7 ms·

I watch a lot of trailers just for fun, mostly from this site: http://davestrailerpage.co.uk/ http://davestrailerpage.co.uk/ I've gotten very picky about what

by lsh 8y ago

I watch a lot of trailers just for fun, mostly from this site: http://davestrailerpage.co.uk/ http://davestrailerpage.co.uk/ I've gotten very picky about what constitutes a 'good' trailer. Any trailer that has any of these: * an overly dramatic deep manly narrator * is actually a 'clip' rather than a trailer * is actually a 'making of' rather than a trailer * has a pre-trailer to the trailer and a bunch of other things, gets deleted immediately. Thought I would share ;) I also have a dave's trailer page scraper if anybody is interested/obsessed like I am.

steve19 8y ago
I also love good trailers and agree with all your points except the deep manly narrator. What I don't like is when they cherry pick all the good jokes and you know that the movie almost certainly will not meet expectations.
B-Con 8y ago
What about summarizing the entire movie? That's an instant NO from me. I've literally not watched movies because I've seen the trailers and feel there's really no wiggle room left plot-wise, I know it all. I very actively avoid all trailers for movies that I'm going to see. Modern blockbuster trailers just ruin the movie.
- lsh 8y ago
  Trailers don't summarise the whole movie. And even if you feel they do, knowing the outline of a movie isn't going to ruin the actual movie experience itself. I avoid heaps of crap movies simply because I dismiss them out of hand by their trailer. Obviously there is the occasional movie whose trailer was crap but was actually exceptional. These come around again. There is so much drek out there a strong filter and upturned nose is essential to carefully picking something that won't waste your time and money. Otherwise you're saddled with Transformers 12: Re-revengance the pre-sequel. Or Star Wars 8 ;) It's how the same old variation of a story is told, how well did they pull it off, was it charming, was the dialogue and it's delivery any good, etc. And watching a movie with another person changes the movie again. Or watching it at a cinema surrounded pigs at their troughs. So many ways to appreciate movie watching that a trailer can't ever touch.
  - B-Con 8y ago
    > Trailers don't summarise the whole movie. Some do. If they contain: * the protagonist's set-up * the antagonist's set-up * an explanation of the protagonist's challenges * the protagonist overcoming the challenges * the nature of the twist * (sometimes the twist itself is hinted at) * any romantic relationship of significance is both shown and the direction it ultimately goes is implied * half the big awesome SFX scenes * half the funny scenes * almost every character of significance to the plot then there isn't much left, I know almost all the key checkpoints, who has to be where and do what and what action has to occur. It's pretty much sketched out. There's minimal suspense because I know who can't die and who has to be where at the end of the movie. > And even if you feel they do, knowing the outline of a movie isn't going to ruin the actual movie experience itself. It definitely can. Part of a story is experiencing it for the first time, watching it unfold and not knowing what will happen. Trailers take that away from you. "Oh yeah, I've seen this fight sequence and heard that joke before" just doesn't carry the same weight. And when I have a checklist of people with places to be and action scenes to happen, I can predict things. "Well, I know there's going to be a twist because X has to fight Y in the streets and it looks like they're getting along OK as we approach 1h 20m mark." There's minimal surprise left, which really hampers my ability to empathize with the characters and engage in the story.
    - zaarn 8y ago
      A movie can work even if you know how these things. The how is just as important as the what in a movie, even if, for example, you know the twist of a movie, it can be just as fun to watch how you get there, how all the scenes and narration from the trailer is strung together into the movie.
      - deleted 8y ago
        [deleted]
      - always_good 8y ago
        I don't believe anyone here was suggesting that the movie becomes literally unwatchable. But a movie is just a 90 minute experience. It's nice to maximize it. And one simple approach is to avoid giving in to curiosity by watching its 30 second summary for the same reason you don't read plot outlines on Wikipedia before reading books or tv show episodes.
Sukotto 8y ago
If you haven't seen it, the "Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy" meta-trailer is a real treat. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MbGNcoB2Y4I https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MbGNcoB2Y4I The movie itself was so-so, but the trailer? Outstanding.
Kuiper 8y ago
has a pre-trailer to the trailer If you're wondering why this is done, it's because when the trailer is shown on Youtube as a pre-roll ad, users have the ability to "skip" the ad after 5 seconds. Thus, the trailer needs to "hook" the viewer in the first 5 seconds to entice them to keep watching the whole thing, and deliver a title card right before the 5 second mark so that they can increase brand awareness even if the user does choose to skip the ad after the 5 second timer is up. This leads to the first 5 seconds of the trailer being used as a trailer for the actual trailer. Here's several examples: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cBezc1S1BAQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cBezc1S1BAQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UL29y0ah92w https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UL29y0ah92w https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gUDV0CUzG0k https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gUDV0CUzG0k
United857 8y ago
> an overly dramatic deep manly narrator As a side note, if you ever wondered why all those trailers sounded like they were voiced by the same guy, it's because they were: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_LaFontaine https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_LaFontaine
wodenokoto 8y ago
> * is actually a 'clip' rather than a trailer To me that is almost ideal. Doesn't reveal the entire movie, but gives you an impression of what the movie is like. James Bond always open with this action scene that isn't really relevant for the plot. Makes for great promotional clip, as it really shows off what the movie is about, but not really any of the movie.

by lsh 8y ago

steve19 8y ago

I also love good trailers and agree with all your points except the deep manly narrator. What I don't like is when they cherry pick all the good jokes and you know that the movie almost certainly will not meet expectations.

B-Con 8y ago

What about summarizing the entire movie? That's an instant NO from me. I've literally not watched movies because I've seen the trailers and feel there's really no wiggle room left plot-wise, I know it all. I very actively avoid all trailers for movies that I'm going to see. Modern blockbuster trailers just ruin the movie.

lsh 8y ago
Trailers don't summarise the whole movie. And even if you feel they do, knowing the outline of a movie isn't going to ruin the actual movie experience itself. I avoid heaps of crap movies simply because I dismiss them out of hand by their trailer. Obviously there is the occasional movie whose trailer was crap but was actually exceptional. These come around again. There is so much drek out there a strong filter and upturned nose is essential to carefully picking something that won't waste your time and money. Otherwise you're saddled with Transformers 12: Re-revengance the pre-sequel. Or Star Wars 8 ;) It's how the same old variation of a story is told, how well did they pull it off, was it charming, was the dialogue and it's delivery any good, etc. And watching a movie with another person changes the movie again. Or watching it at a cinema surrounded pigs at their troughs. So many ways to appreciate movie watching that a trailer can't ever touch.
- B-Con 8y ago
  > Trailers don't summarise the whole movie. Some do. If they contain: * the protagonist's set-up * the antagonist's set-up * an explanation of the protagonist's challenges * the protagonist overcoming the challenges * the nature of the twist * (sometimes the twist itself is hinted at) * any romantic relationship of significance is both shown and the direction it ultimately goes is implied * half the big awesome SFX scenes * half the funny scenes * almost every character of significance to the plot then there isn't much left, I know almost all the key checkpoints, who has to be where and do what and what action has to occur. It's pretty much sketched out. There's minimal suspense because I know who can't die and who has to be where at the end of the movie. > And even if you feel they do, knowing the outline of a movie isn't going to ruin the actual movie experience itself. It definitely can. Part of a story is experiencing it for the first time, watching it unfold and not knowing what will happen. Trailers take that away from you. "Oh yeah, I've seen this fight sequence and heard that joke before" just doesn't carry the same weight. And when I have a checklist of people with places to be and action scenes to happen, I can predict things. "Well, I know there's going to be a twist because X has to fight Y in the streets and it looks like they're getting along OK as we approach 1h 20m mark." There's minimal surprise left, which really hampers my ability to empathize with the characters and engage in the story.
  - zaarn 8y ago
    A movie can work even if you know how these things. The how is just as important as the what in a movie, even if, for example, you know the twist of a movie, it can be just as fun to watch how you get there, how all the scenes and narration from the trailer is strung together into the movie.
    - deleted 8y ago
      [deleted]
    - always_good 8y ago
      I don't believe anyone here was suggesting that the movie becomes literally unwatchable. But a movie is just a 90 minute experience. It's nice to maximize it. And one simple approach is to avoid giving in to curiosity by watching its 30 second summary for the same reason you don't read plot outlines on Wikipedia before reading books or tv show episodes.

Sukotto 8y ago

If you haven't seen it, the "Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy" meta-trailer is a real treat. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MbGNcoB2Y4I https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MbGNcoB2Y4I The movie itself was so-so, but the trailer? Outstanding.

Kuiper 8y ago

has a pre-trailer to the trailer If you're wondering why this is done, it's because when the trailer is shown on Youtube as a pre-roll ad, users have the ability to "skip" the ad after 5 seconds. Thus, the trailer needs to "hook" the viewer in the first 5 seconds to entice them to keep watching the whole thing, and deliver a title card right before the 5 second mark so that they can increase brand awareness even if the user does choose to skip the ad after the 5 second timer is up. This leads to the first 5 seconds of the trailer being used as a trailer for the actual trailer. Here's several examples: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cBezc1S1BAQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cBezc1S1BAQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UL29y0ah92w https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UL29y0ah92w https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gUDV0CUzG0k https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gUDV0CUzG0k

United857 8y ago

> an overly dramatic deep manly narrator As a side note, if you ever wondered why all those trailers sounded like they were voiced by the same guy, it's because they were: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_LaFontaine https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_LaFontaine

wodenokoto 8y ago

> * is actually a 'clip' rather than a trailer To me that is almost ideal. Doesn't reveal the entire movie, but gives you an impression of what the movie is like. James Bond always open with this action scene that isn't really relevant for the plot. Makes for great promotional clip, as it really shows off what the movie is about, but not really any of the movie.