What makes a film trailer good?
I’ve been asking myself this question for weeks, mostly because Lisa and I are in the middle of cutting the trailer for our own movie, SMALL, BEAUTIFULLY MOVING PARTS. It’s really hard! We have an amazing editor named Cindy Yoon to lead this effort, and she created something awesome … to be premiered once we have a festival screening. But in the meantime, it has prompted a lot of thinking about how trailers are structured. What is needed? Plot? Beauty shots? Constructing a feeling … that’s not actually in the film? What is ultimately going to pull people in? How do these little machines work? I gave a closer look to trailers for two movies I’ve seen recently, and one I haven’t seen (but want to).
Read More »How to drag a pregnant woman across the West
Well, make that ‘pregnant.’ As in, strap on that belly and hop in the van, let’s shoot! Lisa and I just wrapped our micro-budget feature, SMALL, BEAUTIFULLY MOVING PARTS, starring Anna Margaret Hollyman (above), and it was an adventure to boot. We wrote an entry about our tech approach, and one about our micro micro approach (see Beauty; Beast and Movie in a Van) — to make it three we thought we’d share a few photos from the road. And also urge you to take a peek at the new Sundance Channel online series that spawned the feature — SPARKS, now up HERE, starring Sarah Hudnut as well as other actors who appear in our feature, Jackie of “The Good Wife” Mary Beth Peil and soon-to-appear on “Friends with Benefits” Andre Holland.
Read More »Movie in a Van
It’s fairly unreal, but our entire film project titled SMALL, BEAUTIFULLY MOVING PARTS fits into a Chrysler Caravan rented at LAX. We’re making this micro-budget feature, you see, and there’s just enough room for two directors, one DP, one actress and one sound guy. The van happens to be, er, the featured picture car as well. Here we are, on our way to our next location (this photo was snapped after leaving Las Vegas – the only people to drive out of there that morning with absolutely no hangover):
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