Blog Archives
2049 is…2017?
Whatever the industry, teaser trailers for movies have changed the game of advertising and marketing.
Exhibit 1,234 (a random number, but it’s a fun number to write and see written) is the teaser trailer for Blade Runner 2049, which is the long-awaited sequel to the 1982 science-fiction film that’s helped define the genre. This trailer release was covered on Jimmy’s Daily Planet back on December 19, 2016 when Warner Bros. Pictures debuted the film’s first look. However, after watching this same trailer dozens and dozens of times (on my computer, phone and Apple TV), something finally clicked. And that is that movie trailers, like Blade Runner 2049, are the modern equivalent of the “Mad Men” era of print ads.
Teaser trailers tell a story with just enough details to inform the viewer, yet not enough information to satisfy one brief look into the movie/the product. The point of this blog post is to consider that the companies or organizations that can successfully tap into and transfer the captivating storytelling power of a teaser trailer into their marketing and/or advertising business plan for their clients will win the day.
And the next day…and the next day…and, you get it.
Even if you haven’t seen Blade Runner or even if you aren’t a science fiction fan, watch this teaser trailer and try to say you aren’t at least slightly intrigued about what happens next in this futuristic world.
Ryan Gosling’s character was right: “Things were simpler then.”
And things are also more exciting now.
The Instrumental Heartbeat of Cinema
When a story is so unique and stellar, it’s difficult to let it go.
Christopher Nolan and Hans Zimmer are film making BFF’s (perhaps not the bonding phrase these reserved movie maestros would use). The many collaborations with Mr. Nolan writing and directing and Mr. Zimmer composing powerful accompanying movie soundtracks have left audiences in awe and amazement in the theater and in the years beyond the film’s premiere. The video below has been featured on this blog before, yet its story of how the score of the emotionally-driven Interstellar (2014) evolved from a rather ambiguous note is remarkable.
And Throwback Thursday seems like a fitting day to showcase the kind of random spark that creates movie magic.
That’s why we go to the movies…
and it’s inspiring that there are movie-makers who know why.
Spielberg in the (Digital) Flesh
If you could take a private tour of the Universal Studios Hollywood backlot with any person in the entire world, who would you choose?
Steven Spielberg. That’s right!
Brought to us by Anthony Breznican of Entertainment Weekly, his guided tour of Universal Studios with Steven Spielberg is everything you’d expect and more. There is no better movie director to ask questions and learn about exciting behind-the-scenes stories than the man responsible for so many of the studios’ blockbuster classics.
Click the video below and enjoy!
And that, ladies and gentlemen, is the masterclass tour of the Universal Studios Hollywood backlot.
The Pulsating Soundtrack of Silence
Even silence needs to make some noise every once in a while and this notion is especially true when intensity and desperation spins and races into the unknown.
Interstellar is the Christopher Nolan space epic that was hyped throughout the past year on this blog. After experiencing it twice in IMAX whilst sitting in the best seats (3/4 up, dead center), this genuinely grand journey received a lovingly amazing review on Jimmy’s Daily Planet. Beyond the original and emotionally rich (and complex) storyline and aside from the stunning visuals (sans green screens!), Interstellar proved to be part space opera thanks to Nolan’s long-time and reliable musical collaborator Hans Zimmer.
It’s a fact that sound cannot be heard in space (not counting spaceships and helmets where oxygen is present). This truth was wonderfully utilized by Nolan and Co. (no spoilers), but that does not prevent a pulsating soundtrack from existing. As a matter of fact, the movie’s soundtrack proved to be a scene-stealing character of its own both on Earth and in far off galaxies. The entire soundtrack is phenomenal, but there is one song that does not reveal anything about the film while encapsulating the tone of the entire film.
Hans Zimmer said that Christopher Nolan gave him a watch at the end of making this gigantic adventure. There was an inscription: “This is no time for caution.”
Ladies and gentleman, Hans Zimmer didn’t reveal what the inception of his Interstellar sound was, but the song below is titled, “No Time for Caution.”
The movie poster tag line for Alien is, “In space no one can hear you scream.” True, but the audience can definitely hear Hans Zimmer’s emotionally pulsating space operatic masterpiece. Interstellar was not cautious by any means, particularly regarding its overwhelming soundtrack.
Ironically, it will leave you a bit breathless…or even silent, if you will.
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