The Public Enemies Look

[Vince K]

It's not.
I'm not saying it's ok to criticize a director just off a trailer, but I do think it's absolutely fair to critique a trailer's style based on what is being seen. More than that, isn't that what trailers are for????
A trailer is an ad for what's to come. If someone sees something they think doesn't look right, or is 'unpleasing to the eye' they have every right to say what's on their mind. Even more so, the viewer is the person who eventually coughs up the $$ to see these films.
Film is art...art gets discussed and criticized.
IMHO....Judge away.

EDIT: I should have said discuss away...not judge. My bad.

[Michael P. Schmidt]

... folks ... we have to wait and see ...

btw ... it's not shot with the RED ... so why that excitement ... it could not be good at all ! :-) just kidding !

[M Most]

Film is art...art gets discussed and criticized.

So is a trailer. They are, however, two very different art forms with two very different finishing paths and two very different purposes.

Films are cut, mixed, and, yes, graded, to tell a story. The look is part of an overall storytelling plan, one that is designed to capture your interest for an extended length of time, rarely less than 90 minutes. A trailer is a commercial. It is meant to get your interest for a very short period of time, and it is cut, mixed, stylized, graded, and combined with visual effects and graphics to grab your eye and your brain for a very short period of time and show you brief moments of action in order to get you to want to see a movie that may or may not bear any serious resemblance to the trailer. Very much in the same way that a car commercial will show you a car running at breakneck speeds that are illegal in any country on earth, taking turns on mountain roads at speeds that if driven by any normal driver would send the car and the driver over the cliff, and usually with a hot blond in the passenger seat that you, the audience, will never have. A movie trailer is in no way designed to appeal to cinematography aficionados because they don't make up a significant percentage of the intended audience. It is designed to appeal to people who want to see the movie because they like Michael Mann, they like Johnny Depp, they like gangster movies, or they just like to see bad guys killing people and blowing stuff up.

Forming judgments on the cinematography of a motion picture by looking at a trailer is just like judging how a car drives based on a commercial. You can form a preliminary opinion based on what you see. You can even get excited about the prospect of what the experience of driving the car might be. But actually driving the car may prove to be something quite different. And usually will. Trailers are far more an exercise in picture and sound editing than anything else. If you don't believe this, you might want to go to YouTube and search for trailer re-editing exercises. There are some very good and very clever recuts of trailers that turn the movie they're describing into something completely different than what it actually is. One of my personal favorites is one that someone did for "The Shining," which turns the classic horror story into a "heartwarming family comedy." And very effectively.

[Vince K]

Well....first off, I'll give you a 3/5on your car analogy.
I totally see your point, and it makes perfect sense, but I'm not sure I would agree on that particular analogy 100%, but I digress.

If you don't believe this, you might want to go to YouTube and search for trailer re-editing exercises. There are some very good and very clever recuts of trailers that turn the movie they're describing into something completely different than what it actually is. One of my personal favorites is one that someone did for "The Shining," which turns the classic horror story into a "heartwarming family comedy." And very effectively.

I've heard of this, so I can't say I don't believe you. :)
I've never seen any examples, but it sounds very interesting though, and I would love to see some.

Great...I'll be online all night now researching. Thanx alot!! lol

[Jay Voutour]

Well....first off, I'll give you a 3/5on your car analogy.
I totally see your point, and it makes perfect sense, but I'm not sure I would agree on that particular analogy 100%, but I digress.



I've heard of this, so I can't say I don't believe you. :)
I've never seen any examples, but it sounds very interesting though, and I would love to see some.

Great...I'll be online all night now researching. Thanx alot!! lol

Don't forget 'Scary' Poppins. That was pretty well done.
________
VOYEUR NIGHT

[Vince K]

It actually took me 30 seconds to find a massive list of examples. Holy Crap!!!

Just watched Scary Poppins too....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2T5_0AGdFic

...as much as I like the creativity in creating this different effect for the trailers, this is not an example of what I was looking for in regards to changing or re adjusting the trailer to fit the film. This is quite over the top.

In my car analogy- - I can watch an ad for a Corvette, see the guy driving and taking curves at breakneck speed, watch as the hot blonde's hair blows with the roof down
and see them drive off into the sunset - all with the reasonable expectation that I can change ANY of those variables once Ive paid my money....ie I can change the paint color, tire size, rims, my speed, and blonde OR brunette...

For this trailer, I only see Mann's the director, Depp's the heartthrob, and the color and style is what it is.
Later, once I've paid my money, I can't change a thing....except for my choice of theaters I guess. j/k...I like Michael Mann.

However....I like this look ithey've used, and will probably go see this movie.

Depp's so dreamy!

[M Most]

Don't forget 'Scary' Poppins. That was pretty well done.

"Top Gun" as a gay love story is a rather classic one as well.

[M Most]

It actually took me 30 seconds to find a massive list of examples.

Just watched Scary Poppins too....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2T5_0AGdFic

...but this is not an example of what a trailer is meant for.

Au contraire. It's EXACTLY what a trailer is meant for. How many times have you seen a horror picture whose trailer was far, far scarier than the actual movie? Or a comedy whose trailer was hilarious, but the actual feature fell completely flat? Or a trailer that made a murder mystery appear to be an action movie? That's what trailers are for: a device to make you want to see a movie, using whatever means necessary to get you interested. And using all of the tools of post production to do it, since trailers are essentially creations of post production. Don't fool yourself into thinking that a trailer is supposed to be a "preview" of the movie. It's not. It's a sales reel. A commercial. A way of trying to sell the product, whether it's good or not.

Especially if it's not.

[Vince K]

Au contraire. It's EXACTLY what a trailer is meant for. How many times have you seen a horror picture whose trailer was far, far scarier than the actual movie? Or a comedy whose trailer was hilarious, but the actual feature fell completely flat? Or a trailer that made a murder mystery appear to be an action movie? That's what trailers are for: a device to make you want to see a movie, using whatever means necessary to get you interested. And using all of the tools of post production to do it, since trailers are essentially creations of post production. Don't fool yourself into thinking that a trailer is supposed to be a "preview" of the movie. It's not. It's a sales reel. A commercial. A way of trying to sell the product, whether it's good or not.

Especially if it's not.

Now THAT I get. I'll be right back........:hanged:

[Joe G.]

I have no problem with the trailer or the style choices I've seen so far.

"Honestly, I can't say I know what Mann/Spinotti were going for, but I can't help but feel that what I see in the trailer seems to be at odds with the content, considering it's a period piece and all."

Others have mentioned that this is in all likelihood an intentional choice to get away from the film look and do something completely different. It's really not that hard to understand.

The average audience member sees video content like that on TV all the time, probably more than film and film-like material.

Making Dillinger more like a reality TV show for an audience immersed in reality TV shows seems like a stroke of brilliance, to me.

I also loved what Oliver Stone did with the image in Natural Born Killers (and other films). Not sure I liked the movie as a whole. The choice of various formats, though, and the wacky way it played (particular the murder of the father) was great.

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