 said:
I don't think this is the best trailer in the world, but I certainly wouldn't say it's a nice demo reel for somebodys skills with AE and nothing more. That's a little harsh. The trailer was cut well, the production value was awesome, the sword fighting was great, the color grading was solid, the sound design was good...

It's not simply a good showcase of AE skills...there was a trailer shot here ya know. :) It's not just a title sequence and blood splatter.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not totally in love with this, and I'm not a fan of the VO either. But it's 'cooler' than most indie fare out there in my eyes.

There is enough of a story concept in there I think. The guy is a kickass martial artist magician exacting revenge and cleaning up the streets. Awesome. He also has some personal problems with the mob and gambling...more story issues and character development. It's a teaser. But again, I agree it could use some more.

Thank you for voicing your critiques. I completely agree with a lot of what was said.

My main point was, the cost of the trailer is far less expensive with much higher production value than most indie fare...and it didn't go anywhere...just went dead in the water. What a waste.
Click to expand...

Ok, I can word things a bit too harsh, sometimes. I'll admit -- that wasn't entirely fair what I said. What I mean is that when it comes to making a movie, as far as I'm concerned, the buck stops with the director. If I'm an investor, I would want to know that this potential director knows how to tell a story. And the only way for me to know that they know how to tell a story is if they've done it before.

A trailer isn't a story. It's a montage. I'm sorry, but it's pretty much just a fancy-looking title-sequence with blood-splatter, and some sword-chopping, and some nice color-grading, and all that other stuff that you mentioned was made well. Yes, this trailer has really nice production values (far greater than the feature I just shot). But it's absolutely no indication of a director's ability to tell a story.

Heck, for all we know, based solely on this trailer, the director might not even be able to piece together a single workable action sequence, or even a simple scene of dialogue, in which the actors are perfectly stationary.

A well-made trailer tells us that the director knows how to make a well-made fake-trailer for a fake-movie that doesn't exist. I'm sorry, that just doesn't do much for me. Make a movie, then I'll be impressed.
 
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