FRIDAY'S SCRIPT TIP:
TRAILER MOMENTS
You spent months writing and rewriting that 110 page script,
making
sure every word is the right word - but whether anyone ever reads it or not depends on
a 25 word
logline. And after turning that script into a fantastic 2 hour movie, whether an audience
shows up to
see it or not depends on a 30 second TV spot or a 3 minute trailer. If the producer can't
cut a trailer
from the film, they'll have trouble getting anyone to pay the $9 to see how fantastic the
film is. There's
even a consulting company that rates screenplays for "trailer moments" BEFORE a
producer buys
the script. Why would a producer want to buy a script they can't get an audience to
see?
What is a "trailer moment"? Scenes and dialogue that are so amazing, so
fantastic, so awe inspiring that
you grab your place in line just to see it. The White House exploding in ID4, an
asteroid taking out Paris in ARMAGEDDON, that giant tidal wave washing over New
York in DEEP IMPACT. Clint Eastwood saying "Make my day" or Woody Allen telling
Tiffany Amber Thiesen that if she runs an ad in the DGA magazine saying that she'll
sleep with directors, she'll never be out of work. Larger than life incidents. Exciting
scenes. Laugh outloud lines. Cool stuff. Spectacle. Scenes you just have to see
again.
Though I never think about "trailer moments" while writing, I could easily pull
together
a trailer from any of my scripts. I try to have as many really good lines of dialogue and
big dramatic moments as possible, keep my plot twisting and escalating and evolving
in unexpected ways, and have lots of big exciting scenes. This gives them lots of
material for the trailer. But don't write these scenes for the trailer, I write them
because I want to make every moment of the film entertaining and exciting. I'm just
trying to write the best script possible and the "trailer moments" are a side effect of
that.
How many times have you seen a comedy because the trailer had five
laugh-out-loud
jokes in it, only to discover that those were ALL of the jokes from the film? Is it the
trailer's fault for using all of the good jokes, or the writer's fault for not providing more
laugh lines? Hey, a trailer only lasts 3-5 minutes... if you only have five minutes of
good stuff in your script, you're in a heap-o-trouble!
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Let's take a look at the trailer for SUM OF ALL FEARS, which was Ben Affleck's only real big hit.
Unless I've
screwed up the HTML, there should be links to the trailer so that you can see exactly
what I'm talking
about. All good stories are about characters, and this three minute story begins by
introducing Jack
Ryan (Ben Affleck). In a funny little scene Jack calls his girlfriend to break a date - he
can't tell her
why. Morgan Freeman says "Go ahead. Tell her where you're going. In fact, tell her
who you work for. She'll be impressed." Jack tells her "I work for the CIA and the
director asked me at the last minute to come with him to Russia to do a nuclear arms
inspection", and she says "That is so lame," before hanging up on him. Morgan
Freeman snickers at the reaction. Right away we know who Jack Ryan is - he's a new
guy at the CIA and he's smart enough that the CIA Director has taken him under his
wing. The scene is also funny. Introducing a protagonist in a humorous scene is a great
way to build audience identification.
"Welcome to the CIA, sport."
We see fighter planes scrambling... we see a nuclear missile being transported.
This premise of this film is about a potential nuclear war. Next scene has Jack noticing
that 3 Russian nuclear scientists are unaccounted for. Where are they?
Next scene has the tough CIA spy telling Jack to suit up. "I don't go on the
missions, I just write reports." "So write a report about it." Now we've combined
character and premise - Jack is an information analyst who is going to go to the
dangerous front lines. He's a fish out of water. "I'm an information analyst, I'm not
trained for this." Then we see Jack in a violent fight scene - not exactly writing a report!
We know that Jack is going to have to grow into an action character in order to
survive.
But there's more to Jack's character arc - remember that girlfriend? "I can't be with
somebody who's going to keep their life hidden from me, Jack." (Great image of the
doors at the CIA becoming opaque as they close - we aren't allowed to see what goes
on inside there!) "I won't let that happen," Jack promises her - but can he keep his
promise? Will he have to sacrifice his relationship for his career?
Now we introduce the villain - a neo-Nazi. "You don't fight Russia and America - you
get Russia and America to fight each other... and destroy each other." (Great image of
the President of the United States shaking hands with the Premiere of Russia after
signing an agreement - you have to establish the relationship before there can be a
betrayal.) Then we see the nuclear bomb. The neo-Nazis are going to start a
NUCLEAR war between the USA and Russia! The bomb was put on a cargo freighter
headed for the East Coast!
Now let's get to those big spectacle shots - the ones that make you stand in line on
opening day. Ryan in a helicopter says into a radio, "The bomb is in play!" Next we see
a major city... Then we see a nuclear blast! The helicopter gets knocked out of the sky.
Cars tumble off the road like Matchbox cars. It's an amazing series of shots - a nuclear
bomb destroying everything in its path. Next, Jack near the wreckage of the helicopter
asking where the President is... and discovering the USA plans a retaliatory strike
against Russia! World War 3 is about to begin!
And it does. Next we get a series of amazing shots, including a huge battle ship hit
by missiles and exploding. Wow! This is no small little film - we're going to see a fleet of
ships EXPLODE!
Jack is yelling at someone - "My orders are to get the right information to the people
who make the decisions." One sentence which sums up Jack's plot goal. Then another
amazing action shot - there have been several that I haven't mentioned... this film
seems to be overflowing with large scale action. But this shot is Jack trying to drive his
car through a city that's on fire. Debris rains down on him. Wow! He's right in the middle
of World War 3 - and that war is taking place right here in America!
Next we get a big dramatic scene - the kind that leads you to believe that Ben
Affleck can really act. Jack is being held back by the Secret Service as he YELLS at the
President of the United States*, "If you shut me out, your family, and 25 million other
families will be dead!" Not only is this a big dramatic scene (he's yelling at the
President), it's a single line of dialogue that sums up the stakes in the film. Not a page
of dialogue, not 5 lines of dialogue... ONE line of dialogue.
The next shot is Morgan Freeman at the Superbowl Game looking scared. I guess
that means there was a SECOND nuclear bomb... Can Jack convince the President
that the Russians aren't behind the nuclear strike? Can he get the CIA looking for the
neo-Nazi terrorists before that second bomb goes off and kills everyone? Hey... I want
to stand in line and pay my $9 to find out! This looks like a damned good movie (though
trailers have been known to lie).
In the 30 second TV spot there is a great shot of people working in a hospital. Just
normal life... the kind of stuff we see on ER every week. Then a nuclear blast turns the
hospital and everyone in it to ash. The ordinary world invaded by the extraordinary. A
shot like that distills the story down to a single image. Do you have a shot like that in
your script?
Let's cut the trailer for YOUR script!
PREMISE - What is the image, brief scene or quick dialogue exchange that
will tell the
audience what your story is? DOUBLE JEOPARDY had that great line where Roma
Moffat tells
Ashley Judd that she can kill her scumbag husband in Times Square in broad daylight
and there's not a
thing the police can do about it. That's the whole premise in one line of dialogue!
CHARACTER - What is the image, brief scene or dialogue exchange that will
tell the audience
who your protagonist is? Will this scene make us LIKE your protagonist, too?
CHARACTER ARC - What is the image, brief scene or dialogue exchange that
will show us
your protagonist's emotional conflict?
GREAT LINES - Even if your film is a drama or thriller, you need a handful of
really great
lines for your trailer. In the 30 second TV spot for ENOUGH there are a bunch of great
lines. If you
don't have 5 kick-ass memorable lines of dialogue in your script, you're in trouble. Pat
Duncan (MR.
HOLLAND'S OPUS) told me they turned lines from one of his films into bumper
stickers! His
contract didn't give him a cut - who could have guessed? Okay - what are the 5 lines of
dialogue in
your script that would make great bumper stickers?
SPECTACLE SHOTS - Movies are larger than life experiences... what are the
larger than life
scenes in your script? The big amazing cool scenes that make me want to grab my
place in line right
now. It might be a huge action set piece or an amazing exotic location or a an amazing
comedy set
piece. What are the scenes that the audience just HAS to see on the big screen? The
scenes so big and
amazing that they will be diminished on video? Okay - what are the 3 single kick-ass
SHOTS (not
scenes) in your script?
DRAMATIC MOMENTS - Do you have a couple of scenes where the actors get
to act? Big
dramatic scenes that will make the audience line up and pay $9 for the ACTING?
ROMANCE, HUMOR, THRILLS - These are popular story elements that
audiences look
for in trailers. Even a drama needs some humor, even a comedy needs a few thrilling
moments, every
film could use a little romance. An image or brief scene that shows us any of these
elements will help
get those butts in the seats.
THE ORDINARY & EXTRAORDINARY - What is the shot in your script that
shows
ordinary life shattered by the extraordinary events of your story?
Those are the elements you'll need for your script's trailer... are they already there
in the script?
They should be there, not because you're thinking of what the marketing department
will say, but
because you naturally find those things in movies. The best thing to do is to make sure
that every scene
in your script is so packed with emotion and excitement that the marketing department
can cut five trailers and there will still be $9 worth of great material left in the
film.
* Turns out the trailer lied through editing - he wasn't yelling at the President, he was yelling at the commander of an Army base.
The 2001 London Class on 8 CDs! Recorded *live* the morning after the Raindance Film Festival
wrapped. The two day class on 8 CDs, plus a workbook, plus a bonus CD with over 300 screenplay PDFs - all 3 BOURNE movies, all 3 MATRIX movies, all 3
Indiana Jones movies, plus all kinds of action and thriller and scripts from Hitchcock films.
Yeah, I threw in some Charlie Kauffman and rom-com scripts and some National Lampoon Vacation movie scripts,
too. Plus, an orginal brochure for the class. All for one reasonable price: $99.95.
(If you had taken the class in London it would have cost you $450... plus airfare, plus hotel, plus you'd have to eat "mushy peas" for dinner.)
