This weekend sees the release of the film 10 Cloverfield Lane which is, in a way, a follow up to the monster movie Cloverfield that came out in 2008.
I personally had no idea that this film exists until I saw the trailer about a week ago just before the screening of Dead Pool. With the opening scenes of John Goodman playing a board game with two of his, what I believed to be kids, and the sounds of I Think Were Alone Now by Tommy James & The Shondells being played to a sight of Mr. Goodman shaking his derrière while playing a track on the jukebox, youd think this was a trailer for the up and coming feel good comedy of the summer.
Boy! How wrong was I.
As the sounds of TJ & The Shondells gradually slowed down and the scenes began to take on a claustrophobic effect of fast cuts and sinister views, I slowly started to realise that Im in for a bigger treat than I expected. The trailer ends with the female character rushing to get out of the house via an escape ladder after smashing Johnny boy on the head with a beer bottle, and on the verge of unlocking the escape hatch leaves us wondering what ominous and diabolical things are happening outside on planet earth?
Of course, I shouldve guessed JJ Abrams was behind this clever and alternative marketing ploy. Withholding basically everything about the movie, keeping us confined within the four walls of the trailer, while allowing our imaginations to run wild with anticipation of the films impending release.
Its just a shame that Hollywood trailers, these days, dont use the same ruse like JJ does with this one. The run of the summer fare tends to show the trailers as if youre watching the entire film. Within two minutes of most Hollywood blockbuster trailers you are more or less given the juiciest, tangiest slices of the action scenes, letting you in on the story, and sometimes even the spoilers and ending. Doesn’t really leave you wanting more while spoiling your appetite.
It seems like hollywood has stopped pandering to our basic needs of curiosity and wonder and instead serves us chunky elements of the films trailer on a platter. Our palate, therefore, becomes numb to the flavours of the films anticipation.
I think us low budget filmmakers need to learn from JJs form of marketing tactics. And knowing that most of us wouldnt necessarily film this type of genre, mainly to do with budgetary constraints, it doesnt mean that we cant still shoot dramas or even comedies and be inventive with our methods of execution when it comes to capturing the audiences attention via a trailer that doesnt have to serve a three course meal plus the desert.
The ability for us to be innovative and think outside the box is well worth bearing in mind when we next work on our film trailer. See how you can, next time, withhold relevant information, throw in the element of surprise, leave something for the imagination, and allow your audience to think for themselves for a change and make your trailer the buzz of town the way it should be done the old fashioned way.