Introduction and Background

• Bill Neil, trailer editor at Buddha Jones
• Explains YouTube trailer "bumpers" concept
  • Prevent viewers from turning off before story engagement
  • Provide taste of excitement to come

Working with Dailies vs Final Cuts

• 50% of projects work from dailies without rough cut initially
• Watch footage as shot, develop sense of movie direction
• Rarely work from final feature cuts
• Halloween trailer example: different line reading used ("So I could kill him" vs "So I can kill him")
• End scare sequence edited differently than final movie

Jordan Peele Project Sound Design

• Used Stevie Wonder's "Fingertips" (Jordan Peele's suggestion)
• Employed diegetic music approach initially
• Editorial tricks: synchronized horse hoofs to music beats
• Transitioned to echoey, creepy version outside
• Cricket sound technique borrowed from John Carpenter's The Fog
  • Crickets stop chirping before wide shot for tension
• "From Jordan Peele" title card placement
  • Flipped "From" below name (normally above)
  • Visual reference to Close Encounters spaceship descent
• Deconstructed "Fingertips" to use only rhythm
• Added sound design layers and "rises"

Sound Design Evolution and Techniques

• Early days: no trailer sound design libraries
• Used Beatles "A Day in the Life" rise for effects
• Now: billions of different choirs, synths, sound effects
• Child laughing sound effect frequently used
• "Rise" definition: musical piece building tension and volume
• Signature sounds: repeated sounds audiences latch onto

Classic Trailer Analysis

Stanley Kubrick Trailers

• Among best trailers ever made
• Innovative, groundbreaking approach
• 1960s French New Wave influence on Hollywood
• Embraced non-linear, experimental editing
• Pre-trailer house era: lot personnel or filmmakers created them

Carrie (1976)

• Heavy voice-over usage
• Reveals every major movie moment
• Shows character deaths, complete story
• Challenges modern complaints about spoilers
• MPAA blood restriction workaround
  • Red wipe effect when blood poured
  • Green band trailers can't show actual blood

Alien Trailer

• Exceptional sound design
• Alien howling/screaming signature sound
• High-pitched rising tone technique

Texas Chainsaw Massacre Project

• Camera flash signature sound technique
• Reference to original film
• Sound effects in black screen sections
• Girl running/screaming over title cards
• Footsteps and breathing build-up
• Chainsaw motor reveal

Voice-Over Era and Don LaFontaine

• 1990s formula-heavy approach
• "In a world..." cliché association
• Don LaFontaine as VO king
• Professional setup: limo transport between VO booths
• Skill differential between professionals and newcomers
• Nuanced delivery requirements

Modern Editing Techniques

10 Cloverfield Lane

• "Rug pull" technique: gradual tone shift
• Starts fun/goofy, transitions to darker themes
• More gradual than typical sudden changes

Rhythmic Editing

• "Click click whir whir" technique
• Synchronizing sound effects/movements with music beats
• Used in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
• Taps into basic human rhythm sense

Industry Philosophy

• Tony Sella's jigsaw puzzle metaphor
  • Selling puzzle without showing complete picture
  • Only allowed to show 4 pieces
  • Represents trailer creation challenge
• Sound/music as "soul of the trailer"
• Short engagement window requires immediate audience lock-in