Movie trailer as a form of art, part 2

I've been getting a few naysayers who hate trailers because of how much they reveal.  While a trailer that reveals too much is probably poorly cut, I, like Pooja, maintain that the story told by the trailer is pretty much independent of the movie, so it almost doesn't matter what the trailer shows.  I love that they are miniature movies in their own right, that they have their own structure (intro/beginning, exposition, rising action, climax, resolution/suggestion), and yes, they keep you wanting more.

Case in point: a few years ago there was a contest among students of film editing, and the task was to take a popular film and recut a trailer for it that would make the movie look like it belonged in a totally different genre.  The best of the bunch was this, The Shining, recut.

Now it's got a bunch of copycats on YouTube, but this was the original.  Total genius.

Movie trailer as a form of art.

I'm not the best with timeliness when it comes to blog posting.  So expect me to dredge up a lot of stuff I've been interested in for a long long time.  This is not of-the-moment stuff.
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I love movie trailers in general, and trailers for coming-of-age, relationship-building, indie, and romantic comedies in particular (I tend to shy away from horror and thriller/suspense).  I can watch them over and over and over again, and before I know it I have wasted 1.5 hours instead of doing whatever it is I'm supposed to be doing.

Case in point: a couple years ago I was obsessed with the trailer for Shopgirl.  I only half wanted to watch the movie (I finally netflixed it long after...it did not disappoint, but was not quite as delicious as the trailer).  There was just something so beautifully restrained and lovely about the way this trailer was cut, besides the fact that I love Steve Martin, Claire Danes, and am even a little fond of Jason Schwartzmann.  Tonally--it's pitch-perfect, conveying this spartan emptiness that moves cautiously into shy pleasure, wonder, and then warm human contact.  I love it.

 


And then, after thinking more about it, I realized the music really shaped my perception of the trailer (hah, what's new, right?).  One of my pet peeves is when a trailer editor uses a song in the trailer that is nowhere to be found on the movie's actual soundtrack.  That's another blog post in itself. 

Anyway, I used my google search prowess to find the songs used: "Consequence" by The Notwist, "First Breath After Coma" by Explosions in the Sky, and "The Sound of Settling" by Death Cab For Cutie.  I'm including the first two mp3s for your listening pleasure =)