The rise of domestic film trailer production teams makes trailers better

When entering the theater to watch a movie, many viewers may just be bewitched by the trailer for a few seconds!

This is no joke. So far as this year's New Year's Eve is underway, although the reputation of "Laughing the Jianghu" directed by Zhu Yanping is not satisfactory, its commercial success is beyond doubt: an investment of more than 50 million yuan has won 160 million yuan in box office, which can be regarded as a model for this period. According to a recent survey conducted by Art Consulting,"Laughing" and "Orphan of Zhao" were released one day apart. The marketing of the former is more powerful than the latter. The most prominent difference is actually in the trailer: More than half of the audience said that they chose "Laughing" because they were tempted by the trailer, which is twice that of "Gu Zhao". It turns out that this short 15-second to 3-minute video has such a big impact on the box office!

It is worth noting that the mastermind behind this trailer is still from a local team: movie trailer producer Wei Nan and his company not only produced "Three Guns Shocking" and "Laughing", but also trailer trailers such as "The Knife" and "The Legend of Wulin Movie Edition" that have not yet been released are also their works. In the year when the box office hit 10 billion yuan, the concept of trailer has gradually taken shape. Wei Nan is now busy every day. He has five or six films such as "Guan Yunchang" and "New Ghost Story" on hand. He said he is confident that he will use more than a year to get back on his money. I'm not afraid to tell you that we have more than 5 million yuan in the past four months. rdquo; Reporters from Nandu recently interviewed Wei Nan and other industry insiders to reveal the behind-the-scenes status of this new industry for readers.

industry status

There are only two systematic production companies

A year ago, there was no company in the mainland that specialized in producing movie trailers. At that time, domestic film companies that were more attentive would take them to Hong Kong or overseas. Those who didn't care much or lacked funds would either find some editors they knew well or simply ask directors to do it for them. Wei Nan was appreciated by Zhang Yimou. When he made a trailer for "Three Guns Surprise", there was no company behind him. It wasn't until the trailer of "Smiling with a Knife" was recognized again that in August this year, he went bankrupt and set up a company of nearly 1000 square meters on the second ring road in southeast Beijing, equipped with two 5.1 recording studios, two dubbing rooms and eight special effects editing studios.

Also providing commercial services for the open market is the Battlestar trailer studio. At this stage, it mainly focuses on producing special films and also takes into account trailers. The trailer for the small-cost word-of-mouth work "I am a Vegetable" comes from them. Like Wei Nan, Zhang Xiaobei also helped his friends do some casual work at the beginning. As he worked and discovered, the people and equipment were all here, so he should officially start it up. rdquo; However, in comparison, they are small in scale, with only five permanent members, all of whom are film and television editors. If it involves doing special effects and other work, they have to go outside to find people. In any case, their start was unanimously praised and supported by people inside and outside the industry. Fans excitedly left messages saying that they had finally filled the gap in domestic trailers! rdquo;

Zhang Xiaobei revealed that in addition to their two families, most of the people doing this in the mainland are currently scattered soldiers, who are editors themselves, and they are also making previews. For example, editor Xiao Yang's main business is not in previews, but he occasionally makes guest appearances. His representative works include "Tangshan Earthquake" and "If You Are the One 2". Others are filmed, produced and previewed in the same company, as is the case with "Let the Bullets Fly".

How to make a trailer

Hundreds of hours of material cut 3 minutes trailer

There are currently three types of common trailers, cinema version, online version and TV version. The latter also includes the trailers we see when we usually take the subway and bus. Generally speaking, when we see this trailer, it is not far away from the official release of the film. Due to the different platforms and the audience they are targeting, the duration of these three trailers will also differ. The movie version is generally 60 to 90 seconds, the online version is controlled at two to a half minutes, and the TV version is mostly 15 seconds. Doesn't it look quite relaxed? Isn't it just a small clip?

The actual situation is much more sad than this, because the staff selects the most essential pictures from a large number of materials provided by the film company, and these materials are generally rough cuts of the movie, with neither sound nor special effects; some are documentaries filmed by the movie, with content lasting about 100 hours. Polishing these rough raw materials into something that people love at first sight and paying for obediently takes a lot of effort to turn stone into gold. The production cycle usually lasts for a month to a month and a half, which is equivalent to the shooting time of a movie feature.

Prices range from 100,000 to 1 million yuan

A set of three trailers, pre-stage, mid-stage and final versions. It is reported that the cost of producing such a set in North America ranges from 250,000 to 750,000 US dollars, and the production of special brands can even exceed one million. However, the mainland trailer industry has just emerged this year, and the market has yet to be improved. Currently, fees are not uniformly regulated. Wei Nan's company's price is almost set by him, ranging from 100,000 to 1 million yuan, which varies according to the production cost and difficulty. For example, the trailer for "The Troubles in Heaven" has to be produced before it even starts shooting. There is almost no material, but we charged 1 million yuan for that." rdquo; According to him, in addition to large films, the company's projects also have small films costing tens of millions of dollars. Small films should actually spend a lot of money to make trailers. For small films, publicity is more important. rdquo;

However, since the concept of the trailer has only been formed for a short time, some filmmakers still have no concept of the price of the trailer, and the resulting episode is also ridiculous. Zhang Xiaobei had met several bosses who came to his door to make trailers, but in the end they had to decline. One of them offered a price of 2000 yuan. rdquo;

Bright prospects, bumpy road, new professions, all kinds of tastes

Xi

The filmmaker is willing to spend money to make a trailer

Investors have enhanced marketing awareness and become more professional”

On the surface, the film company is paying attention to the trailer. On a deeper level, this means that the investor's attitude is more professional and really pays attention to marketing." rdquo; Guan Yadi, producer of "West Wind Lie", thinks so. Surveys at home and abroad have shown that trailers are the most valued part of film marketing. The cost of trailers is included in the promotion expenses. Anyway, so much money has been invested in making movies, so it's better to spend more money on trailers, otherwise the money for filming will be wasted. rdquo;

As the film company's marketing awareness becomes stronger, the workload of the production company has gradually increased. Wei Nan's company started early and is the largest, and business is pouring in like a flood. The 26 people in the company have not had a day off since its establishment. On average, there are 5 movies per month, at least 3 movies, and at the most, there are 10 movies. Zhang Xiaobei's studio currently has two films on hand. Although some major directors, especially those from Hong Kong, still believe more in Hollywood production, they are all confident that more and more filmmakers will turn to China in the future.

?

Is there a conflict between the big director and the marketing team?

Trailers are purely commercial works, not art.”

Wei Nan said that he always wanted to make the trailer as perfect as possible, but he encountered some embarrassment: First, many viewers went to the movie after watching the trailer and exclaimed, because the trailer was much better than the movie. He can only express helplessness about the current gap between domestic films and Hollywood production and craftsmanship. But recently his confidence has returned: as one of the first people to come into contact with the prototype of the film, he also has a deep understanding of the changes in the quality of domestic films. Because when he was helping make trailers for "Guan Yunchang" and "The New Ghost Story", he was actually worried that my trailer might not be able to beat this movie. Based on the existing rough cutting materials, he optimistically predicts that the quality of domestic films will improve from January next year. rdquo;

The second embarrassment was that Wei Nan had differences with three or four major directors during the creative process. The major directors didn't like what I did, saying it was not artistic enough, but marketing liked it very much. What can I do in the end? Let the marketing team persuade me. If everyone can treat trailers as commodities, trailers will be popular.& rdquo; Zhang Xiaobei deeply agrees with this. He feels that his current mentality is more like a fan. As long as the film is good, I don't care."I am a Vegetable" was sold as a friendship, and some trailers were made but failed. The studio will also develop in a more commercial direction next year.

In Wei Nan's view, it is not that there are no talents in the country. Trailers are purely commercial products, and many people cannot make them because he feels that he is engaged in art. rdquo;

busy

The family is the only big one, so you can't handle it?

Don't mind if other companies join the market”

At present, Wei Nan's company is almost the only company in the industry. Films such as "Guan Yunchang","The Troubles in Heaven","Watchmen", and "Panda Story" have all come here. It is great that one company can complete this important task. However, with so many films looking for the same company, will the styles of the works be the same? Will aesthetics be tired? Guan Yadi, the producer of "West Wind Lie", believes that a person will not have all martial arts skills and be proficient in everything. Wei Nan's style is relatively obvious. He has distinctive characteristics in action movies. He can come with the action no matter how exciting the pictures are, but the comedy is a little weaker. At present, domestic trailers are just starting, and there is still much room for improvement.& rdquo;

Wei Nan also said that the company will have some style adjustments next year, and it is really a bit too busy and doesn't mind having other companies joining the market. ldquo; As the first person to eat crabs, I would rather have 10 more people eat them. I would just eat two crab legs." rdquo;

furious

There are signs of copycat forces

Stop copycat”

However, the most worrying thing at present is not the issue of commercialization, but the emergence of copycat works. Recently, a friend called Wei Nan and said that he had seen a trailer in the theater. The style and music rhythm were very similar to his, but the level was a bit inferior. He came to ask if it was made by his apprentice. ldquo; If this goes on, it's over!" rdquo; He was still indignant when he thought of this. He finally switched from a copycat to a learning experience, but in the end, he came to copycat again! I don't mind everyone working together to create this good market, but I really don't want to copy anymore. rdquo;