Teaser Trailer Pros and Cons?

[TheDreadReader]

The colored weaves criticism doesn't really make that much sense to me.  

 

It may seem like a simple change but I could see it chewing up a lot of sfx budget for very little reward.  Just think of how many different environments they would sync up the color grading, saturation, etc in to make it look right.   It could start to look like some of the pre-greenscreen effects where the focus is just off enough to dangle the viewer over the uncanny valley.

 

I get questioning the change of a sword from a katana-style to something else because a katana plus the form names suggest a certain style of swordplay which can really alter how fight scenes are sequenced and how different styles might interact with each other.   

 

Are there reasons for including the colors beyond just that's how RJ described them?

 

 

 

[DaddyFinn]

33 minutes ago, TheDreadReader said:

It may seem like a simple change but I could see it chewing up a lot of sfx budget for very little reward.  Just think of how many different environments they would sync up the color grading, saturation, etc in to make it look right. 

Agreed. Not worth it. Same with warder's cloaks.

[SingleMort]

There was a lot of things I thought looked good in the trailer but I'm not sure this trailer was as good as it could have been. As a book fan it was great to see the characters in live action and stuff like the fades and channeling but I am not sure if I was not already a big fan of the books and knew nothing about WoT that this trailer would have made me think this was something I MUST watch. I know it's just a teaser but if the show is to be successful it needs to appeal to non-book readers as much as people who are already fans of the books and know the story like the back of their hands. I hope the next trailer will be able to show that kind of appeal because I think if the show finds it's audience and lives up to the potential of the books then it could be better than GoT 

[Elder_Haman]

1 minute ago, SingleMort said:

I am not sure if I was not already a big fan of the books and knew nothing about WoT that this trailer would have made me think this was something I MUST watch.

But would it have made you interested to see a longer trailer or to know more about the show? Because I think that is the only real goal of the first teaser.

 

 

[SingleMort]

3 minutes ago, Elder_Haman said:

But would it have made you interested to see a longer trailer or to know more about the show? Because I think that is the only real goal of the first teaser.

 

 

I'm not sure to be honest. I don't want to be overly negative because I want the show to be great but I think first impressions count for a lot with a series people are not very familair with and I'm not sure the teaser was putting their best foot forward. If you look at the original trailers and teasers for GoT season 1 they felt a lot stronger to me I know it's not the same thing and times are very different. Again I'm not saying the teaser was bad and I liked a lot of the things I saw as a book reader but it just didn't have that "wow" factor for me. I hope the next trailer does and I hope Amazon does a big marketing blitz for the show in the runup to release because I want it to be great and find it's audience. 

[Elder_Haman]

We're gonna find out pretty soon...

[DojoToad]

I get where @SingleMort is coming from.  If I wasn't a dedicated fan, it may not have done anything for me.  Hard to know because I love the series.

 

What does bother me though is that they seem to be taking too long for whatever the next step is.  A 'real' trailer vs. a teaser - or whatever.  Enthusiasm seems to be waning here on DM.  Not as many people on and chatting about what they like or hate...

[Elder_Haman]

2 minutes ago, DojoToad said:

If I wasn't a dedicated fan, it may not have done anything for me.

I've been watching a ton of reaction videos on YouTube and searching for people who know nothing (or at least claim to know nothing) about WoT. The videos I've found thus far have been overwhelmingly positive. The vast majority at least say they are intrigued by what they've seen.

 

Obviously, that's not SCIENCE^TM but it's something.

 

5 minutes ago, DojoToad said:

What does bother me though is that they seem to be taking too long for whatever the next step is.  A 'real' trailer vs. a teaser - or whatever.  Enthusiasm seems to be waning here on DM.  Not as many people on and chatting about what they like or hate...

It's kinda hard to sustain that immediate enthusiasm. But it hasn't really been that long since the trailer dropped. If something happens next week, it will be roughly half way between the initial teaser drop and the series premier.

 

It's a fairly good bet that we'll get something soon. At the latest, it's next Friday at NYCC.

[DojoToad]

10 minutes ago, Elder_Haman said:

I've been watching a ton of reaction videos on YouTube and searching for people who know nothing (or at least claim to know nothing) about WoT. The videos I've found thus far have been overwhelmingly positive. The vast majority at least say they are intrigued by what they've seen.

That's good to hear.  Hard to know how you'd react from a different perspective.

Edited September 30, 2021 by DojoToad

[TheMountain]

My wife's reaction to the teaser was pretty much "meh, kind of generic" lol.

 

If I hadn't read the books, my reaction would have probably been, "eh, looks like it could be decent lunchtime television. I'll get around to it after I finish The Expanse. Oh wait, I still need to check out Carnival Row and half dozen other fantasy shows first. If I finish those before LotR comes out I might watch it."

 

I definitely agree that the teaser was generic, to its detriment.

 

Counterpoint: Plenty of people aren't too picky and watch bad television all the time lol. My wife will occasionally groan when we're watching a show together and I say, "OF COURSE she has to be wearing a Kryptonite necklace. Now he's gonna avoid her for the next ten tragically romantic episodes." *rolls eyes* lol

Edited September 30, 2021 by TheMountain

[Elder_Haman]

6 minutes ago, TheMountain said:

I might watch it.

Then the teaser accomplished what they wanted it to.

The goal of the next offering will be to move you from "I might watch it" to "I will watch it".

[TheMountain]

You don't think the teaser could have accomplished so much more than that? I feel like that's a pretty low bar.

[Elder_Haman]

I mean "accomplished more" is kind of a subjective thing, so I don't know how to answer that. I feel like the trailer accomplished enough:

 

1. Amazon has a new fantasy/action-adventure show coming in November.

2. The show is about (in a very broad, generic sense) a world where women can use magic.

3. It's based on a best selling book series.

4. Memorable creature with creepy teeth.

5. Memorable visual of pretty woman rising from water.

 

People who are inclined to like fantasy/action-adventure (but don't know what WoT is) are likely to respond with something like, "huh. That looks like it could be cool. It has high production values."

 

People who know what WoT is (but aren't obsessive lunatics like me) are likely to respond with something like, "they're making WoT into a series? Cool. It has high production values. Wonder if it will be any good?"

 

Both groups are now primed for the longer trailer, which will put more meat on the bones of what was shown in the teaser. At least that's my guess.

 

[Agitel]

Something to keep in mind is that the vast majority of book readers don't ever reread the books and certainly don't look for online communities to discuss them. 

[DojoToad]

1 hour ago, TheMountain said:

You don't think the teaser could have accomplished so much more than that? I feel like that's a pretty low bar.

Definitely a low bar.  There have been many movies I haven't seen because the trailer didn't do anything for me.

 

"Really?  That's all you've got?  I'll pass."

 

Not the case here.  I'm watching WoT regardless but I agree it could have been much better.

[CaddySedai]

Again. Teasers are not meant to do anything more than generate interest. 

 

Here is a teaser versus the full drop. You will see that the full drop gives so much more context, really drives home how much I WANT to watch this show. The teaser is more of a “hmm, that… looks interesting”

 

Teaser

Trailer

 

Edited October 1, 2021 by CaddySedai

[DojoToad]

16 minutes ago, CaddySedai said:

Again. Teasers are not meant to do anything more than generate interest. 

 

Here is a teaser versus the full drop. You will see that the full drop gives so much more context, really drives home how much I WANT to watch this show. The teaser is more of a “hmm, that… looks interesting”

 

Teaser

Trailer

 

That’s what I’m saying - had I not been a WoT addict going into the trailer, this one may not have generated interest for me. Again, hard to know given my vested interest. 

[CaddySedai]

25 minutes ago, DojoToad said:

That’s what I’m saying - had I not been a WoT addict going into the trailer, this one may not have generated interest for me. Again, hard to know given my vested interest. 

 

I showed the teaser to friends who never read the books but do like fantasy stuff. They definitely were interested in it. 

 

I think the hard part is as a fan you can’t really distance yourself from that.

[DojoToad]

8 minutes ago, CaddySedai said:

 

I showed the teaser to friends who never read the books but do like fantasy stuff. They definitely were interested in it. 

 

I think the hard part is as a fan you can’t really distance yourself from that.

Exactly. 

[DaddyFinn]

2 hours ago, CaddySedai said:

Again. Teasers are not meant to do anything more than generate interest. 

 

Here is a teaser versus the full drop. You will see that the full drop gives so much more context, really drives home how much I WANT to watch this show. The teaser is more of a “hmm, that… looks interesting”

 

Teaser

Trailer

 

Those links don't work on my browser. What film/show are they about?

[Guest redgiant]

The teaser in the right hands and vision could have been something special, more like when this smacked the world on the head back in 2000 and changed everything:
 

 

[TheDreadReader]

21 hours ago, Elder_Haman said:

It's kinda hard to sustain that immediate enthusiasm. But it hasn't really been that long since the trailer dropped. If something happens next week, it will be roughly half way between the initial teaser drop and the series premier.

 

 

In the age of streaming, I don't even know if you have to sustain the immediate enthusiasm.   You just need to maintain a level of awareness that the show is coming and when it is going to be available.  You don't want interest to peak to early.

 

Going to the GOT comparison, I don't remember huge interest in the show from the wider audience happening until the death of a major character generated conversations with the real breakthrough happening post-red wedding episode. 

 

GOT was coming out in the pre-streaming era.  Nowadays, whether you watch the first episode the day it is released or two weeks later doesn't matter as much.  

[CaddySedai]

To be fair, LOTR came out in the era of the trailer guy. Narrated trailers were a thing. 

 

And that was not the teaser. This was the teaser. 

 

 

And to compare it to the WoT trailer is somewhat unfair. Considering the teaser here features scenes from three movies (many scenes were shot on location for each film all at once). Some scenes shown never showed up in the theatrical cut anyhow. 

 

But much like our trailer the music used was trailer garbage. The real music was lovely when we saw the films. 

 

I do love the trailer because it chose to use setpiece scenes too. Battles etc. 

 

The only problem for us and doing that is this is a tv series. Set to release across multiple episodes - over a period of time - with many (hopefully) years of runtime. So our teaser would undoubtedly try and bring people into a “Wheel of Time… whats that?” mode. Despite it being a global bestseller many many many have never heard of the Wheel. To compare that to the Lord of the Rings - which even before the films was well known (if not necessarily well read) is different. 

 

I think people give this teaser trailer too much credit anyhow. Its formatting was great (for its time) but this style of teaser is pretty much dead. The over-narration being one relic of a more, civilized age. Before the dark times, before the Empire. 

 

Now the Fellowship true trailer? That was a masterpiece. 

 

Edited October 1, 2021 by CaddySedai

[CaddySedai]

10 hours ago, DaddyFinn said:

Those links don't work on my browser. What film/show are they about?

The new animated tv show Star Trek: Prodigy 

[TheDreadReader]

24 minutes ago, CaddySedai said:

 

I think people give this teaser trailer too much credit anyhow. Its formatting was great (for its time) but this style of teaser is pretty much dead. The over-narration being one relic of a more, civilized age. Before the dark times, before the Empire. 

 

 

 

The Independence Day teaser was probably the best ever of that era, imo.

 

Started showing during the Christmas season and was pretty much on every movie you went to for months.  It built an event around the July 4th holiday in the States but that was also during the summer blockbuster era.