Why A24’s Movie Trailers Are the Best | Video Essay

[@KervinTran]

Amazing breakdown, and love that you give concrete tips on how to apply the A24 style to one's own work. Thank you Derek!

[@DerekLieu]

You’re welcome! I’m glad you liked it 😄

[@etabiansosin]

@@DerekLieu I think A24 should own all the franchises so they could make better films and trailers without spoilers or executive restrictions and interference .

[@keedababy7872]

Thank you! My husband would get frustrated with me because I have a one trailer rule. I would only watch the first trailer and I would never watch another one. I felt like I was watching the entire movie in the trailer.

[@DerekLieu]

Haha, he wants you to watch more than one trailer? 😂

[@wilbo.channel]

DAMN! All the little audio bites are so perfectly chosen. You can tell you watched these trailers a whole lot of times in order to make this video. And ending on that last line? Perfect bow to wrap it all up. This was a treat to watch. Great job Derek!

[@DerekLieu]

Thanks! I can only take credit for some of them, because I got some help from editor Shaun James (like that last quote). I feel like the only ones I remember putting in were the “I disagree”s and “Why is that better?” Haha

[@KeithCarunida]

This is SO good, Derek. I can't imagine how much time went into this. Thank you!

[@DerekLieu]

Haha I have no clue. Several hours writing the first blog post, maybe a week or two doing the first rough version, then I got a little help from another editor to fill in my blank placeholder cards, then a few weeks tweaking, refining, finding clips, adding captions, finding which trailer houses cut which trailers (and adding those to the captions), days trying to figure out how to sound mix in Davinci Resolve, and what feels like forever quality checking it. This is also not counting any thoughts I roughly sorted out when recording an episode of my podcast talking about A24 trailers.

[@KeithCarunida]

@@DerekLieu - well, the effort shows. Great stuff, man.

[@uniworkhorse]

@@DerekLieu Quite an ambitious project to cut your teeth on when starting to use resolve - turned out great!

[@christoffer886]

As a long time trailer producer and editor, it's down to a single thing really: no trailer editor "wants" to spoil, it's always the material you're given that defines what's possible. Even when a movie has tons of dialogue, there might not be a single line in the whole movie that is working in the trailer, and so you need title cards or something else. And if the visuals are bland and boring, then there's nothing to work with, there's no way to start the trailer with intrigue or a promise, because there's nothing intriguing or promising with the visuals. A24 has such good trailer because the material is already perfect for the purpose of a trailer. They basically "edit themselves". I've done trailers for projects with such good material that I was done in a few days and any client changes were just breezed through without any struggle. And all of them end up in the good A24 type of style. But the majority of projects are pretty bad, most movies and games are really lackluster and then it's just about polishing that turd rather than having any ability to make something good. The material defines how well you can make something and the skill of the trailer editor is how well they can work with bad material, but just as a good movie can't be made from a bad script, a good movie trailer can't be made for a bad movie.

[@Trailer86]

Agreed, the materials matter but I see good movie trailers made from bad movies all the time. I guess it depends on the level your working at though. The cheaper the film sometimes there is nothing you can do.

[@uniworkhorse]

I just realized that some of the elements you mentioned that are detrimental to film trailers due to spoilage, can actually benefit multiplayer game trailers where you want to convey the feeling of the game to the viewer. A game trailer that blew my mind recently was THE FINALS (Closed Beta trailer). After rewatching with the elements you had listed, I noticed a ton of title cards, segues, mini timelines, heavy emphasis on the hyped mood, strong sound and a heavy dose of glitch fx. It also has the advantage of having combining gameplay that I've never seen in an FPS before, which made it rewatchable!

[@DerekLieu]

That trailer is super well done!

[@dylanjbuck]

Fantastic analysis and not a second longer than it needed to be. Definitely will be coming back to this video again and again.

[@DerekLieu]

That's great to hear ^_^ while rewatching it I worry that I didn't spend enough time on some topics, but also if this were much longer it never would've come out, haha.

[@dylanjbuck]

@@DerekLieu I'm sure there's a ton more to say, but a concise, contained entry point is worth a lot... so thanks! You nailed it. And hey -- there's always the option to make Part 2.

[@LaurenMiddleton28]

The Trailer for The Claw was Magical. The music the scenery its Just perfection.

[@scartinmorsese7723]

I'm so grateful you made this video. You articulated what I was feeling but didn't know how to dissect and categorize. My favorite trailer I've ever seen is for Under the Skin. Close second is the trailer for Hereditary. I get chills several times during both.

[@DerekLieu]

So glad you enjoyed my analysis 😄

[@nicolasclarke]

Wow. Such an insanely good analysis on trailers and how to replicate them. Thank you so much for this!

[@DerekLieu]

You're very welcome. Thanks so much for watching! :D

[@AlejanderLong]

Wow, it's sooooo exciting to find a great channel.

[@hmzzz12]

My personal favorite trailers from A24 are ofcourse, Everything Everywhere All At Once and Love Lies Bleeding

[@fusionaquaa]

Very good video, and wow some of these visuals are striking

[@DerekLieu]

Thank you! And yeah, lots of good stuff in there 😮

[@rivermarques8598]

amazing video man!!!!! side note it did take me three days to finish this, because I kept wanting to watch/rewatch the movies you talked about. damn you a24

[@DerekLieu]

Thanks so much for watching; I’m glad you liked it! 😃

[@Tbjbu2]

wow great video!

[@DerekLieu]

Thank you!

[@yusufersoy1160]

Looks great as always !

[@DerekLieu]

Thanks so much!

[@3dchick]

This is a MASTERCLASS! Thank you so much. Coming back to this over and over again🎉❤🎉

[@DerekLieu]

Thank you!

[@starlightskyes]

Yay, another Derek video! What a treat

[@DerekLieu]

Thanks, Star!

[@needateaser]

Awesome work!

[@DerekLieu]

Thank you!

[@TmsTanim]

Fascinating analysis of how "spoilery" a movie trailer can get - or avoid getting.

[@DerekLieu]

Glad you liked it 😃

[@jjm232a]

Bravo. Excellent essay with actionable takeaways

[@DerekLieu]

Thank you for watching!

[@JohnnySack-wc8vf]

Excellent! Thank you!

[@DerekLieu]

You’re welcome!

[@CaptainJeoy]

I watched all of it 😁. Great video, Derek 🔥

[@DerekLieu]

Much appreciated!

[@LukeRitson]

Awesome work, Derek. Really great breakdown.

[@DerekLieu]

Thanks, Luke! :D

[@geoffhill5903]

This is very good. Thanks!

[@DerekLieu]

You’re very welcome!

[@sergeypoltorakov]

Great video. I would to make an attempt creating a trailer on my own just for fun, and this video is deferentially helpful. Thank you for what you are doing 🙂

[@DerekLieu]

You're very welcome!

[@PixelatedLabRat]

Really enjoyed the video! Do you think any games have ever pulled off the A24 formula in their trailers?

[@DerekLieu]

Thanks! When I was working on JETT: The Far Shore, the creative director cited A24 as a stylistic goal for one particular trailer. I’m sure others have considered it too.

[@albertmailyan9680]

great analysis

[@DerekLieu]

Thanks!

[@TheMagmaCartel]

I watched the bad boys 3 trailer and it basically had ALL the jokes and plot beats...

[@axlegallardo]

What movie is the most difficult to produce a trailer for?

[@DerekLieu]

One which has no distinguishing plot or characters.

[@SJPortelli]

They had a couple of LAMB trailers --- one had no spoilers and was brilliant as the twist was not shown... Then they started showing a trailer where the twist is given away and you see the lamb baby. Even the poster changed after on to reveal this baby. Made me angry as when I watched the film after seeing only the first trailer the twist hit me...it was freaky! I think they gave away too much, but I can see what you are saying Derek -- that even if they give it away, you still want to know how they got there, so you still watch due to intrigue.

[@DerekLieu]

I hadn’t seen that first teaser until I read your comment and I can see how the main trailer by comparison shows so much more. But I think to really get people into the seats they needed to be less subtle so people were absolutely certain and able to say “that movie with a lamb who’s half human” rather than “movie about a mysterious lamb, I guess?”

[@LoganLe-tf1rm]

Only around 920 likes right now?!

[@KrysPossible]

Hey Derek! I recently found your channel and have been binge watching your content and definitely can say that you are awesome! However, I’ve been wondering, how did you know trailer editing for games was for you? Im thinking about getting into it, but I still don’t know if I like it for sure. Thanks beforehand!

[@DerekLieu]

Try making some and see if you enjoy it! I had a lot of fun making fan trailers for games after kind of burning out on movie trailers, so when the opportunity came to make game trailers I really liked it.

[@KrysPossible]

@@DerekLieu Thank you! I’ll try and see what I think then. 😊

[@Leprutz]

And yet I'd still edit trailers differently. Making them even somehow boring but just the right amount to peak your interest.

[@hotdog782]

what about this is unique to A24? don’t the vast majority of trailers from the big boutiques (mark woollen, av squad, giaronomo) fall under these broad categories, regardless of distributor?

[@DerekLieu]

I said all trailers fall under those broad categories, but I feel A24 tends to lean less on ones which show a lot of plot

[@HorseJoint]

Damn. This was the last video he posted. Did “A24” take him out🤔

[@DerekLieu]

lol, I’m just super busy with work 🤪

[@HorseJoint]

@@DerekLieu Understandable. The video is really well made. Don’t work ya self too hard🫵🏾

[@recesss]

making a trailer right now is there a way I can show you and get your take?

[@DerekLieu]

Submit it to reviewmytrailer.com if you’d like me to review it on a future Twitch Stream!

[@luncuthubeja]

why does the audio sound this way ?

[@DerekLieu]

What way?

[@interlinkedMedia]

Well because their movies are the best. In the same class as criterion.

[@DerekLieu]

Having good movies absolutely helps, haha. But good movies doesn’t necessarily mean trailers this good. Someone at A24 has really good creative direction 😄

[@SahilSinnh]

Not just movies now. BEEF 🤯

[@randomot5113]

I am a poor indie. Can you please help me in making a trailer for my game

[@DerekLieu]

Submit it to reviewmytrailer.com if you’d like me to review it on a future Twitch Stream! Otherwise, you can book a consultation with me at www.derek-lieu.com/consultation

[@corruptauthor]

Did i miss something. I love movie trailers, dont love A2A trailers . They kinda suck actually

[@DerekLieu]

That’s fine, you just have different taste. Why do you think they suck?

[@corruptauthor]

@@DerekLieu it's nothing I can put into words. I enjoying watching trailers. I love A2A movies, well some of them but the A2A trailers I do not enjoy and they don't Entice me to want to see the film.

[@corruptauthor]

@@DerekLieu examples I seen the exmachina trailer and midsummer trailer. Didn't watch thise films until years after there releases but once I actually did watch them they are hands down two of my favorites films ever. Fast forward I see the trailer for lamb. I got excited not because the trailer was good but becuase of the A2A brand was good. Lamb is a terrible movie.

[@DerekLieu]

@@corruptauthor but you like other movie trailers? Is it because the other movie trailers more explicitly show what happens in the movie?

[@corruptauthor]

@@DerekLieu not really, good is good. Not all other trailers Jordan peele and M night Shyamalan have good trailers and I like there brands.