Why Slow Intros Are Bad For Game Trailers | Video Game Trailer Academy
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- čas přidán 8. 05. 2024
- A lot of game trailers start with shots of the environments. With a few exceptions this is a bad way to start off a game trailer because players want to see gameplay as soon as possible!
The tl;dr:
Slow tracking shots through game environments are an ineffective way to start a game trailer because players want to see recognizable gameplay as soon as possible, and those shots do not help them understand much more than what the art direction looks like. Big AAA games get away with it because of production value and because they're frequently shown at live events which people cannot skip through when watching.
If you're going to use environment shots:
1. Limit them to 1-2 at a time
2. Intercut them with footage of player interaction
3. Make them story rich and SPECIFIC to your game as possible.
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Video Chapters
00:00 - The reality of slow intros to trailers
01:30 - Why environment shot intros are bad for game trailers
03:45 - Tips for effectively using environment shots
04:05 - Augmenting environment shots with story
04:48 - The bare minimum of showing player interaction
06:03 - Example of good slow environment intro
07:05 - How slow intros can work for live events
08:00 - Recap and tips for using environment shots
Trailers shown (in order of appearance)
The Talos Principle Official Teaser Trailer - • The Talos Principle - ...
The Sojourn Launch Trailer - • The Sojourn - Launch T...
Mission Impossible Fallout Official Trailer - • Mission: Impossible - ...
John Wick Chapter 3 Parabellum Trailer - • John Wick: Chapter 3 -...
GREYHOUND Official Trailer - • GREYHOUND - Official T...
Astroneer Release Trailer - • Astroneer - Release Tr...
Gigantosaurus The Game Announce Trailer - • Gigantosaurus The Game...
Metro Exodus Sam's Story Launch Trailer - • Metro Exodus - Sam's S...
Demon's Souls Remake Official Reveal Trailer - • Demon's Souls - Announ...
Gleamlight Announcement Trailer - • Gleamlight - Announcem...
Incredible Mandy Launch Trailer - • Incredible Mandy - Lau...
Firewatch June 2015 Trailer - • Firewatch - Now Available
What Remains of Edith Finch Official Launch Trailer - • What Remains of Edith ...
The Flame in the Flood Launch Trailer - • The Flame in the Flood...
Amnesia A Machine For Pigs Teaser - • Amnesia: A Machine For...
The Bradwell Conspiracy Reveal Trailer - • The Bradwell Conspirac...
Dear Esther Official Trailer - • Dear Esther - Official...
Everybody's Gone to the Rapture Launch Trailer - • Everybody's Gone to th...
Sunset Launch Trailer - • Sunset (Launch Trailer)
Horizon Forbidden West Announce Trailer - • Horizon Forbidden West...
The Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild Official Trailer - • The Legend of Zelda: B...
The Last of Us Part II PSX 2016 Reveal Trailer - • The Last of Us Part II...
Metro Exodus Story Trailer - • Metro Exodus - Story T...
Doom Eternal Official E3 Story Trailer - • DOOM Eternal - Officia...
The Talos Principle Launch Trailer - • Talos Principle - Laun...
SOMA Story Trailer - • SOMA - Story Trailer
The Witness first official gameplay trailer - • The Witness first offi...
Music:
The Talos Principle OST - Welcome to Heaven
Astroneer OST - Main Menu
Incredible Mandy Theme Song - To the Butterfly
The Bradwell Conspiracy OST - Austin Wintory
Sunset OST - How it Might Have Been
The Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild Theme
The Last of Us 2 Main Theme - Gustavo Santaolalla
Links:
"Movie trailers have a new trick to keep you watching - and the people who make them hate it"
www.businessinsider.com/tease...
"Why movie trailers now begin with five-second ads for themselves"
www.theverge.com/2016/4/22/11...
The Last of Us 2 Crowd Reaction - PSX 2016
• The Last of Us 2 Crowd...
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ABOUT ME
Hi, I'm Derek Lieu and I'm an indie game trailer editor!
Over many years I worked as an editor, and started making fan trailers for games until eventually I got jobs at game trailer houses in Los Angeles where I worked on games like Mortal Kombat X, Shadow of Mordor and lots of LEGO games. Independently I've helped make trailers for games like: Half-Life: Alyx, Firewatch, Dead Cells, Subnautica, Spelunky 2, Ooblets and BattleBlock Theater.
#gametrailers #indiegametrailers #trailerediting
Website: www.derek-lieu.com
Twitter: / derek_lieu
Cats' Instagram: / uniandebi - Krátké a kreslené filmy
Great video! I've been thinking about this recently, since I almost always skip ahead in game trailers to see gameplay. If the gameplay looks somewhat interesting to me, I often jump back to the beginning of the trailer to watch the whole thing.
If some of that gameplay footage was right at the beginning (no logos, or anything, before that), I might not skip at all. Which is why I'll probably end up adding a couple of gameplay shots to the very start of my own trailers (when our games are at the point of needing trailers).
Hopefully you don't end up having to skip ahead in any of the trailers I make ^_^
Great point. I always used to resent how impatient people are with videos until I catch myself and realize that I’m just as impatient
Haha, same 😂
I loved your explanation here because you didn't just say "don't ever do this" but actually explained the reasoning behind it, explored case studies that made these intros more appealing without changing the core idea behind the trailers, and showed the cases where it is and isn't okay to edit that way. That's the kind of stuff that helps a lot more than just listing out rules because it makes us really think about what's applicable for our individual projects and how we can consider audience retention without altering the vision; in a way it's like regular game dev too haha
I'm definitely going to remember these tips as I start planning out trailers for my new game! Thanks :D
Thank you so much. I'm glad you found it useful!
Save logos for the last 1-2 seconds, IF AT ALL.
Imagine if this video was made after those Genshin Impact ads with literally all 5 seconds before you can skip (out of 5+ minutes of full ad) that's literally a logo followed by a black screen. I'm certain we'd see it as a magnificently bad example.
Very insightful tips and topic of discussion.
Thank you!
just discovered your channel and already in love, this is neat. really good video
Thanks!
This is great advices !!! Thank you and I hope you'll continue these videos !
Glad you like it! I plan on making a lot more. Any particular topic or thing about trailer making which you feel you need help with?
This video should be handy when doing a trailer for my game!
Bethesda: *sweats in Elder Scrolls VI teaser*
lol. AAA games with incredibly high production value and loyal fan bases have much more leeway.
@@DerekLieu I was going to bring up MMO expansion packs. The players know the game they just want to see where they're going next but games with large fan bases pretty much covers it.
SUPER helpful, thanks man!~
You're welcome!
awesome video! never thought about this
Glad to bring it to your attention! 😃
I think having these shots anywhere in the trailer is a pretty good indication the game won't be a kind I'll enjoy. First of all, my computer is a potatoe not meant for gaming so I probably won't be able to play games where such shots are impressive in the first place. Second of all, I like games that focus on gameplay over visuals or story, so these shots don't show much that really interests me.
Meanwhile Dishonored 2's reveal trailer did Establishing Shots *ONLY* :D
I wonder what your thoughts are on Crimson Desert..Not only is it flooded with nature shots, but it's packed with so much for 5 minutes!
It's practically bloated!
Games with very high fidelity graphics can get away with this a bit more because people like shiny graphics, but it will only take you so far before they want to see the gameplay.
@@DerekLieu Really, I felt like the trailer needed to be trimmed down a great deal. It showed a lot of combat, but a lot of it was the same combat. Have only a few combat shots, GREATLY reduce the amount of nature shots, and focus more on the variety of moments the game has like it showed in the last third.
I'll be honest, I was immediately uninterested in the trailer until the combat and story showed, as despite the pretty graphics, the actual locations weren't anything special or new to me.
@@ianmitchell5979 Yeah I'm pretty much the same way. I'm sure the artists spend a ton of time and energy making those environments looks so gorgeous, but the bar is set so high for game graphics.
Unfortunately, fidelity of graphics it's not quite enough of a differentiator (art direction is becoming far more important), and it will still always come down to what the gameplay is!
I think the slow trailers are based on ones like Botw that had a minute of environment shots before having any gameplay. Maybe because it's live and we can't skip that BOTW's works?
I think it goes all the way back to other games or even movie trailers. Most likely just copying AAA which doesn't work for indies who just aren't working at that same level of production quality (though even AAA could ease off of this approach too). Also, there's the desire to ease in the audience to the exciting stuff which I totally get, but it has to be a well considered choice/risk.
@@DerekLieu I wonder if having a slow intro isn't bad if we all inherently skip ahead anyway? I seem to catch myself skipping ahead even on trailers that start on action, often I end up watching only if there is a story told through out it that I feel like I am missing.
This video is pretty underrated. Thank you so much for all the info!
Thank you, and you're welcome! :D
Somehow the introduction of this video feels *a lot* like GMTK
Haha, that’s pretty much by design 😅
I'm so glad I'm not alone disliking trailers with intros avoiding gameplay with filler logos and what have you. Leave logos for the end, leave narrating for later at less is presented with gameplay. After all gameplay is the most important aspect of a videogame anyway, if you as a developer can't trust gameplay footage to the forefront of a trailer then what does that say?
I don’t think most people do it because the gameplay wouldn’t look good at the front, and I’m okay with slow intros if they’re done well and in the right context, but I feel most are done this way because of assumptions of what trailers should do or typically do.
I agree on skipping. I also skip youtube videos of no matter what because I hate full one minute videos. Now a days there is less time to waste seeing nonesensical stuff so skipping saves time.
portal 2 did this and i loved the trailer
Yeah! You can do that when it’s a sequel and people already know what the gameplay is.
@@DerekLieu ok thanks :D
These days we need ADHD adapted trailers to cater for the modern youth.
I think there are quite a lot of impatient adults too 😂
@@DerekLieu Well that's what I mean, by youth I didn't mean children, anyone under 30 or so really.
Hello, Derek. I am interested in creating trailers for games, and I would really appreciate any feedback you could give about my work. I love your videos, they are filled with great tips and techniques that I often forget.
I personally disagree witha lot of this because gamers have a higher
patience for game trailers. Games take hours to complete, I think most gamers have the patience. Also- opening with these shots are supposed to dive you-the player into the world. Getting a feel and a theme is extremely important so players know how to feel once gameplay is shown. Slow shots builds build up and tension, while gameplay is the pay off. This is where you are supposed to absorb the gameplay, with music, etc. Just like you usuallyshow the middle and best action parts and scenes in movie trailers during the “intense phase” you should show the gameplay there too. Nobody wants camera shots AFTER gameplay unless its quickly edited for narrative reasons. Just like you dont show all the action, at the start in an action movie then make the trailer slower at the middle.
Anyhow, you make awesome fucking videos.
Haha, I wish I had your optimism about attention spans :P
I think this sort of opening can absolutely work for all the reasons you mention, and do in many trailers I like, but the majority of the times I see it done in a way which doesn't achieve those narrative goals which is why I wanted to make this video.
My main concern is people using this technique only because they see other people do it, not because they've considered the story arc of their trailer.
Thanks for watching!
@@DerekLieu I see. I know a lot of trailers are certainly done in a homework way, where the will do everything that was done, but not understand why and when it should be done. I think this is a great video though for people who are unsure on how to make a trailer that is fitting, because there are so many ways to make one.