The Culture of Trailers, Clips and More: How Much Is Too Much?

Last week on the MTV Movie Awards featured many forms of entertainment from dance numbers, speeches and skits, but also gave us more of a new norm with it in the form of new trailers and film clips for upcoming films. I remember they did this on the awards last year as well, as it was when the New Moon trailer first debuted. This year we had a clip from the upcoming The Twilight Saga: Eclipse and a trailer for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1.

I watched the The Twilight Saga: Eclipse clip, because I couldn't resist (and co-hosting a Twilight podcast means it's technically 'research' :), but I didn't watch the Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 trailer. In fact, I ran from the room and tweeted about it saying it was the beginning of the long stretch of time of avoiding all there is to avoid about Harry Potter.

Now, this isn't because I don't like the Harry Potter world. I love it. I LOVE IT. Last year I re-watched and reviewed all the Harry Potter films and this year I'm re-reading all the books. But, I don't watch any of the trailers for this particular franchise (I slipped once, don't tell anyone!), and the reason is I'm already sold on it. I will see the film. Probably the first day of release. Likely multiple times in the theatre. I don't need to see or know anything more about the film. I'll be there.

But, in not watching it does mean I'm missing out on the reactions and hype from now until November and that's becoming more and more part of the culture of film. People look forward to them, chat about them, spoof them, critique them, once they are out - people are all over them. Also, trailers for the big films actually have release dates and are strategically released on shows like the MTV Movie Awards or aligned to audiences through what films they show in front of. But there are some film that I just don't want to see anything for, it's not a new thing for me - the first time I remember actively avoiding the trailer was for Terminator 2: Judgment Day (and boy was that worth going in blind!). With the Harry Potter series, I think they've done a great job adapting the book to films and it's one of the few examples where I've enjoyed the films more than the books. I'm also way less familiar with the books and giving that Deathly Hallows is going to be a new format of 1 book 2 films, I have no idea what they are going to do. And I don't want to - I trust it will be interesting to see without knowing anything about it. I'm looking forward to it, I want to support it, I excited for it and I just don't want to know anything more about it.

The clip from The Twilight Saga: Eclipse is a bit of a different story. It's one that I almost felt like I couldn't not watch it. I knew it would be part of the talk over at Before the Dawn, and well ... it's Twilight, what can I say, it has that pull to want to watch it. It's funny because it feels like they've been holding their cards close to their hearts on footages, images and clips for such a long time and in the past few weeks the amount of content has exploded, many of which are official images. I did watch the clip, but I'm getting close to not watching any more as I want to save some to the experience of seeing it on the big screen. But, clips are a different beast from trailers. Trailers are intended to be see on their own, to be just a few moments to give you a taste of the film. But watching clips, feel very different as they almost always feel out of context. Rarely to we have time to settle into the world and let the atmosphere take us it. They can serve to let you know that an important scene is included, show neat effects, great acting, etc. but rarely do they feel like they will be as powerful as you see them in the film. I think trailers are created and seen in the format they are intended, where as clips seen out of context, can feel a bit strange. I know watching the Eclipse clip I kept wonder about the music and if that was the score we'll hear in the film.

These are two films and worlds that I acknowledge that I'm already very well versed in, so just a brief moment can say a lot. We've seen a lot of great trailers this year, two that I saw many many times but still think are really good are Kick-Ass (see trailer) and The Sorcerer's Apprentice (see trailer). Kick-Ass especially as it really gives the tone of the film without telling us all the content. Upcoming films this year where the trailers has won me over where the premise alone may not have include: The Kids are Alright (see trailer), Knight and Day (see trailer) and The Adjustment Bureau (see trailer).

What's your take? Do you like to see trailers or clips? Both? The most recent poll shows that trailers themselves make up a huge percentage of what contributes to making a decision. How about clips? Or even when films have 'the first five minutes' available? Do you watch them? Avoid them? Have they made you take a chance on a film you'd otherwise not? Do you find they enhance the experience of film, or say to much?

If you do want to see the clips and trailers from the MTV Movie Awards - Geeks of Doom has them all here. Or if you only want to see one or the other you can watch the The Twilight Saga: Eclipse trailer clip here and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 trailer here.

Why I Write Spoiler-Free Film Reviews with No Love "LOST"

Me on the fateful day of watching the pilot episode of "LOST". Photo credit: my sister Jamie

Sunday May 23, 2010 was the perfect day to write this. Why, you ask? Because it was a day I kept Tweetdeck & Twitter closed, I didn't log on to Facebook, and when I inadvertently checked IMDb and Zap2it I closed them and quickly vowed to stay away from them for the rest of the day. Why did I do that with sites & services that I use every day? I wasn't having an internet free day, but self-imposed social media and tv/film blackout as it was the night of the last episode ever of "LOST". And I was determined to get to that last episode of the epic 6 season journey without any spoilers.

This post is 100% spoiler-free, by the way.

I was a latecomer to "LOST". I remember when it started and everyone was all yakkity yak about it but it didn't hold any appeal to me. I even saw 2 episodes of season two with my sister Suzie way back when and we spent more time talking and explaining the freaking show than actually watching it - it was way too much to understand coming in late. Then, last April during my sister Jamie's reno she shared the secret that she and her husband were watching it on DVD. And then she shared the first episode with me. Then the second. Then lent me the DVDs, which I burned through watching the series unfold as I knitted into the wee hours of the night. I was hooked.

I was in love with "LOST". But, I had to keep it a secret. I was seasons behind everyone for months so I had to keep it under wraps. One image or comment could give something away from seasons ahead. More than once I ran away from my TV if they played a commercial and I literally stapled pages together in Entertainment Weekly if they had a story on the show. Any kernel of information could shatter a house of cards being perfectly and purposefully built in front of my very eyes. I didn't want to hear theories, explanations, definitions, casting.... nothing. I wanted to watch it unfold and see the story as it was meant to be told.

But, now I can let that go and share my love of the show. I can scream it, I can shout it. I LOVE YOU "LOST"! I really do. Do you want to know why?

Yes, this post will continue to be 100% spoiler-free.

I love "LOST" for its great storytelling. For keeping us guessing, even when we didn't know we would be guessing. I love "LOST" for providing us with a multicultural, dynamic and talented cast. I love "LOST" because it has characters to love, characters to hate and characters we hate to love & love to hate. I love "LOST" for being consistent. Yes, consistent - I now that sounds boring but it ain't! I love "LOST" for being gusty. For being more than a little zany.

So, why the heck am I writing about "LOST" on Movie Moxie? It's TV not film, right? True. But, one of the reason I love "LOST" so dearly is because it is one of the only things I've seen in recent history where people actively try to be spoiler-free. They know how good the show is, and don't want to ruin the experience for others. This is something I work on and strive for with every review I write and every post I make. It's not easy, but I'm committed to it and I think it's worth it. From my very first film reviews of In The Heat of the Night I wrote "Although I thought I would end up posting movie reviews that included spoilers I just can't do it for this film". That day I wrote more reviews for Ong-Bak & Night Watch / Nochnoi Dozor, and I still didn't do spoilers. After a while I realized never wanted to do spoilers. Ever. It's been 4 years and over 600 film reviews later, and I've stuck with being spoiler-free the whole way.

Why spoiler-free? Well, I've never had a film experience enhanced by having the film spoiled to me. Never. I've also never heard someone say "I'm so glad I knew the ending/twist/reveal." either. But I have had and heard people talk about having a film spoiled for them, and it's not fun or nice. I've certainly never heard of it encouraging someone to see a film, and isn't that what talking about film or reading reviews is all about? I review films with this objective in mind: that from the perspective of the reader, they will be able to determine whether or not they'd want to see the film. It can certainly still be a challenge, as it was just last week writing a review of Harry Brown. But it's still worth it - because lo and behold one of the commenters mentioned having that film spoiled to them somewhere else along the way.

I go to great lengths to try and avoid this. Last year was a huge challenge on that front and I literally ran from a friend who was going to tell me an anecdote about Star Trek less then 2 hours before I made it to see the film without knowing anything about it. I ran. I apologized for it later, and the story wouldn't have been a spoiler, but I wasn't willing to chance it.

I can understand why people want to share the details of things they are excited about or feel strongly for. Discussing a film in depth is after all one of the funnest parts of being a film fan. But remember back to that moment when you saw a big reveal? The beauty of that moment was all the build up and careful maneuvering to get you there. Let us get there too, so we can have that moment.

The good news is, you can talk about films without giving too much away. It's a completely learnable skill. To start simply, ask the person if they've seen the film. If they have - go nuts. If not, try mentioning what you liked about it thematically, instead of specifically. Compare it to another film perhaps, in terms of style or pacing. What was the spirit of what you enjoyed about it, or hated it? The setting (other than occasion SciFi film) is usually safe to share. Character descriptions can be safe too, as long as you talk about them from the perspective of the character at the beginning film (if it's linear narrative). You can talk about how the film made you feel or if you'd like to see it again. You can say what the perfect setting would be to see it, or if who you saw it with and if you agreed with your opinion of it or not. Also, who might like it and why? It's about context, not content. And don't be afraid to put a hold on the conversation if you think it's going too far. You can always decided to chat about it again once everyone has seen the film.




"LOST" in 6 Seasons brought me 3 Sweaters, countless teas, many tears and many memories