hi everyone i'm writing this at 12:30 a.m while sitting in my kitchen eating a nutri grain bar because i'm procrastinating going to sleep even though i have to be up in six hours ahahahahha
anyways, i decided to give you guys some tips on how to create trailers. i've made a few in my day, so if you need proof that i know what i'm talking about, here is every trailer i've made so far (oldest—newest) so you can see my journey and how i've improved:
I USE SONY VEGAS PRO 13, but these tips can be useful for anyone!
alright. now let's begin.
1. CLIPS
clips👏🏻are👏🏻so👏🏻important! they may even be THE most important part of your trailer. if your clips are 240 pixels, chances are, your audience won't even be able to tell what's going on. try to find clips that are 720 pixels or higher.
to find the extremely high quality clips from the maze runner series and the 100 you see in my trailers, i actually download the episodes/movies themselves. i do so by finding an account on twitter that posts logoless shows/movies and then find them from there (many will have a masterlist of everything they've done). you can do this on a phone or computer, depending on how much storage you have.
[PRO TIP: DON'T USE CLIPS OF YOUR FACECLAIM(S) SPEAKING IF NO AUDIO IS PROVIDED!! it looks awkward if their mouth is moving but there's just music playing. if you don't want to use voiceovers, try to use clips where they're not speaking.]
2. AUDIO
this is also very important. the music that plays in the background of your trailer will greatly affect the mood and tone of your story as well as pull it all together. you really want to make sure you pick a song that will go with your clips— for example, if your clips are action-packed, you don't want to use the song that goes "all around me are familiar faces..."
you can find music by searching video edits for your fandom on youtube (i.e i found the song for Different's trailer from a TMR fan edit), looking through the show/movie soundtrack, or searching popular trailer songs that have awesome instrumentals.
usually, i like to have a happy medium between badass and calm. that way, i can still provide voiceovers without them getting lost in the music.
3. VOICEOVERS
personally, i always try to use voiceovers because i think they make a trailer seem so much more authentic and realistic. even when i made trailers on my phone using imovie (none of which are included here), i made sure to use them.
the reason why i recommend downloading sony vegas (you can honestly find a download on youtube) is because, depending on the clip you have, you can sometimes remove the background music so it's just the person's voice. it really depends what download you have because sometimes the option is available and sometimes it isn't.
i often find clips of my faceclaim and cut out random phrases that i think will be useful. like lucy hale saying "why?" or "no!" actually went a long way.
4. COLORINGS
this is optional, but i think colorings are very cool. they're kind of the same thing as filters on apps. i download mine from youtube (charizzaard and nuur salvatore are my favorite accounts) and basically use them to make the trailer look more ~put together~ if you catch my drift. it's also good for making your clips fit better together if they're from different sources!
just make sure your clips don't end up like this
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and look more normal, like this
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5. MY FAVORITE AUDIOS
BADASS everything black — unlike pluto no scrubs — unlike pluto washing away the dirt — dirty elegance (used in conflate trailer) believer — imagine dragons jungle — x ambassadors adventure — liohn & midnight seven nation army — the white stripes goodnight gotham — rihanna keep yourself alive — queen gladiator — zayde wolf
SLOW/SAD gasoline — halsey i'll be good — jaymes young lies — marina and the diamonds oblivion — bastille i found — amber run bloodsport '15 — raleigh ritchie bad religion — frank ocean take me to church — hozier when the party's over — billie eilish dusk till dawn — zayn & sia
BOTH I GUESS IDK it's time — imagine dragons come back for me — jaymes young stronger than ever — raleigh ritchie until we go down — ruelle everybody wants to rule the world — lorde the kids aren't alright — fall out boy you should see me in a crown — billie eilish
HAPPY/UPBEAT blitzkrieg bop — the ramones runaway baby — bruno mars it's tricky — run dmc LA devotee — panic! at the disco walking on sunshine — katrina & the waves come on eileen — dexys midnight runners runnin' — pharrell williams i don't make happy edits so idrk that many lmao
anyways, i hope that this was able to help in some way, and remember to ask if you have questions!
