With her eight-month-old baby in tow, the well-traveled, New York-based Fernanda Rossi led a day-long seminar on documentary trailers as the May edition of IDA's Doc U seminar series, held this time around at the Eastman Kodak screening room in Hollywood. Rossi has been taking her Trailer Mechanics seminar around the world for years, and motherhood has not slowed her down; by the May Doc U, her son had traveled 12 times since entering the world.
Rossi started out the day by breaking down the numerous terms for what filmmakers produce for promotional, marketing or fundraising purposes: "work in progress"..."teaser"..."featurette"..."special feature"..."DVD extra"..."work sample"..."show reel"..."demo"..."taster"..."pitch video"..."sizzler"..."fundraising trailer"..."clip"..."rough cut"..."promo"..."preview"..."assemble"...and, of course, "trailer." It does come down to semantics and semiotics, and it depends on whom you ask or to whom you pitch when parsing the distinctions among these terms, but all are in the service of showing potential funders and supporters what your work is about, your style, the story you're trying to tell, etc.
The length of your trailer can range from one minute to 20 minutes. The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, for example, prefers the term "work-in-progress," and advises that submissions be 10 to 30 minutes-which is the benchmark range for most grantmakers. For pitch forums like Sheffield Doc/Fest's Meet Market, IDFA's Forum and Hot Docs' Toronto Documentary Forum, the trailer ranges from one to 5 minutes. For fundraising events, your trailer can be as long as seven minutes. And a general fundraising trailer might be as long as 20 minutes.
In general, do your homework about your potential funders; you may need to create a range of trailers--or whatever the preferred term is--that conveys the story you're trying to tell. Start with a 10-minute "generic," from which you'll cut other versions. And don't wait until the film is finished to cut your trailer; that, like your website, will evolve and grow with your film. Along those lines, over the course of the process, if you re-apply to a prospective funder, don't send the same trailer as before; most grantmakers won't allow you to do so. You want to show that you've made progress on your project. And always ask prospective funders for specifications and guidelines regarding trailers.
Honing in on the fundraising trailer, Rossi advised to think of your fundraising process as a pyramid, the top of which is the trailer, with the verbal pitch and the written proposal anchoring the base. While all three elements ideally work together as one, the most important element is the trailer, and you need to produce one that encompasses the essential ingredients of a compelling narrative: story, characters, theme, style, genre and, above all, structure.
The trailer should reveal a clear voice and vision that shows to the viewer not only the story you're going to tell but how you're going to tell it. Is your story character-driven? Conflict-driven? Goals- or obstacles-driven? Rossi discussed the virtues of a "cliffhanger" ending, which, if well executed, leaves the door open for viewers, rather than giving a sense of closure. In terms of material, live action is better than interviews, and interviews are better than stock footage. But if you're going to use stock footage in your trailer, make sure it's as close to live action as possible. Also, given that this is a short-form work, anchor your ideas with one line-"Don't make a Law and Order beginning," she advised, in which you explain the story too much. Use a strong emotional hook, such as shock or humor, or offer an unresolved statement that both conveys information and asks questions. Maintain the momentum with scenes that will give you the sense that you're watching a film, and with the end of the trailer, "Do whatever it takes to tell people there's more to it."
Rossi treated the audience to a series of examples of different versions of trailers created by some of her clients. The first version of one example, about hip-hop in Cuba, started out slow, given the subject, and weighed heavily on the performances. The improved second version minimized the performance footage and instead emphasized a scene in a kitchen depicting a spirited discussion about the significance of hip-hop in Cuba vs. in the US. In another example, about Mexican children trying to cross the US border to reunite with their mother, the main story got lost in a crowd of too many characters from either side of the border; moreover, the voiceover narration was a bit of a distraction. The improved version accentuated the story, bringing out the tension and conflicts, and replaced the narration with title cards.
After fielding and reviewing trailers brought by audience members, Rossi concluded the afternoon with a wealth of helpful tips and words of wisdom on basic elements: Avoid a flashy, MTV-style montage...Grab your viewer from the opening scene, since viewers might not watch the entire trailer.... Don't make your menu complicated; a simple "play" button will suffice...Check your DVD format and make sure it can play everywhere before you send it out...Don't submit your work on BluRay...Label your DVD with the title of your work, your name and contact information, total running time and the date you created it....Use only bubble-wrap envelopes to send your work... ...
And with that, the day-long seminar concluded. But Rossi responded to many online questions in the week following Doc U; click here and scroll down for her responses.