Posts Tagged ‘IFC’

The Art of the Trailer

Friday, July 17th, 2009

IFC has collected what they call the 50 Greatest Trailers of All Time.  If nothing else, it’s a great way to waste some time on a Friday.  I didn’t even know some of these trailers existed.

I don’t know that I agree with them, certainly (Pulp Fiction should be way higher on that list, and it’s surprising to see that none of  Danny Boyle’s films are on there.  Nor is Forest Gump).  But is that what all Top ## lists are for?  To start a conversation?

This is one of my favorite movies. And yes, they cut an excellent trailer for it:

What’s clear in looking at the list and watching a few of the trailers is that there is a real art to making a good trailer.  If you know what you’re doing, in just two minutes you can really tease your audience into wanting to see your entire two hour film.

On a related matter, if you haven’t seen them yet there are some excellent (and hilarious) re-cuttings of trailers floating around on the internet that make the film look like it belongs in a completely different genre.  My favorites are The Shining cut to look like a romantic comedy, Garden State as a suspense thriller and Brokeback to the Future.

Thanks VSL