I've noticed a trend in a lot of recent trailers that never ceases to amuse the fuck out of me: Syncing foley effects to the beat of a song in order to add a sort of accelerated pace to the scene.
I started noticing it a couple years ago, with this trailer for Fury Road: youtu.be/hEJnMQG9ev8
And I've since noticed it in these trailers for Kong Skull Island, Baby Driver, Sleepless (which no one fucking remembers), and a couple of others I can't be fucked to look up right now.
It got me thinking about how modern trailers have a whole different style compared to trailers from the 80's or 90's. I suppose that can sorta be chalked up to just time changing but it's interesting to see how trailer editing (and movie editing as a whole) has shifted over the past 20, 30 years or so.
What do you think about these trailer tropes? What kind of things would you like to see more of or less of in trailers?
I kind of like this trope. It's less annoying than the Inception horn that we've only just left behind. God, Nolan/Zimmer must've gotten sick of hearing that
Levi Perry
Sorry to go off topic since honestly this is kinda interesting, but goddamn fury road was so fucking great, hopefully this trend of fun, stylish action movies with some actual creativity like Fury road and john wick continues
Jace White
We kinda replaced it with the Bass Dropping Out sound I think (Deep descending BWWWWaaahh) which is annoying but not nearly as much since you can barely hear it sometimes.
Juan Wright
Hanz Immer is the worst """"composer"""" to ever work in Hollywood
>collage of dramatic scenes and facial closeups >single piano key struck over and over
>dreamworks preview >characters dancing to nigger music that was popular 10 years ago
These two make me so physically uncomfortable I have to get up and leave the theater
Daniel King
Can you give any more examples of who's copying that?
It had a video about Edgar Wright underneath it and I know he does that but nothing else springs to mind.
Brandon Gutierrez
>characters dancing to nigger music that was popular 10 years ago I'M SEXY AND I KNOW IT (insert earworm beat here)
Jeremiah Fisher
No one's arguing there bud
Saw a video earlier that praised the comeback of more mid-budget non-heavy-effects stuff making a return, and that's fucking great imo. Atomic Blonde and Baby Driver are two great examples here.
Grayson Adams
bump
Jason Rogers
>3 second mini-trailer for a movie that plays right before the trailer for the same movie
Noah Sullivan
Supposedly that's to catch people's attention so that they don't just click away. Purely for the 5-second attention span of modern internet users.
Matthew Jones
are jamie foxx and idris elba the only negroes in cinema now?
Grayson Adams
them and the rock or kevin hart
Jayden Martinez
I hate that thing where a trailer would be playing some ancient pop song and then whenever a joke would play, it would make some sound, stop the music, play the joke, and then resume the music.
Joseph Torres
>single piano key struck over and over God that annoys me now it's in every damn trailer. High pitched key struck at an accelerating rate and then bass drop BRAAAAAAHHHHH.
I really, really hate that sound. Yea, it was cool at first I guess, but now literally every action movie trailer uses it, and its lost its effect Kinda like that tie fighter 'JEEEEAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH' noise everyone reused over and over whenever someone fell off a cliff or something. It seems like we get a new 'wilhelm scream' every decade or so.
Wyatt Hernandez
The worst modern trailer trope has got to be the OOOOOOOoOoooomph sub bass pitch down used as an "epic" transition between two dramatic cuts, so fucking cheesy.
Connor Gonzalez
I am sure you know of maybe 5 soundtrack composers at max.
James Wright
Agreed.
Nolan Baker
>trailer for a horror film ends with a cheap jumpscare
I also noticed this trope and have thought about making this thread but never got around to it. Good thread, OP
Gabriel Martinez
Suicide Squad did that, both in some of the trailers and in the actual movie. But an indeterminate amount of the editing was done by a trailer house, so a lot of the on-the-nose music cues and BAMBAMBAM stylistic touches are pretty yeah.
Speaking of Suicide Squad, watch this remake of the trailer done by a high school film club. They use the original soundtrack and do their best recreating the shots. Decent job for a no-budget, volunteer, high school thing, but the point of watching it is to see just how fucking good the trailer was.
A slow 'dramatic' cover of an old song that makes it 'sadder', that's really just annoying piano keys and a singer drawing out every fucking word and sentence in the lyrics Over disjointed 'I never knew who I was...' 'What is this...' 'But how do we X...' 'I used to be Y...' 'STOP OR I'LL Z...!' fade ins/outs Sudden dramatic rising violin over action scenes cut to drum beats increasing in tempo
Optional 'BWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH' over title shot
Also optional 'surprise' of poor-CGI thing from movie 'attacking' camera followed by another cut to credits
Bonus points for comments claiming it 'looks awesome!' or 'SOOOOOO hype for this!!' when literally nothing about the movie's dramatic weight or story was presented
EXTRA bonus points for comments after said movie was released, saying 'What a piece of shit this turned out to be' or 'so disappointed this movie sucked'
Also music stopping at 20-30 seconds into a trailer so one character can quip, before resuming again. Just so you don't miss their SUPER FUNNY JOKE.
Guardians of The Galaxy Vol. 2 does it really well with additional orchestration.
Jose Rivera
>What kind of things would you like to see more of or less of in trailers? I'd like to see less of the whole fucking plot and each beat point in the movie leading up to the 3rd act spoiled
John Brown
I remember when Prometheus brought in the "SCARY SIREN NOISE" for trailers.
Jaxon Brown
I fucking hate the every trailer has to show you a clip of basically every single thing that happens in the movie. They don't tease or attempt to pique interest anymore, they're just like "here's the whole fuckin' thing in miniature, come spend $15 next month to see another hour-fifteen of this same shit".
Aaron Rivera
This is by far my favorite trailer. The weakest bond movie yes but by far the best Bond trailer: youtube.com/watch?v=f6acw690AqQ
Caleb Clark
I fucking hate this. There is not a single example of this done right. It's just a drunken slur, 9/10 times sung by a young woman. This needs to stop.
Noah Howard
That's fucking great for a high school production.
Also I love that at least one person remembers Be Kind Rewind with the whole Sweded thing. That movie was great.
Jack Stewart
>Quantum >weakest bond movie plebs leave
Lincoln Cook
Similar, but not the same. The Social Network trailer with the childrens choir cover of Creep over it, worked really well. youtube.com/watch?v=lB95KLmpLR4
Jaxon Davis
>Sweded
That's actually how I found it. I was wondering what Michel Gondry had been up to, then started looking for the movie clips from Be Kind Rewind, then fell into a hole of Sweded clips on YouTube. That high school thing was the first, and the best I remember seeing.
>the Inception horn that we've only just left behind. We definitely have not, people are still doing that shit
Carter Hernandez
>defending this villain He is by far the worst Bond villain ever
Craig was amazing as Bond in it but the terrible fast cut edit (apart from the opening of the movie that is the best part of the whole feature), the movie falls very flat on itself
Evan Nguyen
>Greene is the worst villain >not dude "getting caught was part of my plan" lmao Quantum wasn't great but it was still better than the two that followed it as well a most of the Brosnan films.
Cameron Torres
>female vocalist doing a sad ethereal version of a popular song
Ethan Morgan
It's a sub-bass synth now. The horn is dead.
Oliver Miller
>movie reveals the third act twist WWWHHHHHYYYYYY DO THEY THINK THE MOVIE GOING AUDIENCE ARE SO STUPID youtube.com/watch?v=rGSxss7gWak
Jayden Morales
Fucking hell WHY WOULD YOU REVEAL JOHN CONNOR BEING A TERMINATOR WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY
Luis Cook
>"Whatever they did to John" Jesus do you hear how badly they edited his voice saying that?
HOLY FUCK THAT'S BAD
Camden Long
>that Harley Quinn wew lads
Eli Sullivan
That's like the inception of that trope, literally.
The content of that trailer is pretty good, but it can't get away from the crappy overdone editing of the film
Michael Jenkins
By extension I think Social Network began the trend of text over faces in posters.
Kevin Rivera
That or Michael Clayton
Justin Brown
I actually dug that song. Is it a cover?
Angel Davis
No
Hunter Russell
He's fine, but overrated.
Instellar was pretty good, Pirates of the Carribean was great.
Horner, Williams, and Elfman are all far better though.
Jack Bailey
Wow.
This may be the worst trailer I've ever seen. It looks like its filmed fine but fucking hell its incomprehensible and insensible.
Hunter Young
are you kidding? I wish more trailers were like that. Gets you a sense of the characters and situations without spoiling anything. I can't stand trailers nowadays because they spoil half the movie. Even if its not plot points, its significant beats and moments. I feel like half the time I'm watching a movie now I'm just waiting for the parts I remember from the trailers.
Jose Ortiz
Pretty good trailer.
Worst bond girl though.
Joseph Thomas
you'll cowards don't know shit about trailers. This guy gets it, it's a great trailer because it gives you an idea of mood/tone, without giving away the actual plot points. Exactly what a good trailer does.
Only dumb bit is 'The feel bad movie of Christmas'
Ayden White
Its the music that pisses me off dude.
Same music as Thor's new trailer. It has nothing to do with anything and is just more nostalgia-baiting bullshit.
If they just used some atmospheric shit to ramp up tension it'd be acceptable but it had to be some mass marketing schlock.
And anyways, giving away plot doesn't effect a movie to me. Knowing that Romeo and Juliet die in the end of the play doesn't make it any less enjoyable.
Thomas Peterson
I mean I hate the 'cover an old song lmao' trope usually, I just think this one was well done.
Plus Romeo & Juliet is a centuries old story at this point.
Joshua Myers
Just watching the trailer again has made me decide to watch it again tonight. First film I've ever watched twice in a cinema and first DVD I've bought in more than five years
If I could elect one movie to be permanently screened at the cinema, even if it's just once a month, it'd be Fury Road.
Leo Rogers
>that batman
Owen Moore
Evil Dead started it I think, so Raimi for sure
I think a lot of please imitations are around but they're not worth mentioning
Christopher Roberts
I hate the le ebin x and y are about to collide and the trailer cuts to a different scene
Owen Moore
His studio currently writes and produces at least half of his shit, he is actually really solid once he focuses on one project at a time. Go listen to his old stuff
Charles Moore
Yeah this is ridiculously prevalent in vidya, and the song choice is always jarring as fuck. Songs like Teen Spirit work almost exclusively because of their atmosphere, a female vocalist and slow piano ruins it.
I had a friend who did these sorts of covers at open mic nights more than 5 years ago, I always remember her cover of Hey Ya because I thought it was neat, but the lyrics in it are malleable so it worked.
Lorde gets a pass though. She can do nothing wrong in my eyes
Ayden Reed
Same, we bought a 55 4k smart tv and I decided to break it in with Fury Road tonight
James Bailey
>the rock
He's not a black actor. He's like 35% black and doesn't get any black roles, nor does he star in black movies.
Sebastian Kelly
I get it. To each their own. There's definitely plenty of friends I know who like 0 spoilers . Personally I don't care if i have the entire thing spoiled. The thing I care about is NOT giving hollywood a god damn fucking cent of my money unless the movie is guaranteed to be good.
If I reserved judgement for every movie there'd be a lot of shit movies that became successful.
And anyways, I like to try and pay attention more to technical aspects then just the story nowadays.
Joseph Gonzalez
This is some fucking avant-garde shit right here. They were trying to make a statement or something.
Weird because the movie's actually pretty slow paced.
Daniel Ortiz
>all around me are familiar faces Did Gears start this trend?
I remember seeing this trailer and thinking it was very well done, and almost that videogames were beginning to try and copy movies in terms of being regarded as proper entertainment. Maybe that last part is bollocks. But good trailer.
As far as I know, the modern hip hop montage goes back to Fosse's movie All That Jazz from 1979. It won the Oscar for Film Editing and is pretty legendary. You can see a quick example at the beginning of this:
I had heard about the name Hip Hop Montage but I didn't know it related to that specific trend.
Neat, thanks for sharing.
Jaxon Bailey
youtu.be/8LdpyRBE0aA This trailer was so horrible I felt highly uncomfortable in the theater. Is it just me?
Isaac Foster
Is Genysis worth watching? I've watched all the others so I'll probably watch this anyway but it seems like it's gonna fuck with timelines and time travel even more than the other ones do
I can never understand the Gears games - they seem to have a fucktonne of lore that suggests that the humans are bastards and that they are effectively more monstrous than the Locust (ie Marcus in prison, flayed corpses, fascist government, cast members dying, Maria and Dom's story, the civilians left behind that live in the tunnels and shanty towns that hate the COG, and Marcus being emotionally exhausted by the end of the first trilogy) but then the gameplay and character design is all testosterone pumped hoo-rah military power fantasy stuff that clashes with it's smaller story beats.
Caleb Jackson
>Its the music that pisses me off dude.
>Same music as Thor's new trailer. It has nothing to do with anything and is just more nostalgia-baiting bullshit.
Immigrant Song actually works pretty well with Ragnarok's trailer imo. It's kinda cheap but it has a vaguely mythic feel to it, keeping in tone with shit about Vikings and Gods.
Plus, the song's just really fuckin' cool.
Caleb Bell
>>dreamworks preview >>characters dancing to nigger music that was popular 10 years ago kekekekekekek
Hunter Nelson
that baby driver girl looks like the girl from twin peeks wierd shit desu
Blake Howard
Genuinely my pleasure. And yeah, Aronofsky called it that because he figured it was similar to the way that hip hop beats sample different sources, as the montage is made by cutting together segments of like 6-15 frames, so it's like sampling, in a way, according to Aronofsky.
Outside of the Fosse / Aronofsky / Ritchie / Wright fast-cut montage, you can see another example in the shower scene of Psycho. It's used for pretty much the same purpose: to convey something general by only focusing on the extreme details. Hitchcock used it because he couldn't show penetrating wounds or nudity. It got loads of attention in Requiem For a Dream, and that's arguably what it's most associated with. There was article after article about the frenetic editing, and "hip hop montage" came into the vernacular because Aronofsky ended up having to talk about the editing in interview after interview.
Lincoln Howard
>Is Genysis worth watching? Don't know, not seen it. Don't think so.
>I can never understand the Gears games 'Do not gaze too long into the abyss, lest the abyss gazes into you' or something I guess. I don't think it's meant to be some sharp satire of hoo-rah military culture like, say , Starship Troopers
>Aronofsky called it that because he figured it was similar to the way that hip hop beats sample different sources, as the montage is made by cutting together segments of like 6-15 frames, so it's like sampling, in a way, according to Aronofsky. Interesting, thanks user
Adam Hall
OP here
All this talk of trailers and I forgot to mention my absolute favorite of all time: The trailer for the 2011 piece of shit Battle: Los Angeles.
Now, don't get me wrong: the movie's a disappointment. But this fucking trailer...
It's completely dialogue-free, doesn't shit on you with exposition, instead trusting you to piece together what it's trying to tell you (Something weird's coming out of the sky in Los Angeles, and then shit goes paramilitary) solely through visuals. Then you got that song, which sells the fact that this is a tragedy and (on a deeper level) the fact that it's a sci-fi movie. It ends on my absolute favorite editing trope of all time, which I've only seen used once recently (in the first trailer for Dunkirk): Building up to a jumpscare or explosion or something, and...not giving it. Trailer just ends, no sound, no nothing. It robs you of a sense of certainty, and keeps you frustrated because you know SOMETHING'S gotta happen but what the fuck is it?
Anyway, apologies for the autism dump.
Evan Clark
I've seen it. It's a fine summer action movie but it absolutely fucking eviscerates the timeline.
Alexander Long
i usually stay away from trailers but sleepless looks fucking good gonna watch it now if a good rip is out
